There is nothing wrong
with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission.
If we wish to make it louder,
we will bring up the volume.
If we wish to make it softer,
we will tune it to a whisper.
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can roll the image...
Make it flutter.
We can change the focus to a soft blur...
Or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly,
and we will control all that you see and hear.
We repeat, there is nothing wrong
with your television set.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to...
KXKVI is located on highway 601
just 6 miles south of Cotterfield,
where the supermarkets meet the people.
Serving all of Los Feliz county,
in sunny Southern Cal.
KXKVI is brought to you good people
at 1820, 1-8-2-0 on your radio dial.
Keep listening now for your top 10 tunes
brought to you by your boy Buddy.
Number 6, come rock with me,
an up-and-swinging vocal offering
by the high lifers.
The shoe store spots,
Barney's drive-in,
and the news and weather is on top.
Carol, get Alan. Tell him to come in here quick.
What's wrong?
Look at that dial.
That needle has just dropped about 10 points.
What is it?
The power output.
We're broadcasting on just about half.
Go on, babe. Go get him.
I can't.
What do you mean you can't?
He knows about it.
How could he know about it? It just happened.
He's in the transmitter shed.
Are you telling me he cut down the power? On purpose?
But, Carol, that's against the law.
These people pay us to cover an area of 200 miles.
We guarantee them over a million audience.
All right, he's stealing power.
"Stealing power"?
Well, he's been doing it for weeks.
He steals equipment, too...
Transistors, condensers...
We've got bills up to here.
We can't let him shut down,
let everything go to pot.
Go tell him, Carol, tell him
that if he doesn't boost us back on the air,
we're... we're gonna have our contracts ripped up
by the sponsors.
He won't open the door.
Phone him.
Come over here right away.
I want you to see something.
Said for me to come over.
He's probably picked up a program from telstar.
Well, I'll go humor him.
You watch. Before he knows it,
he's gonna be cleaned up,
dressed up, and ready to go...
Or I'll kill him.
This is Gene "Buddy" Maxwell bringing you
your Saturday dance parade.
Come in!
Close the door, please.
Carol, look.
What is it?
Well, I thought it was hydrogen static, but it's...
Static? Listen.
I'm sure that's hydrogen and radio waves
coming in at 21 centimeters.
Except for that high-pitched tone,
I don't know what that is.
It puts my teeth on edge.
I fed it through the TV monitor,
tried to get a visual analysis.
What good is it?
Well, it's coming from out there.
Out where?
Space.
Just space?
Yeah.
Haven't been able to pinpoint it yet.
It's taken a lot of power just to get this much.
Yeah, you cut the station down about half.
Well, I can't help that.
Well, you know we can lose our sponsors.
This is more important.
More important than drive-in commercials?
More important than paying the bills?
The bills will be paid.
Carol...
I want you to see what I've done.
Allan, do you even care anything
about your own family?
Sure. Look,
see, that's a 3-dimensional TV scanner
it's the same as a conventional television
except it shows the image in 3 dimensions:
Height, width, depth,
and it shows the sound you just heard
in 3 dimensions.
See, by scanning it 3 ways, I'm able to give it solidity.
Solid static.
It's formed out of microwaves.
Allan, I know
that it... It makes you angry
when I ask you questions like this,
but what good is it?
Well, it's interesting.
You have spent thousands of dollars on...
On transistors, and... and circuits,
and cathode ray...
You're just bleeding electricity
out of that transmitter
until there is nothing left of KXKVI,
but... but... but just a feeble beep,
and all you can say is "it's interesting"?
Carol, it's more than interesting.
It's important.
Do you realize that every important change
in the world for the last 30 years
has come out of research in microwaves?
Radar, television, even the h-bomb.
But what makes you think
that you can discover anything?
Who are you?
Nobody. Nobody at all.
But the secrets of the universe don't mind.
They reveal themselves to nobodies who care.
Isaac Newton was a nobody.
Michael Faraday was a bookbinder's apprentice.
Yes, but now... now they have big laboratories
that... that work on all those things.
The big laboratories spend millions of dollars, Carol,
and they work slowly and surely,
and they get results, but not the big steps.
Not the breakthroughs...
Those come from the human mind,
not from the laboratory.
Call 'em inspiration,
call 'em intuition,
maybe blind luck,
maybe it's god saying, "now's the time."
Well, I'm sorry, Allan,
but I don't like it...
Because every day it takes you away from me
more and more, until I hardly know you.
You have friends who love you,
want to honor you.
We want to see you and be with you.
Well, I don't have time for that sort of thing now.
You don't have time for, uh, friends and...
An everyday life,
but you have all the time in the world
for a... A cloud of static?
Well, I'm sorry, Allan.
Don't ask me to appreciate it,
because I can't.
It's cold.
It... it sounds like sleet and snow
and it... and it looks like electricity frozen.
I just...
I... I... I don't like it. I'm sorry.
Do you, uh...
Do you happen to remember
that half the town is turning out
to honor you tonight?
Tonight?
Yes, it's uh... It's a testimonial dinner.
And they have a scroll and a plaque.
And you can't disappoint them.
No, I-i-I'll try not to let them down.
Allan, you've known about it for months,
and you can't hurt people.
You just can't.
No, I... I don't... I don't want to hurt people.
All right, does that mean then
that you'll get dressed
and you'll be ready on time?
Uh, yeah. Yeah, yes.
Thank you. Very much.
Who are you?
Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
Where are you?
Solar system.
Sun. Mercury. Venus. Earth.
I am transmitting from earth.
Where are you transmitting from?
Outside the solar system?
My antenna is centered on the edge
of the constellation Pegasus.
Are you beyond?
Do you understand?
How can I communicate with you? Words?
Mathematics?
Can you translate your binary pulses
into my computer?
Try to form...
Your thoughts...
Into word patterns using binary system.
My computer...
Can translate your pulses...
Into... my language.
Who...
Are you?
My name...
Is Allan Maxwell.
I am transmitting from a station...
On the third planet in the solar system.
Earth.
Are... you... receiving...
Dimensional... image?
I am scanning the microwaves
coming from somewhere
beyond the constellation of Pegasus.
Hold chart.
Hold image... Universe.
Point.
Move point due east. Third quadrant.
Move north.
Stop.
That is transmission point.
The great spiral Andromeda?
Yes. Transmission northwest quadrant.
Star system with 3-1 satellites.
Solar system?
3-1 satellites.
31 planets?
Yes. 3-1 planets.
Do you see me?
Very dim.
You are in... Room.
Electronic room.
Do not increase your power.
Galaxy forbids contact of planets beyond central system.
We're both breaking the rules.
I'm not allowed to use the station
for research.
I am not allowed to use equipment for exploration.
Do you have a name?
Numbers not same as your 4-dimension numbers.
What is below eyes?
"Below eyes"?
Holes... in face.
Nose. Mouth.
Why?
Smell.
Eat. Speak.
Smell? Eat? To talk?
Explain.
Molecules flow through air
to olfactory lobes.
Eat?
Carbon cycle.
Plants, animals, h2o.
Talk?
Communication.
Is that why mouth-hole moving?
You hear me, don't you?
Yes.
Do you have life?
Not the same.
You are carbon cycle.
We are nitrogen cycle.
Where you are, do you have death?
Repeat.
We have end of being.
We stop moving...
Stop breathing.
No thoughts. Nothing.
We call it death.
Death is property of carbon cycle
in 3-dimension.
No death in our dimension.
Electromagnetic waves go on to infinity.
Do my brain waves go on?
Yes.
What about wars?
Do you have wars?
Repeat.
Battles. Atom bombs.
Radiation fallout.
Forbidden.
Reason we are not allowed to contact you.
You are danger to other galaxies.
What about god?
Do you have a god?
Explain.
An all-powerful being...
A force, underlying everything.
Electromagnetic forces underlying all.
No, I mean, an intelligent force.
God.
Electromagnetic force, intelligence.
Matter, space, time... All the same.
All the same?
Different names.
Infinity.
Infinity is god.
God infinity.
All the same.
You look great, Carol.
Thank you, sir.
Your voice sounds
in good working order.
Yeah, I use lemon and honey.
Say, I, uh, I brought some albums.
I wonder if you'd check 'em over for clearance?
Uh, no, take 'em to Gene.
He's waiting for you inside.
Oh, OK. I'll see you later.
Allan?
What?
Are you ready to go?
No. I can't.
What do you mean, you can't?
I can't, Carol. Something has happened.
I've got to write out a report.
But you promised.
I-I'm all dressed up.
Gene's waiting...
We even hired a relief announcer
to take Gene's place.
It doesn't matter, Carol.
Something tremendous has happened.
I've made a discovery.
Well, I don't want to hear about it.
Well, come in and see.
No, I don't want to see.
I just... I just want my husband,
and I want him here. Now.
In this world tonight.
We can't keep the mayor and his wife
waiting any longer.
I don't care what you've discovered, Allan.
One evening,
one hour is not going to make any difference.
It might make all the difference
in the world.
I'm not going to, um, ask you to choose
between me and, uh, whatever that is,
because I would probably lose.
So I'm going to force you to accept the honor
that's due an outstanding member of the community.
I'm going to tell everyone that you invited them here.
Here?
If you won't come to your own party,
then I'll bring the party here.
No, you can't, Carol.
They... they... they wouldn't understand.
Oh, can't I? I think they'd just love
to see your workshop and your experiments.
We can... we can jam 50 people in there
without breaking too much equipment.
All right. All right. I'll be there.
I mean it, Allan,
if you don't follow us in that station wagon,
I'm gonna bring everybody right back here,
and the mayor can give you your plaque while you work.
All right. I'll be there.
Oh, uh...
This needle might give you a little trouble.
It kind of cuts down on power
once in a while.
What do I do?
Just leave it alone.
OK. Uh, you want to bring me on after this record?
Yeah. Yeah. Give me a voice level.
1, 2, 3. This is Eddie Phillips,
the voice of Los Feliz,
subbing for Gene "Buddy" Maxwell.
Fine.
Here he comes... The slim one, Eddie Phillips.
Great to have you on board, Eddie boy.
Pleasure to be here, Gene "Buddy" Maxwell.
Eddie Phillips will substitute
for the next 3 hours
to bring you the best in music from KXKVI,
your dancing station,
covering Los Feliz and Cotterfield.
This is Gene "Buddy" Maxwell signing off for now.
Please stay tuned for Eddie Phillips' record revue.
Edward, you've got it.
Many thanks, Gene,
and my congratulations to your brother Allan
on his testimonial shindig tonight.
He's made KXKVI the beacon of the southwest
and all of you in the Maxwell family
deserve a big round of applause.
We start off this evening's celebration
with a musical salute to the Maxwells.
Brother Allan, the electronic wizard,
and brother Gene "Buddy" Maxwell,
your favorite D.J. In the desert area.
Here we are with the deuces and treys
singing big time daddy.
Are you ready?
Is he coming?
Yes, or else.
He's gonna follow us in the station wagon.
Fine.
Nice and easy.
Same to you.
I have to go.
To Cotterfield center.
If I don't, other people will come in.
End of transmission.
No. Keep the channel open.
Danger.
I will keep the selectors locked.
If your signal drifts,
it will keep them centered.
I'll be back in one hour.
Hour?
Passage of time it takes earth
to revolve 1/24 of its circumference.
Do not change power level.
Don't worry.
Your selectors are locked.
Your channel is centered.
Keep transmitting.
I'll return in one hour.
Wait for me.
Thank you, Deuces and Treys.
Coming up now, an all-time favorite
selected for you by yours truly, Eddie Phillips,
the voice of Los Feliz.
I'm Eddie Phillips. What do you say, Allan?
Hello, Eddie. Did Carol go on?
Uh, yeah. Gene drove her on in.
You're supposed to take the station wagon.
Yeah.
Eddie, this is the power transmitter control.
This is the output monitor.
Yeah, that's a pretty weak signal you're putting out.
Oh, yeah, well, I, uh,
I, uh, blew some fuses.
Uh, knocked out half the breakers.
I doubt if you're carrying over 30 miles.
Yeah, well, that's exactly where I want it.
No more, no less.
Now, Eddie,
if that needle creeps to either side,
just keep it centered right where it is.
Hang on, now,
I'm not an engineer.
No, I don't expect any trouble,
but if it does move, just...
Just keep it right... Right there where it is.
Uh, does, um, that knob boost the power?
Yeah.
How much of a load will it take?
We're tied into the substation...
High-tension substation...
Plus generators.
Uh, I mean,
how far can you carry with a full load
in case you ever had to pour it on?
With a full-power broadcast,
they'd hear you in Canada,
SHF, anywhere in the world.
Oh, no wonder you blew the fuses.
Look, um, Eddie, don't even touch it
unless you have to.
I'll be back in about an hour.
OK.
Uh, when they're toasting you,
have one on me.
Yeah.
On behalf of the young people and citizens,
to you, Allan Maxwell.
Look, Carol, I've got my plaque.
The mayor's happy. The party's fine.
Nobody's gonna notice if I take off.
I'll notice.
Well, you'll be the only one.
I've been here almost an hour,
and nobody's even said hello.
You've been in cold storage so long,
nobody knows who you are.
I could come back
and pick you up after midnight.
If you leave me, I'll leave you.
Let's get a breath of air.
If we have to toast Allan one more time,
they'll carry me out.
Hello there.
Oh, thank you very much. Good to see ya.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much.
You know, I feel pretty special
sneaking away with the brother
of a guest of honor.
Well, you are special, baby.
Cool night air, cool music,
and the cool lips of Gene "Buddy" Maxwell
on your fevered brow.
Look, honey, I'm talking as loud as I can.
They got the power trimmed down.
Trying to save a buck... On my time.
You know it.
Before I'm through,
the whole country's gonna know it.
This is Eddie Phillips booming out at ya
from here to Canada and east to the Mississippi.
Keep your set tuned on. Listen to how it soups up.
Yeah, I'll call you back on the next record.
You are listening to the big, big new sound
on KXKVI.
This is Eddie Phillips, the voice of Los Feliz,
welcoming all you new listeners.
From here to Canada and east...
What's he doing with that?
He's fooling around with the transmitter.
I'd better tell Allan.
Hey, Allan, something's going on
down at the station.
The car radio started to blast,
and then it turned to solid static.
Solid static?
Yeah.
When did it start?
Couple of minutes ago.
Yeah, it's way overreach.
He said something
about welcoming new listeners in Canada.
I told him not to turn up the power.
Where are you going?
To make a telephone call.
It's busy.
He's probably taking record requests.
No, I don't... I don't think so.
Hey, you want to drive up?
What? No, uh, the phone's quicker.
I, uh, need to get to him
and tell him to cut down on that power.
Is there any danger?
Uh, all kinds.
Check the operator. See if it's out of order.
No, I'll, uh, I'll call Collins
over at the warehouse,
ask him to run a message over.
No answer?
No, it's dead.
It's dead.
You're going out to the station?
It doesn't sound like 1820, does it?
Frequency cycle.
At least the static's quieted down.
I'm going out there.
Tell Carol.
What happened?
Babe, come on.
He just probably took a walk.
He'll be back in a few minutes.
I don't care why he went.
Please, just leave me alone.
Come on.
Carol, are you all right?
No, I am not.
Listen, Carol,
I don't want you to get excited,
but something has happened.
Don't get excited.
The main thing is to be calm and come with me.
Look out!
Look out! Look out!
Let's get out of here!
Don't touch us! Radiation!
Don't! You'll burn us!
Follow me back to the transmitter.
It looked like a man, but it wasn't.
Read him the highway report.
"It glowed and flickered
like a person made out of blue light."
That's right.
It captured your brother and his wife.
Yeah. When I heard the screaming, I ran inside.
They, uh, they came by me. I... I tried to stop it.
Oh!
They found the car
smashed up in a ditch on 601.
The hood was crushed,
the wheels broken,
the paint burned off the front end,
and no survivors.
Put in a call to the state headquarters.
Request assistance outside the county police.
Yes, sir.
Did your brother say anything else?
Yeah. He said, "KXKVI."
Those are the call letters of our station.
Let's go.
It's all right. It'll be all right.
Back. Listen, it's all right.
Listen, I know it looks different than us,
but he's got a mind similar to us.
Please let me go.
He didn't want to come here,
and he made contact out of curiosity.
Don't you understand? We brought it here.
I've got to get it back!
Now be quiet, or we'll all get killed!
What happened?
Waited for you.
Power came on full.
Microwave transmission caught me.
No way to stop.
No way to get out.
Transmission of atomic structure.
Transmission of matter.
Can you get back?
Too late.
They know I have broken laws.
They must destroy me.
Destroy you?
I am danger to my galaxy.
They will come for me.
Aah! Aah!
Your people coming closer.
Carol, take a look.
No.
Tell 'em it's all right!
Go on!
She's dying.
Microwave pattern not moving.
I can feel damage in base of neck.
Don't touch her!
Stop damage.
Burn with radiation.
Cauterize?
Stop death.
Carol, are you all right?
Line up on the transmitter shed.
Don't fire!
Don't shoot. It's my brother!
Hold it.
We got orders to kill it by any and all means.
You can't kill a man with it.
Give me that speaker.
You get him out of there. We'll let him go.
Come out. Make a run for it. We'll cover you.
No!
I'm staying right here.
Now listen to me.
It won't hurt you.
You saw what it did. It's using him.
Come out.
This is your last chance.
Come out.
My wife is in there.
She was wounded, but it has helped her.
It saved her life!
There it is.
Fire.
Stop...
Or you be silenced.
You people of this planet,
you must not use force.
You do not move.
I do not see you,
but I receive your brain patterns.
I have told you not to use force.
Now I warn you,
there are powers in the universe
beyond anything you know.
There is much you have to learn.
You must explore.
You must reach out.
Go to your homes.
Go and give thought
to the mysteries of the universe.
I will leave you now in peace.
What are you going to do?
Reduce the microwave intensity.
Reduce mass.
You'll disintegrate.
There is no death for me.
What will happen?
Unknown.
Unknown?
End... of... transmission.
The planet earth is a speck of dust,
remote and alone in the void.
There are powers in the universe
inscrutable and profound.
Fear cannot save us.
Rage cannot help us.
We must see the stranger in a new light...
The light of understanding.
And to achieve this,
we must begin to understand ourselves
and each other.
We now return control of your television set to you
until next week at this same time,
when the control voice will take you to...