Original subtitles

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

Or just what are they?

Binda.

Binda, come out here. Grab the camera.

What?

I swear, coming out of the north, going like blazes.

I have never seen anything like that before.

There we go.

You did see it, didn't you?

I don't believe it, but we saw it.

Sam? I'm not sure.

Ask me tomorrow.

Whoo!

Come in.

Sergeant Fitz, permission to enter your quarters. Yes, sir. Come on in, Captain.

Sergeant Harry.

Sergeant, I'm not one to criticize a man's personal habits, but... Yes, sir?

What is that aroma?

Well, you see, Captain, ever since I've been here at Wright, Pat,

these boys from Ohio keep telling me about

the large catfish they catch in Ohio River.

Haul them in about a dozen.

Big around as a telephone pole.

Now, my magic bait and I, we're gonna find out if there's any truth in it.

I don't know why I want to know, but what is it?

You being an officer and a gentleman,

do I have your solemn assurance You won't divulge the recipe to anyone.

Harry, I don't think I'm gonna get a lot of requests.

Bullfrog tadpoles.

See what you do.

You marinate them with about a pound of pig's

liver, and after a while... I get the picture.

Oh, they really start to grow.

Sergeant Lauders and I rented a houseboat.

Gonna use them a three-day pass to defend the

honor of South Carolina fishermen everywhere.

Um... Where am I?

Hate to cancel a pass that's already commenced.

Well, if it's important, sir. We got a stack of Twixes from California.

Little town near the coast, Davidson. It's north of Santa Barbara.

Last night, 28 people reported sighting a UFO.

Six different locations.

A mass sighting? Only one thing.

Now, Mitro predicts a dense fog and a sock in the whole coast.

There's a C-141 leaving for Vandenberg in an hour, and if we hustle,

we might make it before the airport shutdown.

If your catfish can wait.

Well, that's the beauty of this stuff, sir.

It just keeps getting better and better. I bet it does, sir.

Yeah.

Is the Air Force dragging its feet on this one?

Is there any reason to suspect a cover-up?

Nice landing in this fog. Thanks. No sweat, Captain. Anytime

you need a hop, give me a call.

Gotcha.

Captain Ryan? Finally.

Captain Harlan, Public Information Office Vandenberg. Hi. This

is my partner, Sergeant Fitz.

Welcome to UFO City. I'll tell you,

I've never seen or read of anything like these sightings. Just wait.

Captain Harlan, these sightings began two days ago, Monday night?

Correct. Professor Robinson was the first one to see them.

We have an appointment with him first thing tomorrow morning.

That's Professor John Robinson at the college.

The hotel is just a short walk away.

All right, Professor Robinson, can we begin with the first time you saw the lights?

Fine.

Our friend, Samantha Klein, who's a professor of biology, was over for dinner,

and we were discussing the problems involved in teaching our various disciplines.

What problems have you got, Sam?

Careful, Professor. You've got tenure.

You can do any research you want.

Your future's ideal.

Only trouble with the future is that it gets here so much faster than it used to.

Ha.

Biology's so much simpler.

Oh, your social scientists make it sound so easy.

Okay, if I want my students to explore paranoid neurosis,

now where do I whistle up a dozen of those on short order?

You could try the faculty lounge.

Come on, Sam, I'm serious.

This is getting too serious.

Sam and I will whip up a salad.

You watch the bird, John.

When it disappeared, we're practically in a state of shock.

Are you all right?

Am I all right?

Am I all right?

Come on, Sam, you did see something.

All right, I saw something, but what was it?

I, uh... You know what it was.

It was a UFO.

Had to be. Do you really think so?

First thing I did was call the paper.

But, uh...

As I was talking, this great idea occurred to me.

I teach a course in statistical methods.

What a great opportunity for the kids to learn interviewing techniques, right?

So I asked the paper to publish my name and my number,

And to ask other witnesses to call up and tell me what they'd seen.

The response was unbelievable.

They got more real experience in one day than

I could teach them in a whole year of theory.

Isn't this an amazing response we're getting?

It's incredible. I can't believe it.

Can you cope?

Of course.

The next night, Linda and I had to get out of that house or we'd go bananas.

Samantha wanted our help with some more precise measurements,

so we sat up in a field south of town.

And we hoped they'd come back.

Dad, a little that way.

Down, darling, that's it.

Hold it.

Yeah, that's right, pound again.

¶¶ Okay.

It was as if all of us were looking up into the sky for some mysterious answer.

Nothing else mattered.

You're right about these. They're not much good, except for this set.

Something your people at Vandenberg can get their teeth into.

Right, sir? Let's concentrate on these for the purpose of detailed analysis.

What do you want to do with the rest?

Well, they're yours for your files.

And if you need more, just walk down the main

drag with your service cap in your hand.

Hi, is Dr. Klein here?

Stop. Right where you are. Don't move. Except to turn around and get out.

Dr. Klein, I had some gentlemen... Flying saucers.

My experiment is in a very critical stage, Captain.

Dr. Klein, you promised us your negatives.

Second drawer from the end.

It's in the envelope.

I typed up all the data. Focal length, f-stops, ASA rating. Anything else?

Dr. Klein, I'm Captain Ben Ryan, Foreign Technology Division. Right, Patterson?

What's your question?

The Robinsons told you the story.

My experience is theirs in every detail.

They mentioned you were computing angles of elevations for distance and time.

Correct. It's all on the sheet.

The objects traversed 120 degrees of arc in three seconds.

Bye.

What do you think it was, Dr. Klein?

Unknown lights.

Lights in the sky.

I'd say she's a rather positive person.

Reminds me of a third grade teacher I had.

And a master sergeant in pre-flight.

And the second night it came over, I just put myself on code 7.

Pardon me, Sergeant Gomez, does code 7 mean the same?

Mill break.

At the Adobe restaurant, Webster and Vallejo Way.

And I got a funny feeling, hard to describe.

I just knew it was gonna happen again.

So I stopped, looked up, and I swear, there it was.

It was truly wonderful.

Almost like being in church.

It's nothing I'm ashamed of.

I know a cop is supposed to be hard-nosed, factual,

not talking about things being wonderful, right?

Just because we put on a uniform, officer,

doesn't mean we leave our feelings behind.

I was a, uh...

Air traffic controller at Los Angeles International for five years.

The objects I saw on the nights of the 16th and 17th were luminous blue-green,

traveling at great speed at approximately 12,000 feet.

In your experience, sir? In my experience, I've never seen anything quite like it.

But I, uh, I expect to see it again.

I know they're from another civilization.

Tonight.

Outer space.

Well, poking around Vandenberg, all those rocket chutes going off, I've seen B-52s,

seen experimental craft out of Edwards.

These UFOs don't look anything like that, and they sure go a heck of a lot faster.

They don't resemble any ordinary aircraft at all, ma'am?

My pictures look like conventional planes.

And I never knew our planes flying around here made the Coots act so funny.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Riker, Coots?

Fancy name for them is Scooters.

All us natives call them Coots. Like a duck.

No bird sounds when the UFOs went over.

Then as soon as they made that big sharp turn,

the coots all started screeching and quacking.

The coots know they're from another planet, too.

Ever play that game when you were a kid, Sergeant?

See how many people you make look up?

Yes, sir.

They named it the power of suggestion.

They weren't just fooling around.

It's hard not to get caught up in that mood of

suggestion. You feel it, don't you? Sure do.

What the heck?

Sergeant Gomez!

The city council voted.

Turn off the streetlights so the people can see the UFO better.

Estos son los soldados del UFO?

Sí, ellos son.

Enséñales mis pinturas.

No están interesados en sus pinturas.

¿Cómo no están interesados en mis pinturas? Es de

suma importancia. Explícales, tú que los conoces.

Captain, I'm sorry. This old fool is my uncle Carlos.

He lives in a blind arroyo north of town.

Makes a little money with his drawings that he sells to the tourists.

It's not bad.

Muy bueno.

I told him that I'd talk to you experts, and he insists that I tell you.

About two nights ago, at his shack, this time of night, he was drinking coffee.

I think a little cerveza, too.

No cerveza.

Okay, no cerveza.

Diles, que vi una máquina enorme, gigantesca, como el ala de un halcón,

y aventaba chispas, y chillaba como una víbora.

He says he saw a giant machine that night that looked like a hawk's wing.

It was spitting fire and hissing like a snake.

How big was the machine?

He says big, like six freight cars.

That could be what, 300 feet wide?

How high was it? He says like the steeple of the church. He has a drawing of it.

Hello? Captain Ryan. I'm Bill Gillette. I'm a reporter for the Valley Journal.

I also host a local radio show. Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Gillette.

We're just on the way out.

Ah, that's too bad.

Well, I thought maybe you'd like to see an advance copy of today's paper.

Anyway.

Well, you get an A for accuracy.

And for snappy headlines. We're not trying to sensationalize this thing, Sergeant.

As a matter of fact, Captain,

I get a little bit nervous when flying saucers begin to influence city councils.

You mean turning off the streetlights last night?

My story, right down page three.

Um, I would like to know, Captain, what are your findings so far?

We have nothing for you at this time. All right.

You know, usually you do make some effort to inform people

involved in a sighting what your conclusions are.

I understand you've been crying Air Force cover-up on your radio show, Mr. Gillette.

I can assure you that's not happening here.

We're not covering up. We're investigating a multiple sighting,

and the investigation isn't complete. And I am simply submitting, Captain,

that you owe these Davidson people some answers.

We'll be pleased to take it to the people. I can plan

on having a news conference. We'll consider it.

That's all I can promise.

Well, that's all I wanted to hear, Captain.

Thank you.

Will you also make sure that your listeners hear it, too?

Uh, I'll consider it.

That's all I can promise.

First of all, we plotted the locations of about 50 witnesses

on this map of Davidson and its surroundings.

Based on that information,

we've developed a fairly accurate line of flight for the UFOs marked here in red.

Now, this course changed.

If the object was flying at high altitude,

this turn would have to have been a right angle made almost instantaneously.

That's consistent with other sightings.

So, we're down to Samantha Klein's pictures.

With no radar confirms, No research or weather balloons in the area.

Vandenberg didn't have any launches.

These are the only bit of solid evidence we have.

Good that she got this transmission tower as a reference point. I'll say.

The Vandenberg technicians break down any estimates of speed, sir?

Well, within limits.

It could be a vehicle traveling at an altitude of 12,000 feet,

about 250 feet in width, with incredibly bright lights,

traveling at speeds in excess of 3,000 knots.

Or, at the bottom end of the scale,

it could be something at an altitude of 150 feet traveling at 35 miles an hour.

Some scale. Sir, you saw it out at the strip. What altitude did you estimate?

I would have guessed at least 10,000 feet with amazingly bright lights.

But I'd be the first one to admit the fog is darn misleading.

I could only follow them a few degrees within sight of my zenith.

Is this a recent-issue geodetic survey?

Correct.

And these are the high-power transmission lines?

Right. One of the towers she happened to get. What are they?

The standard is 40 meters.

130 feet.

Assuming the UFO was at the minimum altitude,

this right angle turn here could have been the result of its avoiding this tower.

That's an interesting theory, sir.

But let me fill you in on Samantha Klein's negatives.

Ten of them numbered 1 through 12. What's missing?

Uh...

Nine and ten.

Mark, personal.

What does she mean, personal?

Why don't you ask her?

Dr. Klein, can we talk to you for just a minute, please?

Haven't got a minute.

It's very important, doctor.

Captain, you'll have to forgive Sam.

She's so absorbed in this series of experiments. It's a thesis.

Look, we had to drag her out of that lab for lunch today.

Perhaps Linda and I could help.

There are two negatives missing from the role she gave our photo team.

We wanted to see them, too.

I think that she took a couple of pictures of us that night.

Remember, honey?

Yes.

I don't think Wright-Patterson could gain very much UFO information from them.

Isn't her set really impressive?

They're still being analyzed.

Well, you have to forgive Sam.

I've got a seminar.

It's nice to see you both.

Do you?

Dr. Robertson, one more minute, if we may. Newspaper interview this morning.

Oh, boy.

Don't blame me.

Good old William Shakespeare Gillette makes me sound like a revivalist or something.

We must turn on the lights so that they know we're here.

I said that as a joke. Look where it gets quoted.

He didn't say anything about my concern over the mass hysteria that

this town is locked into or how that kind of thing can grow.

I am a laughingstock of the faculty.

Just wait till I see that guy.

John.

Right.

Gentlemen, anything that we can do to help, please give us a call.

So a flying saucer flies overhead. Dr. Klein starts taking snapshots of her friends.

I didn't ask for a drink.

Well, I just thought that you... Oh, I know.

I thought I needed one.

What's next? A little bit of analysis?

Maybe a sleeping pill?

Oh, I wish you would.

Maybe then you... get some sleep.

Does it matter that much?

I'm sorry.

This problem's really driving a wedge between us.

If I could just get this to work, we could have what we've always wanted.

We could be equal partners. We could be committed teachers.

You and me.

We can be secure.

You must have enough data by now.

What you're doing is not scholarship, it's... It's what?

Manipulation.

Well, manipulation's the way of the world.

Well, I don't want it the way of my marriage.

And the first night, it was just as John had taped it for you.

Except for a few small details.

We weren't just talking idly about teaching.

John was feeling bitter.

I had just received my tenure at the college.

My position was secure, but John's... Begging to let me go?

I know it.

Talk like that?

All they insist upon is tangible evidence that you're contributing.

Contributing to the grand march of modern American psychology, ta-da!

Oh, stop crying in your margarita, John Robinson.

You knew when you chose this profession that your advancement

in the system would be dependent upon publishing articles,

doing recognized research.

Those are the ground rules for tenure.

Publish or perish.

That's what it's called, yes.

Well, it helps to be female.

That's nonsense.

Is it?

We did see the things, and it was amazing, as you know.

But afterward... You all right?

Am I all right? Am I all right?

Night desk.

This is Dr. John Robinson.

And this is not crazy. I have seen a flying saucer.

John's specialty is crowd hysteria, mob psychosis.

You could see the wheels turning in his head.

He was going to be the first psychologist to study

the effects of a UFO encounter up close.

You know the rest.

They mobbed us the next day.

He was on his way. A breakthrough paper, tenure,

maybe even a job at a bigger university.

Nothing was going to stop him.

Not even the truth.

We discovered the real truth the next night.

Just center on the bubble while citing your

object. And then I take my reading? Right.

You ready with the stove watch? Yes.

Here's number 10, gentlemen.

You'll understand why John didn't want you to know about it.

It's a new one, isn't it, Kevin?

Ladies and gentlemen, the experts of Blue Book are always full of surprises.

They are surprising us today by actually showing up.

Captain Harlan, thank you very much. Would you come this way, please?

Captain Ryan and Sergeant Fitz.

I hope you investigators come clean with us citizens for once.

Now, I saw those UFOs with my own eyes.

I sent in a whole roll of film to the Pentagon,

and they never even acknowledged it. Pictures of the UFOs.

I wish them luck.

Ladies and gentlemen of the community, ladies and gentlemen of the press,

Captain Harlan, Frank Stout,

is Washington trying to slough us off just sending a captain out here?

I mean, aren't the Davidson UFOs worth at least a lieutenant colonel?

The area of Davidson was overflown on the nights of the 15th, 16th,

and 17th by unidentified objects emitting a very bright blue-green luminescence.

Traveling from northwest to southeast,

I assume all of you here saw at least one flight.

Right so far, Captain. How are we doing, Sergeant? All to be yet, sir.

These are photographs taken by you and your neighbors?

The excellent enlargements were taken by a member

of the college faculty, almost a professional.

As you know, always the blue-green color, the objects, all of them V-shaped,

boomerang-shaped, if you will.

Generally the shape of the Northrop flying wing, which some of you may recall.

Flew out of Edwards.

But don't try and tell us those UFOs were your experimental aircraft.

You're always saying that.

Well, we're not saying that, sir.

Sergeant?

Regarding other possibilities,

exhaustive search of radar logs from all monitoring stations,

thorough checks of flight plans show no aircraft in the area at time of overflight.

We were convinced that these glowing objects were indeed real.

Real what, Sergeant?

Air Force photo analysis showed that these objects

weren't necessarily flying at high altitudes.

They might be as low as 150 feet. Now, remember the blue-green color.

Which is the hue, roughly, projected by your city's street lamps,

which are mercury vapor. Now, as you recall,

the city council turned off those street lights on the night of the 18th,

and no UFOs have been seen since.

Okay, Captain, we know all that.

Fine.

Here's something that none of us knew until a little while ago.

A model of a white-winged scoter, Malonita de Glandi.

The scoter, or a coot, as he's sometimes called,

is a migratory sea duck whose annual flyway passes very close to Davidson.

Now, they migrate at this time of year. When they do,

their dermal or skin layer secretes a heavy oil onto the feathers,

which makes any light area on the bird's body highly reflective.

Captain, are you trying to tell us that... In our judgment,

what passed over Davidson on those nights were flights of the white-winged scoter.

The oily white feathers picked up the glow of the mercury vapor streetlights

and reflected them back in the shape of paired trapezoids.

Which is exactly what one looking up would see.

Well, talk about razzle-dazzle cover-ups.

The pulsations you saw were caused by the ducks flapping their wings.

And when the lights were turned off... I've been living in Davidson all of my life,

and I'm telling you, scoters never flew over here.

They fly down the coast, and they fly in long, stringy lines.

Never like that in tight patterns like geese.

Look, I've been living here for 30 years, and I've never seen it either, sir.

But as a professor of biology, I can tell you,

scoter do sometimes fly in tight formation.

They're flyways down the coastline.

But that's no superhighway in the sky.

Their migratory paths vary.

And with the drought and the heavy rains, it's possible, probable, in fact,

that the patterns would change.

Where, Captain Ryan, is any proof?

I mean, where is the evidence?

I think the blue book just struck out.

The proof we have satisfies us, Mr. Gillette.

I mean, are these not Dr. Klein's photographs, the large ones?

Does anyone here see eyes or a beak?

Where's Dr. John Robinson, Captain? I mean, what kind of cover-up is this?

I'd like to know what Dr. Robinson has to say.

What if I told you that I had five witnesses

who saw more UFOs on the night of the 18th,

the night the vapor lights were turned off?

I'd say witnesses were lying, Bill.

Anybody who saw a UFO in the 18th would certainly have told me about it, I think,

as well as the authorities and you, Bill.

Captain Ryan, I'd like to thank you for trying to convince

these people of the truth without going any further.

Because you see, there is a cover-up here.

But it's my cover-up.

I've known since the second night what the UFOs were.

Because...

A scooter did hit the transmission tower and the apparent

UFO did seem to explode and the bird fell at our feet.

Dr. Klein even took some pictures and I begged

her not to release them because I wanted

to milk the Mass hysteria of the UFO for as

long as I could for my own selfish reasons.

Captain Ryan has those photographs.

I suspect he even...

That's the carcass of the bird.

Ladies and gentlemen, Blue Book does have the proof.

Well, there goes my byline in the New York Times.

Not yet. I mean, Mr. Gillette, you don't have five witnesses, do you?

But didn't you ever try to run out of bluff in a poker game?

Yep.

And I've been nailed by the guy with better cards.

Excuse me, Captain.

Ryan, sir.

I'm Rear Admiral Smith, retired, flying Space A. Pleased to meet you, sir.

This is my partner, Sergeant Fitz. Sergeant Fitz.

Admiral Smith.

How are you, sir?

Sergeant.

I'm Black Shoe Navy, although you fellas probably

can't tell with this crazy shirt I'm wearing.

Far cry from gold-braided navy blue, eh?

You on vacation, sir?

Extended.

After ten years of humping a cruiser all over the Pacific,

I'm putting some land under my feet for a while.

Two weeks of complete isolation in the mountains...

And now I'm off to the Great Plains.

I did want to ask you something tough, Captain.

I'm not up to date on experimental aircraft.

Does the Air Force have anything like, uh... I'm gonna reveal my age now.

Like the old flying wing?

No, sir. It's only the X-24. It's a one-man research

vehicle lifting body design. How big is that?

Just about fitting the cabin with us.

Well, let me tell you something.

I saw the strangest thing last week.

I don't know what time it was. I don't even know what day it was.

Like I said, complete isolation.

It was foggy, and I was playing my harmonica just before going to bed.

¶¶

I never saw it again. I sort of knew it wasn't any experimental craft.

I just want to tell somebody. I suppose you

fellas think I've been at sea too long, huh?

Admiral.

Would you please take a look at this picture, sir?

That's it.

That is it.