Original subtitles

Ezekiel saw the wheel.

This is the wheel he said he saw.

These are unidentified flying objects that people say they are seeing now.

Are they proof that we are being visited by civilizations from other stars?

Or just what are they?

The United States Air Force began an investigation

of this high strangeness in a search for the truth.

What you are about to see is part of that 20-year search.

It's on the agenda, Major. We're on our way to Waterford.

Good.

Waterford?

Northeast Iowa. Private military school.

There's a report the whole place is wrapped up in some kind of web-like substance.

Web-like substance? As in spider. Only this one, we're told,

was spun by a flying saucer.

I'm just thinking about that newsman who filed that report.

That web-like substance.

What about it?

He called it angel hair.

Welcome to Waterford Military Academy. Colonel Max Delaney, United States Army,

retired. At your service, Major. Thank you, sir.

You're wondering about the spider web, or angel's hair as the newspapers call it?

Yes, sir. The newspaper reports said that there

was something that covered this whole area.

I see nothing unusual. Not anymore, you don't, and you won't.

And as far as I'm concerned, good riddance. Good riddance.

That's what I said, Sergeant.

Anders.

I'll show these gentlemen their quarters. Dismiss the detail.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Major, Sergeant, would you follow me, please? Thank you.

Detail dismissed.

Colonel, can you tell us what happened to the substance? Well,

last night this place was covered with it. Then the rain came,

and it just disappeared. And you say it came from an undentified flying object?

I said nothing of the kind, Sergeant. Well, my cadets may have said that.

I guess that's why you're here.

But to put it bluntly, I have no use for UFOs or

flying saucers or whatever you want to call them.

I especially have no use for them when they impugn the reputation of this school.

Is it hurting the school's reputation?

I don't think we really need the kind of publicity

this incident is certain to create.

Can you tell us what this so-called angel here was?

I can't tell you what it was, Major, but I can show you what it did.

Green hands, Major.

Every one of them.

Just from touching the stuff.

Andrews?

Company, seat!

Everyone here saw that web that covered this place. How many boys are in the school?

Well, uh... Normally, we have a complement of 185 cadets.

But this is spring break, so most of the boys are home.

There are only 15 here now.

How many actually saw the UFO?

There was Mr. Radcliffe, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Delaney.

Three.

Delaney?

That's right, Sergeant. Tim Delaney, my grandson.

He was involved in this asinine nonsense.

You seem upset, Colonel. Concerned is a better word.

Do you know how long this academy has been in existence, Major?

Seventy-five years.

Seventy-five years preparing young Americans to make

a better contribution to this nation of ours.

Parents send their sons here not only to get an education,

but to instill a national pride, a modicum of discipline.

An appreciation for being a gentleman and an officer.

And I do not like the thought that during my eight-year tenure at this academy,

I have become involved in such outright silliness.

Colonel, we understand what you're trying to say. Well,

if you understand what I'm trying to say, sergeant, you'll do something about this.

The newspapers are trying to make Waterford a three-ring circus,

and I will not have it inferred that this academy is some kind of a...

One of these boys is a fine young American,

and I don't want them or this school held up

to any form of ridicule. Nor do we, Colonel.

All we're interested in is finding out the truth.

That's all I can ask, Major.

How can we assist you?

We'd like to talk to the three boys who made the siding.

Very well. Is there someplace privately that we could talk? Well,

there's classroom four. That's in another building.

That'd be fine. Thank you. Mr. Andrews?

Yes, sir.

I want those sausage spotters, front and center.

Yes, sir. Right away, sir.

Mr. Brown, Mr. Radcliffe, Mr. Delaney.

I want you men to report to classroom four. Bond the double.

Yes, sir.

Sir.

Mr. Delaney.

Request permission to use the latrine first, sir.

Permission granted.

What we like to do, boys, is to go over your story in as much detail as possible.

What's going to happen to us, sir?

Nothing's going to happen to you.

I want you to understand that we're here doing a job just like you,

and you have your job going to school,

and we have our job investigating UFO sightings.

And when this is all over,

nothing will have changed except we will have all had a new experience.

How's that?

Gee, it really sounds great.

How did you get into your line of work, sir?

Well, that's sort of hard to explain.

Project Bloober. I bet it's real secret stuff, huh?

Well, it's not really all that mysterious.

Our job is to try and find evidence.

It's either there or it isn't.

What kind of evidence?

Put it this way.

If someone claims to have seen an unidentified flying object,

we look for some sign of proof that it really wasn't his imagination.

You mean like a piece of their spaceship or something like that?

Yes, or not even that much.

Maybe some indication of how the craft operates.

What propels it?

Was there any fuel residue?

Impact impressions?

Evidence of that nature.

That's probably what we saw.

What's that?

What you said.

Residue.

Fuel residue.

Yeah. Maybe it wasn't an alien spiderweb. Maybe it was just fuel residue.

I think we better take it from the beginning.

Who wants to lead off?

I have the rank, sir.

Okay, it's all yours.

Well, it was yesterday afternoon.

Colonel Delaney sent us the flag detail just before dinner.

After we struck the colors and concluded the proper folding maneuvers,

we started back to the mess hall where the

other cadets were getting ready for dinner.

The first thing we heard was a strange noise.

And that's what happened. Everybody came out and started playing on the stuff.

It wasn't until later that we told them about the saucer. You know,

after all their hands turned green.

Then last night, it rained pretty hard. And when we got up this morning,

the stuff was all washed away.

Is that how you saw it, Paul?

Yes, sir. Just like that. Everything.

Only... Only what, Paul?

When you hear somebody tell about it, well, it really sounds dumb, you know?

Well, if it's the truth, stick by it.

It's the truth, sir. Cadet Honor, sir.

Come in.

Do you believe us, sir?

We believe you saw something.

Now we've got to try to prove it.

How will you do that, sir?

With your help.

Mr. Fellaini, I want to see you.

What's your opinion now, gentlemen?

Well, we went over it several times.

The boys are emphatic in what they claim to have seen, Colonel.

And Tim, he corroborates what the other boys say? Yes, sir, he does.

He doesn't have much to say, but he doesn't disagree with the others.

Colonel, we noticed the NASA material you have on the bulletin boards in there.

Yes, the space program is a very important part of our science curriculum.

What are you suggesting, Major? It's a possibility, Colonel.

The wrong study of the space program and lively classroom

discussion could help feed young imaginations.

That could be an explanation? Partial explanation, Colonel.

We still have that angel hair and those green hands to deal with.

Too bad some wasn't recovered before the rain washed it away.

I've got some of it, sir.

What's that, son?

The fuel, whatchamacallit. I've got some of it, sir. You wanna see it?

I saved it, but you can ask me if you want it, sir.

What are you playing, Major? I don't recall ever seeing anything like it.

All the other boys got scared when their hands turned green from that stuff.

What do you mean, son?

I just knew that's all.

Mr. Delaney, you can go now. You're dismissed.

Yes, sir.

Sir?

You mind if I join you?

No, it's okay, sir.

Timmy, how did you know that the angel hair wouldn't hurt anyone?

You trust me, don't you?

Whatever you tell me is just between us.

Nobody else.

Would the colonel have to know about it?

Not unless you want to tell him.

I saw them, up close.

They didn't hurt me, so I knew they wouldn't hurt anyone else.

Let's go in here. You can tell me all about it.

Pick your spot.

Where do you want to sit? Okay, good.

Have you told any of the other boys?

No, sir.

Did you have a reason for not telling them?

Well, they would have said I made it up, but I didn't. I didn't make it up.

Go on, Tim. Tell me what happened.

Well, all the boys were so busy playing in that stuff,

I knew it had to be what you said it was.

You mean fuel residue?

Yep, because the spaceship had this crystallite motor,

all full of lights and everything.

And I knew if the motor looked like that,

it'd have to be the kind of stuff that had come out.

You know, like smoke in a car.

You got a crystal engine? That's the kind of stuff that'll come out.

Don't you think?

Go on, son.

Well, anyway, I kept looking over there towards the school, and I saw this light.

Hello?

Is anybody there?

Do you hear me? Are you friendly?

Let me see you. Come out, please. Please come out. You're nice, aren't you?

You're not here to hurt anybody.

It's me. It's me.

Ewe!

Ewe!

No, don't go! Please don't go!

Then it went. That dumb old dog scared it away.

That's quite a story, Tim.

Yes, sir. I never saw anything like it.

I read a lot about flying saucers,

but this is the first time in my whole life I ever saw a real one.

Your whole life, huh?

Yes, sir. And I bet it's the first time for you, too.

What's that, son?

The angel hair stuff.

I bet it's the first time you ever got some real evidence, isn't it?

Well, we don't know for sure yet.

What are you going to do with it?

Well, we'll send it to our lab, and they'll take a look,

and then they'll send us the report.

Oh.

Anything wrong?

What you said about this just being between us, you meant it?

Well, I sure did.

Well, Grandpa, I mean the Colonel.

I got a feeling you'd like it a lot better

if I hadn't told you what I just told you.

You know?

Yes, Libby?

I know question number one. The answer is no.

The lab has not finished their run on that angel hair stuff.

How much longer will they be, do you know?

Well, they're pretty well booked up, but I told them this is top priority.

Good. What else?

We just received a call from one of the astronomers

at Ashcroft Observatory in Wisconsin.

The astronomer's not the one who made the sighting.

Okay, who did?

A man contacted the astronomer, said he was attacked by an alien being,

but the man insists on remaining anonymous.

Did you tell the astronomer that we do have problems

investigating anything on a hearsay basis?

Sounds like it might turn out to be more than hearsay. Just a guess, of course.

But the brass are strongly suggesting that you get over there right away.

Okay, we'll do that.

Do we still have a contract with Ashcroft?

We do. Why?

All right.

Set up an appointment with the astronomer at the observatory.

What's his name?

Paulson, Dr. Virginia Paulson.

Dr. Paulson?

Yes?

Gatlin and Fitz, Project Blue Gold.

Yes, I was expecting you.

You're right on time, Major. Sergeant?

How are you?

Ma'am? As we understand it, Doctor,

you're not the one who made the reported observation.

No, no, I wasn't the one.

But you wouldn't think that after all these years of squinting at stars,

I would have seen something out of the ordinary, beside my bloodshot eye.

Maybe not. After all, you're a trained observer.

You know what you're looking at.

Perhaps.

But there have been trained observers who have made UFO sightings.

Haven't there been, Major?

It's been known to happen.

What is this reported encounter all about?

Well, this man came to us, I guess because I'm an astronomer.

I never did understand why the general public relates us to UFOs and aliens.

Well, like the Major said, you know the territory.

Well, this man said that if he didn't tell someone,

he was going to go out of his mind.

He had the most incredible story.

He was virtually attacked by some kind of device from a spaceship.

You know, Dr. Bolson, it's very difficult for us to conduct any kind

of investigation secondhand without hearing it from the principal.

Well, I realize that. But he's terrified of any kind of publicity.

Doctor, if you could introduce us to this man,

we don't have to assure you that anything he said

to us would be held in strictest confidence.

Major?

I don't know why we're having this discussion, Doctor.

This institute holds a government contract with Project Blue Book,

and I'm sure you're aware of our policies as well as we are.

Is that sufficient, Mr. Biggs?

Daryl Biggs?

Major Gatlin? Hello. Sergeant Fitz.

How are you?

I heard what you said. I hope I have the assurance that I feel is necessary.

You do, Mr. Pigs.

I'd like to take you to the location where I had this encounter.

Could we go first thing in the morning?

Sure. Where is it?

It's about a two-hour drive from here, a place called Devil's Lake.

There's one problem.

What's that, Mr. Biggs?

Well, after the two-hour drive, we run out of road.

Then we go on foot from there.

How far? Well, it's not too bad. It's about five miles.

All right, do this for me, Libby.

Have one of our chemists check for any possible manufacturer of that compound.

Right.

We're going to be out of touch for the rest of the day, then.

Watch out for snakes.

We don't expect to see any.

Then watch out for whatever you do see.

The lab has the angel hair broken down to identified chemicals.

We're getting somewhere. Well, we know what the chemical compound is,

but nobody has a hint of any earthly purpose that it could be used for.

Why is it nothing can be simple?

Careful, Sergeant. You're talking about our means of making a living.

Man, I thought I left all this back basic training.

Well, we're here. This is the place.

This is where I saw everything.

Like I told you, I was hunting with a couple

of buddies from work, and we got separated.

It started to get dark, and I...

I just kind of lost my orientation. I don't blame you.

I've been confused ever since we left the road.

Yeah, I can appreciate that, Sergeant.

One of the reasons they call this area Devil's Lake

is because of so many people getting lost up here.

Things are familiar, and then again, they're not.

I've been hunting in this area since I was 15 years old.

I hunt with bow and arrow. I never carry a gun. But you were lost.

Yes, Major, I was.

But like I said, I had enough sense to stay put and build a campfire.

I was just about to settle down until morning.

That is, until I heard this weird, throbbing sound.

Thank you for watching!

¶¶

I'll tell you never, never again in my life do

I ever want to have an experience like that.

No reading on the scintillator. I got a soil sample. You doing any good?

Nothing. Sure didn't need this.

No landing impressions, no indication anything

foreign had been in the area recently.

I got an idea, maybe.

Yeah?

Daniel Institute of Technology. Blue Book just made a contract with them recently.

Yeah, what's that doctor's name? Benzinger. Yeah, that's it, Dr. Everett Benzinger.

Right.

He's been doing a lot of work on a new technique, observational synchronistics.

Institute's here in Wisconsin, isn't it?

That's what made me think of it.

I wonder if Biggs will take an interview.

We don't know that we ask him.

You fellas don't believe me, do you?

You still don't believe any of it happened? Daryl, our job is to investigate,

stay objective, and try not to reach any conclusion without solid evidence.

What about the fire?

That's evidence, isn't it? Yes, but unfortunately, it doesn't prove that much.

We're not denying what you tell us you experienced, but at the same time,

evidence of that fire doesn't prove it.

Prove it.

That's why I didn't want to report this. I knew I couldn't prove any of it.

But I saw what I saw, Major.

Sir?

Right over there.

That's my arrowhead.

Must have sheared off when I fired at that thing.

You sure it's yours?

Oh, yes, sir. That I can prove.

See, I make all my arrowheads by hand.

That's mine.

Look at it.

Just look at it. Look at the tip there. It's blunted.

That's impossible. How's that, sir?

I make those heads out of highly tempered solid steel, Sergeant.

They just don't blunt. I'm sure you men know that.

I don't know of anything on this earth that could blunt an arrowhead like that.

All right, Mr. Biggs, please be good enough to tell me exactly what you see.

I see a small light.

What's the light doing?

Well, it's moving. That's all. Just moving around. All right, Major.

Lights, please.

The next thing you're going to ask is, how did that light move? Is that it?

That's right.

This light couldn't move if it had to, could it?

No, it couldn't.

No need for alarm, Mr. Biggs.

You just experienced what we call an autoconetic illusion.

There are many kinds of scientific methods for explaining

the inaccuracies of human observation.

Take that diagram on the board here.

Now, would you say that the AB line is as long as the CD line?

Yes.

I say that the line between A and B is the exact

same length as the line between C and D. All right.

Take a close look now.

Measure them.

CD is five inches longer.

We don't always see what we think we see, Mr. Biggs.

Now, wait a minute. That light and this diagram on your board does

not convince me that I didn't see what I saw in that forest.

We're not trying to convince you of anything, Mr. Biggs.

This is one of those relatively new areas we try to probe.

And Dr. Bensinger has done a great amount of

research on the subject of synchronistics,

and we felt that your experience could be examined in this context,

and it might be helpful to you as well as us.

Look, I appreciate everything you're trying to do, but this synchro-whatever,

it doesn't mean a thing to me.

Synchronistics is just one of our buzzwords, Mr. Biggs.

It's our way of describing the psychology of an environment.

A person's mind trying to unite or harmonize something that

really conflicts with what that person knows to be logical.

And because we can't explain it,

the synchronistics of our observation coupled with the psychological reaction,

then our brain attempts to explain it to us in another way,

and not always accurately.

Do you think my brain lied to me about what I know I saw?

We're not saying that's the case, Mr. Biggs.

Only a possibility.

I was in that forest.

It was night. I was alone. I heard a lot of noises.

I saw a lot of things.

But here today, nothing that you've shown me or said so far convinces

me that I went through some kind of psychological aberration.

No, I'm sorry, gentlemen.

I know what I saw.

I really do.

And we're not trying to talk you out of it.

If these methods can't help us provide an explanation, we'll just keep trying.

We'll keep working on something else.

What about proving that I saw what I saw, Major?

Yes, sir.

We'll be doing that, too.

Let me know what you find out, gentlemen.

Well, what do you think, Doc?

The tests I gave him show he's a bright enough man.

Everything he says he saw could possibly be

explained on the theory of synchronistics.

But not proven. No, Major. Not proven.

Either way, that leaves us with the one piece of hard evidence.

That steel arrowhead.

What do you mean they won't release any information?

That's what the man said.

Our lab ran down the prime chemical compound and traced

it to the safety chemical company just outside of Tracy, Iowa.

Well, why are they throwing such a cloak of secrecy over a chemical compound?

They wouldn't tell me, except to say it was company sensitive.

They won't talk unless somebody shows up with the proper

Air Force credentials, and you've got those.

What about the tests on that arrowhead?

They're doing the whole number, Major,

including spectroscopic analysis and nuclear radiation.

Good.

Get that report to us as soon as possible.

As quick as I get it.

Get your hat, Sergeant.

We're going to have to have a chat with the president of a manufacturing complex.

See if he'll let us in on a company secret.

What kind of a secret? I'm not sure, but it might be the recipe for angel hair.

Welcome back to Waterford Academy, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Brown.

You're welcome, sir.

I think we might have an answer. Will I like it? We hope so. It's the right one.

What about the angel hair?

Now, watch the screen, gentlemen.

It's called chaff.

That's a C-130 jet prop transport.

The aircraft is engaged in a military exercise.

Now, this chaff is a newly developed material proposed for military use.

Well, since it's biodegradable, it's simply dissolved in the rain.

Just what is chaff, sir? Well,

this particular chaff is strictly in the experimental stage.

Its intended use is to distort or cloud radar, and if it should prove successful,

during periods of military conflict,

we could airdrop it to avoid or confuse resolutions on enemy radar screens.

The manufacturer developed this new material and arranged for an in-flight test.

Now, on the day of your sighting,

the sun was just above the horizon at that precise time. So here's what you have.

A highly reflected aluminum-bodied aircraft carrying four

engines creating that particular howl-like sound,

peculiar only to jet prop engines. Now, there's your angel here.

And the brilliance of the aircraft fuselage and

the oddball sound of the engines might have

created the illusion that the boys were seeing

something other than what they really saw.

Now, unfortunately, some unusual wind shifts...

Due to that approaching weather front caused a great amount

of it to drift into the area of your academy here.

Obviously, it was not intended to do so.

Colonel?

Major, I'd bank on it, with a deep appreciation for your investigative abilities.

Well, men, what do you say?

Do these gentlemen from the Air Force deserve a big hand from us?

Well done.

Cadets dismissed.

We have a moment alone with Telly.

We didn't do much to help explain what you saw, did we, Tim?

No, sir.

Well, do you believe what I said about the angel hair?

Yes, sir, I guess so.

Well, if you accept that,

you really have to say that it wasn't fuel residue from a spaceship, wouldn't you?

I guess so, sir.

But I saw it, sir. I did. I saw it.

Tim, all of us see a lot of things that we can't explain. So you know what happens?

Our mind tries to explain it for us.

Our mind tries to explain it, sir?

Well, let's put it this way.

Your mind is a kind of a sponge...

Everything you see, everything you hear,

everything you read gets soaked up in that sponge.

And you have a lot of books on spaceships and the NASA program,

even some fiction novels, don't you?

I like to read about that stuff, sir.

I know you do.

And sometimes what happens, especially when we're young,

when we haven't learned how to categorize a lot of things that we see,

or when we haven't as yet learned a lot about the explanation of things, well,

one mistake in observing something can start building up a whole lot more mistakes.

And all those things that you stored up in your mind can start coming into play,

and pretty soon, your imagination gets itself into high gear,

and you see things and dream about things, things that maybe you want to believe.

So it becomes real, Timmy.

Real because your mind, that wonderful sponge that you have up there,

He wants to believe in those kinds of things.

You understand what I'm saying?

I think so, sir.

Why should I see somebody inside of something

that I never really saw in the first place?

Why, sir?

For the same reason.

Because you wanted to. And you know, Tim,

the nice thing about what you saw and what you heard is that

you wanted to see somebody friendly in that spacecraft.

And if it happens someday, if people from other planets really do come here, well,

I hope they're kind and friendly,

just like the one you wanted so badly to see and talk to.

You know what, sir?

I feel a little bit better than I did a couple minutes ago.

Sir, do you think the other guys are going to laugh at me?

I don't think so, Tim.

And you know, some of their imaginations started working overtime, too,

and most of those guys are older than you are.

They are, aren't they?

Complete attention!

Present arms!

Order arms!

Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid that's the best thank you that we know how to give.

I don't think we could ask for better, Carl.

You have a fine group of young men here, sir. Well, thanks to both of you,

they're just that much better.

If there's ever anything else we can do... Thank you very much, sir.

Andrew?

Detail dismissed.

Pardon me, sir.

Yes, Mr. Delaney?

Do you think we could go home next weekend and see Mom and Dad?

I think that is a very good idea, Tim.

And when we get there, do you think you could remember to call me Grandpa?

Yes, sir. I'll do that, sir.

Right, Patterson, Major. Thank you.

What'd they find?

No question.

That arrowhead struck something harder than high-tempered steel.

Where does that leave us?

Where it usually does, with only half an answer.