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.

Okay, guys, let's take this last shot and get out of this tacky place.

Mr. Flanagan?

Yes, Miss Shields.

Where do you want me?

Uh, right here's fine. I'll ask you my last question, you answer me, and go inside.

All right, fellas, lock it up and roll.

Okay, guys? Bye.

One last question, Mr. Flannery.

What makes you think that just because you're

an extremely successful industrialist that you

can enter the race for the Senate with absolutely

no political experience and expect to win?

Because the voters of my party and the politicians

are sick and tired of politics as usual.

And heaven knows, Washington can use all the new talent it can get.

Thanks for coming out here, Miss Shields. It was nice to have you visit.

I'll see you in Washington next November.

Good.

So, Frederick Flanagan, one of the most successful

businessmen in a state famous for success stories,

is taking on a new challenge. Politics.

This is Christy Shields on location in the Midwest.

Okay, guys, that does it. It's a wrap.

See you at the hotel, Chris.

Gotta thank Flanagan.

What time's that plane for Chicago?

10.20, and a 9 a.m. shooting call.

Pardon me, sir. Couldn't Naya or any other household give you a hand?

Thanks a lot, fella. You belong to the wrong union.

Thanks again for yesterday and today, Mr. Flanagan.

I think it'll make a good segment.

You certainly make things easier, Miss Shields. You run a good ship.

I hope you didn't mind my adding that see you in Washington. Thanks again.

Why don't you have time for a drink?

I just assumed most of you would join me.

Well, we're all fighting the clock, sir.

But maybe just a short one.

Good.

Set that up and I'll interview you every other day, Mr. Flanagan.

I'm all for it.

Did you ever interview anybody before breakfast?

You know, I couldn't stay even if you promised

me an exclusive on what your platform will be.

Why should I do you a favor?

You won't even stay for breakfast.

The Flanagan who owns all those companies? Yeah.

Carl Youngstrom has been with the Flanagan family practically all his life.

Gardener, carpenter, handyman, sober, church goer, respected.

But no corroboration.

No other witnesses. Maybe some of them would get there in the morning.

Radar reports in yet?

I requested coverage within a 500-mile radius.

What about Canada? Wasn't too far from the border. I'm picking those up from NORAD.

We'll have the US and Canada both.

Holy colito.

Felt about as out of place as a wild boar in a plum thicket.

Now, if I'm in the way at all, Major... Not at all, sir.

And we would like to talk with you after we hear Mr. Youngstrom's story.

I just thought all of us discussing it here might be more convenient.

I realize you two gentlemen couldn't have had time for breakfast in town.

Your teams move fast, don't they?

We try, sir. It helps when we have so much cooperation.

Mr. Youngstrom, can you tell us in your own words exactly what happened last night?

I, um, I can't find the words to express it.

The object was overwhelming.

It was glorious.

Why don't you start ten minutes before anything unusual happened?

Well, I was down at the gatehouse.

Of course, I lived there.

Mr. Flanagan's father offered it to my late wife and me when we were buried.

It was late, maybe 10 o'clock.

I'm usually in bed at that time, but it was good. I

was awake, wasn't it, Major? Yes, sir. Please go on.

Because I was working on a dollhouse for my granddaughter, Cynthia.

I want to have it finished by June 3rd, because that's her sixth birthday.

I happen to be skillful with my hands.

And the communication lights, the lights that connect the buildings at the estate,

suddenly they start to flash off and on, on and off.

They were thirsty, and one brought me a beautiful jar, almost like alabaster,

12 inches high, and he started to hand it to me, but...

¶¶

And I knew that they wanted me to eat of the load.

That gift from them is a treasure beyond price.

They understood the nourishment those on Earth need.

Tastes like a simple bread. Mr. Youngstrom, you

mind if we take a sample? Oh, of course not.

I feel they were offering this to mankind.

Mr. Youngstrom, could you show us exactly where all this happened?

Of course.

As long as it doesn't take too long.

Because today is the day I visit my daughter at Island Lake.

And she expects me for noon dinner, and of course I would like to tell her.

We'll make it as quick as we can, sir.

Yes, as I told you, it started at the gatehouse.

Hurry, I'll catch up with you two.

Yes, sir.

Carl, use the station wagon.

And give my best to Helga.

I do thank you, sir.

Tell me, Major, have you ever investigated a UFO sighting like this?

No, sir.

Not where the subject was approached by the alien

and left tangible evidence. Then this is unique.

If Mr. Youngstrom has experienced everything he's told us,

there are certainly unique aspects.

Major, are you saying you doubt his word?

There are cooperations to be made or not made.

We'll have to send this sample off to the lab before we know for sure.

Do I hear or notice cynicism, Major? No, sir.

Just an honest attempt to find the truth.

To explain what I honestly believe, Mr. Youngstrom is convinced he saw.

That's all I'm asking, Major. Let me walk you to the door. I can find my way, sir.

I blazed a trail every hundred yards.

Listen, darling, you've got to let me come back and cover it. I mean,

I'm traipsing all over the country,

and these jerkwater reporters are getting page two stories.

Now listen, haven't we been a pretty good pair so far?

Fred, I know Carl. Carl knows me.

I'm the logical.

You'll get your story. You'll get the story.

There's as much of knowing when as how.

But is it true? I mean, really? A flying saucer?

I didn't see it, honey.

How can anybody prove it's not true?

That's an interesting way to look at it, isn't it?

Now, listen, Chris, I've got your itinerary,

and I'll send up a flare as soon as I need you,

which might be sooner than you think.

Well, I like your use of the verb need in all its definitions.

Bye, darling. I'll see you on the 6 o'clock news.

Settle for that if I have to.

Bye, darling.

Oh, Major Gatlin. They've been trying to reach you.

Your office at Wright-Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio?

When? 15 minutes ago. Want me to get him back?

Please.

You can take the call right there.

Thank you. You know, Major, I've been thinking.

I won't report you.

How many investigations have we been on these

last five years? Oh, 700 or 800, I guess.

And how many Sundays have we spent in some little

burg where if they do have a decent restaurant,

it's closed, they never have the right funding papers,

and the movies are at least two years old?

Who's counting?

I've got your call, Major.

Hello?

Oh, hi, Major. That lab report came in on the Carl Youngstrom

cake or bread or whatever it is.

Okay, Libby, let's have it.

Okay, we have completed our examination of the

material submitted with your telex of May 18.

Microscopic analysis shows the presence of hydrogenated fat, starch, wheat, bran,

soybean, and buckwheat hulls with a small amount of disaccharides.

You know what disaccharides are, Major?

Sugar, Libby. Keep going.

Bacteriological examination and measurement of radioactivity gave results which are

consistent with the view that the article is a muffin or pancake of unusual shape,

but definitely of terrestrial origin.

Commander, sample is being held, pending your instructions. Signed, Captain M.L.

Yankworth, assistant to the etc.

Okay, thanks. He's got a personal comment he wrote in. What?

Jake, you could enter this in an old-fashioned bake-off and come in about third.

Major...

Nothing, Libby.

There's nothing to do. So long. I'll be in touch with you. And?

Let's take a Sunday drive, Harry.

That nice old guy doesn't have any reason to make up a pipe dream like that.

He's not looking for publicity.

In fact, I think this whole thing is beginning to bug him a little.

He didn't make it up. He believes it really happened.

But how? He doesn't drink.

I hope I'm as healthy as he is at his age.

Like the first rundown said, sober, church-going, honest, faithful, and true.

Mr. Eagle Scout.

Why, Major?

That's why they're paying us, Sergeant.

Listen, I'm all ears. I admit it.

Objectivity and all that.

Sure, no value judgments, okay?

But listen, I'm on old Carl's side.

Of all the subjects we've ever talked to, I think Carl's as straight as a string.

I think he's for real.

Okay, sound prejudice, okay? Keep talking. Who's to say these extraterrestrials,

the beings in the UFO, who's to say they don't

have starches and soybean and buckwheat, huh?

So the lab does say it's like the pancakes Mama used to make.

Maybe there's lots of Mamas in outer space making away like crazy.

All I'm saying, Mage, is one loaf that a test tube says

is buckwheat does not make Carl Youngstrom a liar.

That's right.

You can't prove a negative.

Thought your mind was made up.

We're still missing something.

I don't even know what to look for.

I can't smell it or taste it or see it, but I can feel we're missing something.

Something we've missed because it's right in front of our eyes.

Oh, Major Gatlin. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were expected. Mr.

Flanagan's away for the weekend.

Well, actually, he wanted to talk to Mr. Youngstrom.

Oh, he's with his daughter over at Island Lake every Sunday afternoon.

Is it urgent, Major?

Could you reach him by phone?

Helga doesn't have a phone, but it's only 20 or 30 minutes drive from here.

It's very pretty. You'd enjoy it.

All right, then. Can you please tell us how to get there?

Helga Oldberg.

Their house is on the other side of the lake. 1222 Lakefront Terrace.

Thank you very much.

Mrs. Helga Oldburn?

Yes.

Oh, are you looking for Papa? He's at church,

but come in, please, come in. Papa told me.

This is Sergeant Harry Fitz. I'm Jake Gatlin.

Yes, Major Gatlin. Please, come in and sit down, gentlemen.

Oh, Papa's told me all the interviews you've had with him. You just missed him.

Please, sit down.

We don't want to impose on you, ma'am.

Impose? Don't be silly.

Isn't it exciting seeing a flying saucer? You know,

there have been several in the States around here, but Papa with his own eyes.

I've been baking, which means you're just in time for some cookies,

right from the oven. Butterscotch or oatmeal, which?

That's very kind of you, Mrs. Old Bird, but... Helga, which?

Butterscotch, please. Oatmeal, please, ma'am.

Tea or cocoa?

Just cookies, thank you.

You must tell me all about your work.

I'm simply fascinated by the whole idea of UFOs, aren't you?

The most interesting assignment I've ever had, that's true.

What has happened today that is so important, Major?

Important, Mrs. Olberg?

You don't come out of your way like this to talk to Papa when you could

wait till evening and meet him at home unless something has come up.

Oh, our people back in Ohio had a little piece of information.

We just wanted to check with your father.

Oh, like confirmations from radar stations?

Were there any signals at all that night?

You seem to know quite a bit about this subject, Mrs. Oldberg.

Helga.

And just because we live in the sticks doesn't mean we don't

read newspapers and books and keep up with things, now does it?

But really, can you tell me,

were there any radar stations or air traffic controls

that spotted anything unusual that night?

Not that we heard from yet, ma'am, no.

Ah, then you probably think Papa is... Mistaken.

All we're trying to do is to explain to everybody's satisfaction. His, yours,

the Air Force, the public, to everybody's satisfaction of what happened.

And sometimes we can't.

We admit that.

And that's what unidentified means.

But it's not often we get a bonus like this. You're quite a cook.

Thank you. Have some more.

You say you bake butterscotch and oatmeal cookies, ma'am? A Helga?

Those two are my specialties and Papa's favorite.

You ever made any buckwheat cookies?

I don't think I've had buckwheat flour in the house for years.

Why?

Oh, nothing.

Just one of those things I remember from when I was

a little kid that you don't hear about much anymore.

You didn't inherit your baking talents, did you?

Mr. Youngstrom's a baker and a cook as well as an expert carpenter?

No, Papa doesn't cook.

Now really, why are you asking me these innocent questions?

They're important, believe us.

If you ask me straight out, gentlemen, I will tell you anything I know,

anything about Papa. No, he does not cook.

No, he does not make cookies.

He has not done any carpentry work for years and years.

He's the head gardener at the estate.

You've been very courteous and considerate, and we appreciate it.

And we're not trying to trick anybody into anything, believe me.

I meant the carpentry as a compliment to your father.

We saw that wonderful dollhouse he's making for your daughter, Cynthia.

I don't understand. How would Cynthia come into this?

Well, he just happened to mention that the dollhouse

he's making is for his granddaughter, Cynthia.

It's amazing workmanship.

Poor birthday, ma'am.

June 3rd, isn't it?

Forgive me, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry if we've said anything to upset you.

No, it was just a shock to me.

I didn't know anything about it.

You see, Cynthia and her father, Cynthia and Edward, were drowned last summer.

He's making her a dollhouse.

Thank you. Hi, Mr. Youngstrom. Can't leave yet.

What was the flying saucer really like?

Your family's all waiting.

Tell us. Tell us that.

Well, I thought of going back to my daughter.

Oh, please.

All right.

I'll tell you what happened.

Let me sit down first.

It happened at Mr. Flanagan's estate, where I guess you know I work.

It was about bedtime when I heard a strange, weird sound in the sky.

Like a jet?

Like nothing I've ever heard before. High and piercing.

And then at the same time, an incredible light, bluish white, came in from the sky,

so I ran outside. A few hundred yards away, as high as a house, was a saucer.

A flying saucer with all the incredible machinery all over it.

It was, well, I would guess about 60,

70 feet in diameter and tapering off to maybe 30 foot at the base.

Then there were exhaust pipes, six inches in diameter, spaced about a foot apart.

And then wheels that spun around and around and around and around.

And then a huge hatch opened.

And then, they invited me into their spaceship.

They showed me their propulsion system, more complicated than anything on Earth.

Thanks, Mr. Youngstrom.

Gee, are you lucky. Do you believe him? I don't believe him.

Major, I have stopped your teletype message until I could discuss its contents.

Seems to me you're taking a lot of responsibility on yourself.

That's why I'm here, Colonel.

You're the local base commander.

This entire investigation has been aided through your personnel,

but I'd like to think that my recommendations do have

your approval before forwarding to the right path.

For openers, we can't prove Carl Youngstrom didn't see something.

And the more controversy we get into,

the more the public is going to think there is something we're not revealing.

If I may interject, sir, threat analysis is absolutely negative.

Unless we just drop it, I think we're running a

risk of seriously embarrassing Mr. Youngstrom.

Enough to injure his mental health, perhaps permanently.

Major, I think that's exactly the kind of area

we have to leave to a psychologist, an expert.

You have people with clinical experience.

Indeed we do, and we are well-backgrounded in this type of situation.

Sergeant Fitz and I have investigated several

sightings where it was decided the subjects

could become even more aberrational if fruitless inquiries were continued.

Well, your inquiry shows here that Youngstrom has been normal, active,

perfectly sane, rational up to now.

I believe his hallucinations and the follow-on delusion is a one-time experience,

brought on by a very unusual personal trauma.

You're aware, Major, that Frederick Flanagan is especially interested in this case?

Of course he is.

Mr. Youngstrom lives on the Flanagan estate.

It's more than a paternalistic interest, I assure you.

His office has made a special request. Informal, to be sure,

but to be kept up to date on everything.

Sir, I found Mr. Flanagan to be very understanding. And personally,

I think he's intrigued by the story, and he didn't put much stock in it.

So I can't see how his interest is pertinent to us.

Major, this is your baby.

Okay.

I'll let it go. Thank you, sir. Ops immediate.

Yes, sir. Gentlemen.

If the plan comes through before then, I'll call you motel, sir. Otherwise,

figure I'm hitching the 135 to Dayton at 1800 hours. Got a deal.

You got any ideas on how to kill the rest of the afternoon?

Well, there are some good game shows on the tube.

Major Gatlin.

Who?

Christy Shields, Major. I'm calling for Frederick Flanagan.

Yes, that Christy Shields.

Major, Mr. Flanagan called me from the airport and asked me

to invite you and Sergeant Fitz to meet him at his house.

Well, if you leave the motel right now, he'll arrive when you do.

Miss Shields, that's awfully short notice.

We're scheduled to take off early tonight for Dayton.

Yes, you're flying out at 6 p.m. on a military air transport.

You'll have plenty of time.

It is essential that you meet with Mr. Flanagan.

If it's essential, we'll be there.

Good.

Miss Shields?

Yes?

Am I to infer that you'll be there, too?

Well, that's a very reasonable assumption.

Then this is some kind of media coverage.

Well, a lot depends on what you have to say, Major.

But it's certainly on the record.

I see.

All right, 20 minutes.

Goodbye, Major.

Off to the races. Important races. No telling how big.

You know, I still don't really get it, Fred.

Those Blue Book chokers put their heads right

in it. They're dropping it, dropping it cold.

And I'm going to make sure that nobody back at

ETIC will pick it up until I warn them to,

and by then it's going to be too late.

For what?

Don't you see? I'll have the one big plank on my platform.

The one story that no other candidate is going to even be close to.

Who's covering up on UFOs?

Why? How dare the military keep our civilians in the dark? It's perfect.

I'll take on the armed services and the Pentagon,

and I'll keep them on the defensive all through the campaign.

Oh.

You think I might get an exclusive or two on that, Senator?

I think that's a very reasonable assumption.

Say that again, will you?

Say what?

Senator Flanagan.

How does a normal, everyday,

hard-working sense of the man come up with

a story about a flying saucer and humanoids

who give him strange objects and drink from

jugs that defy gravity and a gift of food?

Oh, I know, you say he could have bought the pancake mix in the supermarket.

But why does a man come up with those details unless he experiences them?

I think because Mr. Youngstrom is a devout and religious man.

What the hell does religion have to do with all this?

You never mentioned religion in your report.

No, I didn't, because I thought it was much too personal.

An invasion of his privacy,

and because it was and is just my own subjective opinion of the underlying cause.

I find that fascinating, Major Gatlin.

I'd certainly like to hear your subjective opinion.

Because he never got over the tragic shock of Cynthia's death,

and he turned to his religion for comfort.

We're talking specifics, Major.

Floating alabaster jugs and humanoids and spaceships.

So am I. I think that Carl Jungstrom sought out an answer

to his grief and the only authority he could accept.

His Bible.

And he wanted very much to receive some comfort.

He imagined it coming to him in a very specific, tangible, dramatic way.

What specific way?

Mr. Youngstrom always referred to the sighting as awesome, glorious.

The craft had a heavenly glow.

He said the people who greeted him knew what he was thinking,

which is the quality of angels. He told us of a jar of alabaster,

a substance found throughout the Bible, a jar which floated through the air,

which spilled, the cup which runneth over.

We think he considered the loaf in the truly

biblical sense, bread, the staff of life.

The staff which comforteth.

And that's your story, Major?

That's my story.

Yes, sir.

Major Gatlin, I think that's the same kind of moonshine and poppycock and

drivel that Project Blue Book has been feeding us civilians for years.

We pay billions and we get amateur explanations.

We get hundreds of legitimate sightings that you guys just sweep under the rugs.

Well, this is one you're not going to bury.

And after I get through with you and your superiors,

the people of this state and this country are going to get some straight answers.

Sir, the facts will bear me out.

Facts!

You spot off religious soap bubbles.

You accuse a man whose father worked for my father,

a man I know like a member of my own family.

You're accusing Carl of being a religious wacko.

No, sir, just being deluded. You knew he was deluded.

I knew?

All I know about Carl is he's as sensible as I am.

That's not strictly true, sir.

Are you calling me a liar?

No.

I'm just saying that on the record, I believe you know that Mr.

Youngstrom's story is a result of his temporary mental imbalance.

And in spite of that, you intend to make political capital of it.

I've had to kick a lot of rear ends to get where I am.

But believe me, kicking yours is going to be a real pleasure.

If you can kick me out of my job, Mr. Flanagan,

maybe it isn't worth having in the first place. And I'll take my chance, sir.

I'm perfectly sure we can prove that you knew

that Carl wasn't mentally stable that night.

Only I know what I thought about Carl Youngstrom. And the tape recorder, sir?

I didn't talk to you on tape. Carl did all the talking.

It's what you didn't say, Mr. Flanagan.

Do you make sense of this, Christie? Do you know what they're talking about?

It took me a long time to put my finger on it, but when I did,

it convinced me I was right about him,

and now it convinces me that I'm right about you.

I'm usually in bed at that time, but it was good I was awake, wasn't it, Mitchell?

Because I was working on a dollhouse for my granddaughter, Cynthia.

I want to have it finished by June 3rd, because that's her sixth birthday.

You see, Mr. Flanagan, let that go right by.

He knew that Cynthia wasn't alive.

He knew that Carl Youngstrom was living in a world of his own,

but he didn't tell us because he was already planning

somehow to use the story of a UFO landing here.

And he needed to keep Carl Youngstrom and Carl's

loyalty to the Flanagan family in his hip pocket.

But I didn't point that out in my report, sir.

Just as I didn't spell out everything I felt about Mr. Youngstrom's state of mind.

Now, if there's nothing else, we have a plane to catch.

Don't bother showing us to the door. I know my way out.

Good day, Miss Shields.

Goodbye, Major. Goodbye, Sergeant.

It's not exactly what I expected, but I've got to admit it was different.

What the hell, it was a great opportunity.

You're gonna grab these chances in my business, right?

Nobody in the whole wide world will know except those two,

and they'll never open their yaps.

Let's have a drink of the gift.

So I lost one.

Wrong, Fred.

You lost too.

A lot of time and money, and what have we got to show for it? Except one more file.

One more file for that Dendroi label, Psychological Fantasy.

What's this?

Pardon me, Major Gatlin. I have to talk to you away from the house.

Sure, Amanda. What?

Carl's in trouble, isn't he?

No, he's not in any trouble.

I have something to tell you.

All right.

I saw it, too.

Why didn't you tell us before, ma'am?

So many people doubted Carl, and I thought you didn't believe him either.

But now I'm the only one he can count on to make people believe him.

Carl never said that you two saw it together.

I was downstairs in the kitchen having a glass of warm milk. I couldn't sleep.

And I looked out, and I saw it land. And I saw Carl run out.

Nous venons pour mieux vous connaître.

Nous n'avons pas l'intention de vous nuire.

We came to learn more about you. Nothing is impossible.

We came here to know you better. We have good intentions.

We come to know you better.

We mean you no harm.

Don't you believe me?

I guess you meant well, Anita. But there is no need to try to help him.

That's all I wanted to do, to try to help.

That's the only reason I would not tell the truth. And please forgive me.

It's all right, ma'am.

Oh, before you leave...

I did bake the bread. I did.