KATE: "In ordinary times,
"ordinary boys led ordinary lives filled with ordinary things,
"but these were not ordinary times,
"and Charlie Chestnut was no ordinary boy.
"He was the invited guest of Artemis P. Fonswick.
"All the animals knew Artemis.
"It was hard not to know a squirrel who was four feet tall.
"Artemis lived in the biggest oak tree in the woods.
"Inside the tree was a three-room house
"with a bedroom and a sitting room
"and a pantry with as many nuts as a person,
"or a squirrel, for that matter, would ever want to eat. "
"You could only find Artemis' home if you'd been invited,
and now Charlie Chestnut had been invited. "
BOY: Mum?
Go to sleep, Jesse.
You think Daddy ever thinks about us?
Of course he does, honey.
You think he'll ever come and see me?
You know I love you very much,
and you know Bill loves you, too,
just like you were his own boy.
Was it the war that made Daddy go away?
Kind of, honey.
I don't really remember him.
I just thought maybe
if you could call him on the phone or something
that he could be my invited guest.
Go to sleep.
- Jesse asleep? - Yeah.
Did Charlie go into the woods and find Artemis yet?
We always get to the part where he's about to go.
Love to know what happens when he gets to Artemis' house.
You'll get there.
He's asking about his father again.
He wants to know if Russell can come visit.
What did you tell him?
What can I tell him?
How about you, Kate?
You still miss him?
I'm married to you now, Bill.
That's not what I asked you.
That's what I thought.
Hey.
He ran out on us.
You were there, and you didn't go anywhere.
Don't think I don't know that.
(electricity buzzing)
(moaning)
(chuckles)
(grunts)
ALLIE: When you're a kid. all you ever want
is for the stories your mum reads you to be true.
You think you can crawl inside the world that's in every book
and live in the pictures on every page.
but deep down you know that this isn't something
that could ever happen.
And it's knowing that the magic isn't quite there.
that it's just over the next hill or maybe in the next story.
that makes you feel safe in your bed at night.
You really wouldn't want it to be any other way.
Whoa.
(laughs)
JESSE : Whoa.
(radio playing country music )
(gasps)
(tires squealing)
MAN : There'll be no more need for weapons that kill men.
Think those Volturans were on the level?
I'm sure they were.
There have never been any people in history
who wouldn't be free of a dictator if they could.
Alpha was sure pleased.
He said he'd supervise their elections.
MAN: If all men...
BOY: Little green men! Fire your ray gun!
... worship as they wished.
the universe need never know war again.
- (guns buzz) - Aah!
ALLIE: There are times when it seems
like the whole world is afraid...
Captain Video, blast the Martian invader!
They're no use against Zultan!
... when the fear is something you have to live with
day in and day out.
- Use the nails from last year. - I'm trying.
When people get scared. they do a lot of different things.
They fight or they run.
they destroy the thing they're afraid of.
or they put a lot of distance between it and them...
Hey! Watch it!
... make it something you can shoot at with a friction-action gun.
We'll get a tree tonight when I get home, okay?
Okay.
Bye, boys!
And try not to destroy the universe, all right?
BOY: Bye!
We took this craft apart more than ten years ago.
More than ten years, and we still have no idea how it ran,
no clue what its power source was
or what the aerodynamics involved were.
In fact, we know less now
than we did when we found the damn thing.
Just chime in if I've left anything out, gentlemen.
Two years ago, some tiny circuit
you thought might do something electrical.
Or was it something that stored information?
The year before, you thought you'd found out
what the thing was made of.
Ten years, gentlemen,
and so far all we have to show for all your hard work
is a way to hold my pants up without a belt.
Sir, we're dealing with technology so far beyond ours,
we can't even find a place to start.
We are in a space race. gentlemen.
Suppose another craft crashed or was brought down over the Soviet Union.
Could you imagine the implications
if the Russians were to master this technology first?
I hardly think that's likely.
Do you have a better explanation for the success of Sputnik?
- Sput-- - Do you?
This is Dr Kreutz.
He's here with Lockheed, working on a technology
for a plane that can fly undetected by radar.
You may have seen the prototype out in the yard.
His is a project that shows some signs of yielding results.
Dr Kreutz has agreed to come to our program
for an indefinite period of time.
Of course, a physicist of such eminence
comes with his own people.
As of today, you gentlemen are reassigned to other duties.
We've been receiving reports of very strange radio signals
coming from our base in Iceland.
Captain Bowen has the details of your transportation for you.
Merry Christmas.
I'm afraid I owe you an apology, Doctor.
Why?
One of the burdens that comes with this assignment--
I report directly to the president.
General Eisenhower is not a patient man.
I've led him to believe that some of your technological advances
were derived from our research.
What advances?
General Eisenhower was particularly impressed
by the Explorer satellites you sent up earlier this year.
I hope when you meet the president,
you won't disabuse him of his impression.
And be reassigned to Iceland a week before Christmas?
Certainly not.
Let me see your little bird.
(alarm sounding)
The interior wasn't damaged in the crash.
It's exactly as it was when we found it.
May l?
It is easy to see what has baffled your researchers
for all these years.
No instrument panels, no monitoring devices.
Nothing.
And yet even now there is a sense of energy here.
We have to limit exposure in here.
There's some sort of field or something.
In about six minutes, your head will start to ache.
Twenty minutes maximum before you have a cerebral hemorrhage.
You will never get this craft off the ground without an engine.
We can't find the engine.
There were five of them.
They died in 1 947.
KREUTZ: These are beings
of unimaginable power of mind.
The ability to reach inside a man's mind and give him
the images lurking there-- surely that requires more energy
than what is needed to guide a ship among the stars.
The power of mind-- that is the energy source
your scientists have been unable to find.
What do you suggest we do, Doc,
wait until they crash again?
- That is one option. - What's another one?
Find someone else with unimaginable power of mind.
(children chattering)
Oreos and a peanut-butter- and-jelly sandwich.
You're wrong.
My mum promised me a steak sandwich and pie.
How'd you do that, weirdo?
Your mum and dad had a fight last night
about him being drunk.
She used the steak on her eye.
She didn't feel much like making anything fancy.
You're dead, brainier.
(bell rings)
Hey, there he is.
Talk to me about my parents again, creep.
Are you hiding in the bushes outside my house?
Tell me where you were, you little weirdo!
BOY: Get him!
You're gonna die.
Travis.
Travis, look at me.
Aah! Aah! Aah!
(sobbing)
No. No. No...
BOY: What did you do, freak?
(Travis sobbing)
(Christmas song playing on radio )
I'm sorry I was late, hon. I got workin' in that shed.
Lost all track of time.
How was the last day of school?
Everybody excited about the big vacation?
Honey, are you feeling all right?
You don't have a fever.
I made you some fried chicken and brought you a Pepsi.
Here you go.
You can eat it now or you can rest until we get to Amarillo.
I love you, honey,
every day and twice on Sunday.
(whistle blowing)
MAN: Rock'n' roll died last March 24th
when Elvis went into the army.
Wouldn't you agree, Captain?
I was just saying rock'n' roll died
when Elvis went in the army.
Yeah, if you say so.
The captain's not one for conversation.
The way he holds on to that ratty duffel of his,
you'd think it was full of gold.
Go easy. He is not right.
I'm just trying to make friendly conversation.
Man thinks he's the only one with a past.
My father liked to say that there were these things in life
that didn't make any sense.
and they could never make any sense.
and if you were anywhere near smart. you knew that.
But your job was not to give up.
to keep on trying to make sense out of them anyway.
trying to understand things that could never be understood.
I guess maybe people will always find different names
for their answers.
but the one thing is
their questions will always be the same.
MAN : It was on my second trip to Venus
that I first met Renuthia and learned the answer to the question
that I'm sure has brought you here this evening,
and that is,
"What do our space brothers and sisters want from us?"
Well, what they want more than anything
is for all of us to be friends.
Hey!
Hey, Captain.
Give those back.
Yeah, what the hell, Captain.
Sure.
Uhh!
MAN: This is the dawning of a new era
of peace and understanding.
That is truly what they want us to know,
that we are all part of the same great whole,
that we all belong to the light.
These people are very gentle.
Their message is only one of kindness.
You want to tell us what you think
about Elvis getting drafted, or are you still too hoi polloi?
I want my things back.
Your hero medals? What you get your medals for?
What kind of man did you used to be
before you became just another lost soul?
You hit him again, I believe he'll die.
He'll die or I'm gonna have to give back his things,
and I don't want to do that.
The Feds! Come on, fellas!
Whoa!
Get away from me!
(banging)
Just go--now!
Get away from me!
(whimpers)
(screaming)
That is the message that I want to leave with you tonight.
They mean us no harm. They don't want to hurt us.
More than anything else, they want us to know...
they come in peace.
RUSSELL: No!
No! No, not again, you bastards!
No! Aah!
(screams echoing in distance)
(boy gasping)
(whispers) Jesse.
I've met them, too. One of them, at least.
There you are.
Do you think they'll be comin' back soon?
Our time and their time is not the same time.
Are you planning on coming to our New Year's festival?
I hadn't heard of it, actually.
Fifteen dollars includes a buffet dinner.
We're gonna call our space brothers and sisters.
- Thank you. - Bye, now.
(gasps)
(flames crackling)
Breakfast?
Compliments of Irish Dave and the others.
- They're gone? - Left in kind of a hurry.
Um...
Dave, um, wanted you to have these back
and to know that he was sorry
and that if he ever saw you again--
which he hopes that he doesn't-- that you would--
you would please forgive him.
(train whistle blows)
Whenever you're in the mood,
I, uh... I wouldn't mind knowing what happened here last night.
I was a pilot in the war. Did I mention that?
- You flew B-1 7s, right? - That's right--23 missions.
I guess you earned those medals the hard way.
My crew.
Nine men. All of them are dead.
What happened?
Something like what happened last night.
We were taken.
That's the best way I know how to describe it.
Taken by who?
Whatever they did to us, it killed my men.
I know that for a fact.
What I don't know...
... what I c-- what I can't understand...
... is why am I alive?
What's that?
These are aeronautical maps of the United States.
You see, I keep a record.
Every place they pick me up,
the exact location, the exact time.
I-l-I'm just trying to find a pattern to it.
If--if I could know when they were coming,
- I could-- - You could what--run?
- You could get away? - Yeah.
From what I saw last night, it...
it seems like you're a bit outclassed.
Maybe they don't know, either.
They don't know why you're the only one that lived.
Maybe that's why they keep taking you--
to find out what sort of thing you've got.
Maybe there's something in the blood...
... something that makes you special.
#. O come ye to Bethlehem #.
#. Come and behold him #.
#. Born the King of angels #.
#. O come let us adore Him #.
#. Christ the Lord #.
(knocks)
(conversation, piano playing in background)
Hey, Jesse.
Jesse, your mother needs your help in the living room.
Go ahead.
You're not welcome here, Russell.
I know. I had something I needed to tell Jesse.
You lost the chance when you ran out on him and his mother.
- You can stay in the lockup. - I didn't come here for that.
Well, you can't stay here. I don't want Kate seein' ya.
Bill, Jesse's in danger. I need to talk to him.
It's not gonna happen, Russell.
- GIRL: Watch out! - BOY: Here goes!
GIRL #2: How about we build us a snowman?
Here I come!
We need more sticks for hair.
BOY: Ow! That hurt.
- GIRL: He's okay? - GIRL #2: Yeah.
- Gotcha. - Hurry!
Hello, Jesse.
Christmas is all about hope.
Kids hope for new toys.
You get older. and the toys get bigger. but the hope stays the same.
Some people might hope for peace on earth
or maybe for a better tomorrow. whatever their idea of that might be.
but most people still just want something bright and shiny and new.
(jet flying overhead)
It's a local. Get us as far as maybe the Kentucky line.
- You ever done this before? - No, sir.
- You willin' to try? - You bet.
On 3--1, 2, 3!
- What are you looking at? - You look just like your mother.
Everyone says I look more like you.
I don't see it.
Oh, I got something.
Yeah.
I've, uh, been wanting to give you these.
There you go.
Merry Christmas.
These are your war medals?
You can put 'em on later if you want.
I got this one the first time I was shot down, over Belgium.
This one was for one time when we took a lot of flak,
and I got some in my leg.
And this one--
that's a Silver Star.
Got that on my last mission.
When you were shot down and captured and you saved your entire crew.
Mum said it was the war that made you go away.
But you know it wasn't, don't you?
So... is this what you been doing the whole time?
This where you live?
Yeah, I live where I can.
Listen to me, Jesse.
What was happening to me...
I didn't want to bring it home to you and your mother.
Who are they?
I don't know.
Can you keep them from coming back for me again?
I don't know that, either.
But I'm sure as hell gonna try.
(screen door creaks)
Jacob!
- Merry Christmas! - Merry Christmas.
You look great.
TOM: Watch out, now!
Hey, there, little brother. Where's Mum?
She's in the shed.
In the shed? What's she doin' in there?
- She's working on something. - Workin'? It's Christmas Day.
I didn't bring all these presents for nothin'.
I think she thought you were coming later.
She hasn't put the turkey in the oven yet.
I should go see if I can help.
Hello, hello!
Merry Christmas! I thought I heard your car.
TOM: Mama?
Hey, there.
Merry Christmas. What are y'all doin' here so soon?
I thought you weren't comin' till this evening.
Well, it's 5:00.
Goodness gracious, where does the time go?
What are you doin' in there, makin' moonshine?
Oh, get on inside. I'm so happy to see y'all.
ERIC: This one's kind of messy.
SAM: I think it's the usual--underwear.
ERIC: Doesn't make any noise.
Sounds like clothes.
This one looks like a cookie, here.
Mum, is Dad home yet?
Not yet, sweetheart.
Could I open just one present?
Let's just wait a little while longer, okay?
Your dad wants to be here when you open his gifts.
- How much longer, Mum? - Just a little while.
(O Come All Ye Faithful playing)
Tom's pullin' money in hand over fist on that real estate, Mama.
I know he is. I'm so proud of him.
And of you. First one in our family to go to college.
Tom and I were talkin' about with all his extra money,
maybe he could get Jacob into a school someplace.
Jacob is fine here with me.
The school that Tom found is in Montana.
It's for children who are special, different.
Of course he's different.
When is the last time you saw him laugh or cry?
When is the last time he hugged you? When is the last time he smiled?
This school might be able to help him, Mum.
There's nothin' wrong with Jacob.
He's fine here with me.
(oven timer dings)
I'm sorry about the turkey, y'all.
Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas, Mama.
RUSSELL: Merry Christmas.
(laughing)
- Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas, Esther.
Ladies, come on.
It's a wonderful service you are providing for your country.
We appreciate this.
(cameras whirring)
It's been 20 minutes. We have to get them out.
- Give it another five minutes. - Sir, that will kill them.
They were dead the second they set foot on this base.
(unlocks door)
(drops keys on table)
The boys are asleep.
We waited as long as we could.
I'm sorry. Something came up.
You gave them both a Lionel train set.
Sam got the Space Patrol board game
and the Leave It To Beaver lunch box.
Eric got the Leave It To Beaver board game
and the Space Patrol lunch box.
They both got Hula Hoops.
What did I give you?
A hell of a lot more than I bargained for.
(brakes squeak)
(grunting)
(camera shutter clicks)
This is kind of mean, Tom.
Becky, Mum really believes this crap.
That's why she's always taking Jacob to all those conventions.
All we have to do is show her that it's a trick,
make her see how easy it is to fake.
You were with me. We saw those lights in the sky.
The Lubbock Lights, yeah.
Quarrington wrote a chapter about it in his book
and Popular Science had an article about it.
It was a reflection of streetlamps off a flock of plover birds.
We were little kids, Becky. We saw what we wanted to see.
Just because some creepy guy ends up in our barn
doesn't mean he's from Mars.
Venus. Quarrington says they're from Venus.
If you turn on the porch light, it'll make it look more like it's in the sky.
Jake, what are you doin' up?
I don't want to go away to school.
There was a lady watching me in class.
She wasn't from here. I could sense her interest.
Jacob, you have to try to understand-- you have sort of a gift, an insight.
I get that from my father.
You need to be in a place where people understand you.
If I go away, who's gonna take care of Mum?
SALLY: Kids!
Y'all come here! It's ready!
I call this a contactor.
What do you think?
Yeah. Uh...
- What is it? - It's sort of like a radio.
I'm hoping to transmit a message up into space.
Sounds kind of crazy, doesn't it?
Why do you want to send a message into space?
Because I miss Jacob's father
and I want him to know that we're all right.
And I want him to come and get us.
I want him to know that we're ready to go.
Go where, Mum?
Home.
(tyres squealing)
Jesse?
(car doors opening)
Jesse?!
Jesse?
Jesse!
(guns cock)
BILL: Don't move, Russell.
Where the hell is Jesse? What have you done with him?
I don't know. I don't know what's going on!
OWEN: I told Eisenhower we had the saucer running.
I promised him a demonstration by the second week in January.
That gives us two weeks.
Would you like to tell me what the hell went wrong?
It's that kind of attitude that lost you people the war.
The theory was sound.
The Erenberg twins simply were not psychic enough.
Not psychic enough?
They were the highest-rated sensitives on the Rhine scale.
The professor at Duke said they were the best he'd ever seen!
All right, so what are we gonna do?
I go back to working on planes powered by an energy I understand.
(chuckles) I'm afraid you can't do that.
I've had you moved to the military. You work for me now.
You told your president the test was a success.
In order to keep me here with you, you'd have to admit you had failed.
We lost the war because the Russians betrayed our trust.
There was never a question of our attitude.
(door closes)
What the hell you two lookin' at?
Jesse!
MAN: I'll go 1 00 yards this way!
Come on, boys. Find him!
BILL: Jesse!
MAN: Holler if you hear us, Jess!
Keep movin' out!
MAN #2: On the left flank!
Jesse!
Kate.
You bastard. What did you do?
I came back to try to save him.
Save him? What are you talking about?
They're done with me.
I don't know how I know it, but I do.
I don't want to hear this.
I just want to know what you did with my son.
I didn't do anything with him.
They did.
They took him.
Kate, Jesse is special.
They're seeing if he's ready.
Ready for what?
Aah!
Get away from me!
Aah!
This New Year's Eve party you're goin' to--
we think you should leave Jacob here with us.
Y'all don't think he should be exposed to all the crazy people?
He gets tired so easily. Stayin' up that late...
No, we don't think he should be exposed to all those crazy people.
I'll be back tomorrow night.
Y'all aren't gonna sneak him off to one of those schools?
No. We'd need your signature anyway.
We're gonna sit around here and do some card tricks.
I don't know, maybe he is better off with all the loonies.
I'll tell him he's stayin' here.
I bet he already knows.
(screen door opens)
Ohh, I love you...
every day and twice on Sundays.
I'll see you later.
This is the last of the raw data. Still lots to go through.
I want to look at everything.
MARTY: 200 sightings in Central Illinois Christmas Day.
- Anything? - The Cold War.
These people are frightened and delusional.
You're not helping me.
HOWARD: Man who says he's been visited by representatives
of the planet Arnadon.
Six hundred hovering yellow discs over Duluth.
Woman who says the broadcasts on her television are from outer space.
MARTY: Got the surveillance photos in from the Quarrington lecture in Amarillo.
He's beautiful. He will say anything we tell him to say.
Trips to Venus, space brothers.
I came up with that one-- "space brothers. "
It's very inspired.
When you two are done, let's get back to work.
MARTY: Yes, sir. Ahem.
These people call themselves "Contactees. "
They believe they've had contact with aliens.
A bunch of them have built machines to talk to their space brothers.
They're all getting together on New Year's Eve.
They're gonna turn on the machines.
Maybe we could borrow one of the machines,
call a spaceman, and ask him to come fly his ship for Ike.
Maybe we don't need to call anybody. Go back one.
No, one more.
How old do you think that kid is?
Why do people want so desperately not to be alone?
Why is it more comforting to think you are being watched
than to know that no one at all is watching?
And why. really. does that make us any less alone?
In the end. if there are others out there.
then wouldn't we be. all of us. still alone together?
J-a-c-o-b.
Jacob.
That your card?
No? What was your card?
Jack of diamonds.
Jack.
Jack for Jake, right?
They're old cards. You know, the wax--
There's a new deck in the top drawer there.
Why don't you go get it?
We'll try it with that deck.
Maybe then I can get it to work.
(pop music playing on radio )
Aw, come on. That's a good trick.
(laughs)
Hey, Jake, come here. I want to talk to you about something.
How long has Mum been talkin' about, you know,
goin' to outer space and stuff?
I don't know. It's just something she says sometimes.
How long has she been building that machine?
She's not crazy. She's just sad.
Well... you think this is the best place for you to be?
You know, around somebody who's so sad?
Thank you all for coming, and a Happy New Year!
CROWD: Happy New Year!
Are you all ready to greet our space brothers?
Yes, we are!
I see a lot of you have brought devices for that purpose.
If you'll just turn them on now,
then we can enjoy a nice leisurely buffet
and hope that we have some guests join the party.
(hums)
(crackles and buzzes)
(beeps)
(whistling)
That's a sophisticated-looking device. How does it work?
I made it from a plan out of Fate magazine.
These antennas are supposed to broadcast my brain waves up into space.
How do they do that?
Well, you could either buy this thing that looked like a salad bowl
or you could use this metal bucket over here.
I'm kiddin'.
Oh. (laughs)
There's a radio transmitter in there.
I just turn on this microphone and hope for the best.
You don't remember me, do you?
I come to a lot of these things.
Your machine--it's to send a message to that...
to your friend you found in the shed, am I right?
- You were-- - With the army.
I came to see you once. I lost my job over your friend.
I filed a report saying I believed the man in your shed
was an alien visitor who had returned to his planet.
That opinion cost me my job and my pension...
not to mention my marriage.
I thought you were lookin' for him 'cause you knew he was from space.
There are levels and there are levels.
Once I told them what I knew, they had to make me go away.
I'll tell you something, though,
all the time I worked for them, I was never a believer.
It was just...
... right before I met you when I saw the lights in the sky.
You want to get a little dinner?
Mmm.
- Like your pendant. - Thank you.
Actually, it used to be a pair of earrings.
Belonged to my grandmother.
- What happened to the other one? - I gave it away.
Now it truly is a Lone Star, then, huh?
Think it'll work?
I don't know.
I think whatever their plan is, it's not gonna be changed
'cause of a couple messages from us.
Well, why do you do it, then?
Passes the time.
Because I miss him
and there's something that I want him to know about.
That's Tom, Becky.
These are my kids from my late but not at all lamented husband.
That's Jacob.
QUARRINGTON: Folks, can I have your attention, please?
In a few moments, it's going to be 1 959,
so I'd like to say Happy New Year again
and thank you all for coming out.
I'm--I'm only sorry we weren't more successful,
but we're gonna try this again next month,
so in the meantime, just, uh, just keep watching the skies.
#... . auld acquaintance be forgot #.
#. And never brought to... #.
Maybe you should have sprung for the salad bowl, huh?
(laughs)
#... . be forgot #.
#. And days of auld... #.
He knows, Sally. Wherever he is, he knows.
#. Auld lang syne, my dear #.
#. For auld lang syne... #.
(gasping)
(whirring)
(whimpers)
(sobbing)
Aah!
It was nice running into you again after all these years.
It was.
Maybe we'll see each other again at one of these things,
although I have to admit I'm gettin' a little tired
of Dr Quarrington and all of his trips to Venus.
With Renuthia?
(both laugh)
You heading home in the morning?
- Mm. - Well, I hope we do.
See each other again.
I do, too.
- Good night. - Good night.
Owen?
You said that filing that report cost you your marriage?
I was just thinking that your wife must have been
a very foolish woman to let you go.
- Night. - Good night.
(door closes)
(crack)
(brakes squeal)
Are you gonna do that every day?
(sniffles) It's good to keep linen fresh.
Kate, we had to call off the manhunt today.
Come on, it's been seven days now.
- (sobs) No. - We have to--
Kate?
We have to face the facts now.
Okay? Come on.
He's just a little boy, Bill.
He's just a little boy. I just...
(crying) No.
There you go. Like that.
(car approaching)
Hey, y'all.
Kids, this is Owen Crawford.
About the only evidence of UFOs at my convention
was the mysterious breakdown of my truck.
Mr Crawford was kind enough to give me a ride home.
Jacob!
Jacob?
- Tommy, go after him. - Jacob?!
Jake?
Jacob?!
Jacob!
When you're little. you like to think you know everything.
but the last thing you really want is to know too much.
What you really want is for grownups to make the world a safe place
where dreams can come true and promises are never broken.
And when you're little. it doesn't seem like a lot to ask.
He's come here for me.
He wants to see if I'm special.
Well, then whatever you do... don't act special.
Your mother tells me you're in real estate, Tom.
I hear you cleaned up on that East Texas boom last year.
I did all right.
Guess you'll be headin' back to your empire soon?
Yeah, I'm leavin' tonight.
Sorry I won't get more of a chance to talk.
What do you do now, Owen, now that you're not a soldier?
I was never a soldier. I was more of a spy.
SALLY: Gosh, I've never met a real spy before.
Really? How would you know?
It was never very glamorous. I mostly filed reports.
Mum says you got fired for the one you filed on our... visitor.
Well, the, uh, the army and l had a disagreement.
Let's just put it that way.
So what do I do now, Tom?
They didn't exactly give me a letter of recommendation.
I knocked around the Southwest for a while, odd jobs and such,
then an uncle died and I came into a little money.
I was thinking about buying into something--
a gas station or restaurant.
Mr Tyler's talkin' about sellin' the diner, isn't he?
He already knew about Mr Tyler. That's why he said it.
SALLY: Jacob.
Sorry.
TOM: What are you tellin' him to buy the diner for?
It just came out. He seems nice enough.
He got booted out of the army
for sayin' the guy in our shed was from outer space.
Mum met him at a flying saucer party.
She needs someone in her life, Tom.
I'm goin' back to U. T. , you're goin' back to work.
If Jacob goes away, she'll be all alone.
Yeah, just her and the little green men.
Y'all be careful on this road, okay?
- You gonna call me? - I will, Mama.
Mum, will you think about what we talked about?
I already thought about it, honey.
TOM: Come on, sis.
We got miles and miles of Texas.
You take care, Jake.
You kids drive safe, now.
(engine starts)
(footsteps approach)
MAN ON TV: Come on out. Pete!
This one's a fight you're never gonna win!
Don't leave on my account, son.
I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him.
He's jealous. We'll work it out.
- What are you watching? - A western.
Good guys in white, bad guys in black.
No spacemen in green? (chuckles)
In town. Doc can get you all patched up!
- May l? - Please.
- Help me. - No. thanks!
(gunshots )
I was, uh, gonna go into town and find a motel room.
I was hoping I could meet you at the diner in the morning,
talk to this--Mr Tyler, was it?--about his place.
Sure. That would be fine.
Sally, you don't think I'm crowding you here.
I just...
Well, it sounds like a fine opportunity.
Well, I think it is. Long as you do one thing.
You gotta change Tyler's chicken recipe.
Tyler makes the worst fried chicken in all of West Texas.
MAN: I've always loved you.
WOMAN: You think you can just run off and leave a girl?
MAN: I've done things I can't ever make up for.
Owen, you don't have to get a room in town tonight
if you don't want to.
- It's time to move on. - Then we'll go together...
I'll go change the bedding in Tom's old bedroom.
You can sleep there tonight.
MAN: ... somewhere out in the woods.
WOMAN: Don't go.
What are you doin'?
Pete. come back. Come back!
- (gunshots ) - WOMAN: Pete!
No! No! (crying )
(whistling O Susanna)
I'm never gonna fly your saucer. Not ever.
(screen door opens)
SALLY: You two finally makin' friends?
Yes. Yes.
We were getting acquainted.
In fact, Jacob just told me everything I need to know.
ANNE: Marty, Anne Crawford.
Sam fell off the roof and broke his neck.
They don't know if he's gonna live.
If he does, who knows if he's ever gonna walk again.
I'm in Las Vegas at the hospital there.
Marty, I know Owen's not in Washington.
This is the kind of thing that he needs to hear from me in person.
He'll thank you for it, Marty. I promise you that.
Lubbock, Texas?
I can find it.
I found that two days after he left here.
Nothin's grown since.
My heart's sort of like that patch.
You need to know that if you're-- you're gonna stay.
I come from a long line of farmers.
We can grow corn in a field where grass won't grow.
I'm not goin' anywhere, Sally. I'm not.
You're the sun and the moon to me.
SALLY: Okay, I'm comin' down. Y'all don't let me fall.
Did you tell him about your idea yet?
I thought he'd rather hear it from you.
Sweetie, Mr Crawford thought today might be a fine day to take you fishin'.
Would you like that?
Nothin' like a day on a lake for getting acquainted.
I'm sure your mum will be fine here without us.
(Flying Purple People Eater playing on radio)
#. Well. I saw the thing comin' out of the sky #.
#. It had one long horn... #.
(lowers volume)
It'll go easier for your mum if you help me out.
You know that.
#. It was a one-eyed. one-horned... #.
What are you gonna do afterward... dissect me?
Depends on how much you can tell us without us having to cut you open.
#... . to me #.
#. Well. he came down to earth... #.
We're just the beginning of this, you and me.
It doesn't end with us.
And there's something else you should know
in case you think you've won anything.
I'm not the only one that matters.
#. One-eyed. one-horned flying purple people eater #.
#. Sure looks strange to me #.
#. I said. "Mr Purple People Eater" #.
- (knock on door) - Just a second!
(knock)
I'm comin'. Just a second! I got something on the stove!
Jesus, I can't believe I was that stupid.
No, Mama, you don't have to worry about that.
We're gonna get him back.
(dog barks)
(dog howls)
(dog barking)
(Kate gasps)
Jesse!
Oh, Jesse.
Oh, my. It's okay.
Jesse.
You're so cold.
They told me Jesse was home.
I left 50 bucks for you with the front desk officer.
Don't come back here.
- Is Jesse all right? - No thanks to you.
Did he say what happened?
You fell asleep and he wandered off into the woods.
But he is all right?
Kate wanted me to let you go.
I'm up for keeping you for the kidnapping charges.
I don't know what happened, but he's been lost ten days.
No, he's not all right.
Wait, wait. Bill--Bill, please--
Uhh!
Russell, I meant what I said. You don't come back here.
(grunts)
Yeah, we should be there by tonight.
Oh, he's very well behaved. I told him I'd kill his mum.
What are you--what are you talking about, Marty?
And you told her where I was?
Do me a favour, Marty. Go to my house,
see if my kids are there with the housekeeper.
If they're both fine, which I am sure they are,
then start shopping for a very warm jacket.
No. Do I sound like I'm joking?
(rock music playing )
Gonna need your strength.
Mr Crawford, look at me.
(groaning)
Aah! No!
No!
(sobs)
No! No! No! No! No!
(sobbing, screaming)
I called the army.
They have no personnel records of an Owen Crawford after 1 947.
This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
What do you think they want with Jacob?
You don't think the government believes
in people from other planets?
No, I think they want us to believe.
That way, anytime they test some new missile,
they can blame a flying saucer.
- What do they want with Jacob? - I don't know, Becky,
but whatever it is, I'm not gonna let them get their hands on him.
Tom?
BECKY: Jacob!
Jacob?
Oh, I'm so sorry.
I never should have let you go.
It's all right, Mum.
No, it's not.
I was a lonely, foolish woman.
Should you have brought him back here?
It's all right, Mum.
Mr Crawford won't be coming back.
Let's get inside, Mama.
Come on. Let's get you inside.
You look terrible. I was worried sick about you.
He's asleep.
I want him to go to that school.
He has to disappear. If they come...
If they come lookin' for him, there can't be a trace.
Tom and I have an idea about that.
You keep this safe for me, okay?
I may not ever see you again.
You'll think about me once in a while?
Every day and twice on Sundays.
I love you, Mum.
(knock on door)
What are you gonna do about Eisenhower, sir?
We got a report from the sheriff in Lubbock.
What?
The sheriff in Texas?
There was a fire.
Mother was working on some sort of invention in her shed.
The kid died, sir.
Good.
What happened, Colonel?
You called in from the road, right? Said you were bringin' the kid in.
So how did he get all the way back to Lubbock to be in that fire?
Did Marty tell you he was leaving for Iceland?
I might reconsider... give the two of you another chance.
That boy in Texas... don't ever mention him to me again.
Glad to see you're feeling all right, son.
What are you talking about, Dad?
While I was away, I had this--I don't know--
call it a premonition or something-- that you had been hurt.
Glad I was wrong.
Why don't you boys get ready for bed?
- But, Dad... - No, go ahead.
SAM: Come on, let's go.
You followed me to Texas.
You were having an affair with that woman.
In my work, sometimes what I do can be distasteful.
I thought you understood that.
You'd like to leave me.
Yes.
You know too much about what I do.
- (knock on door) - Come in.
- How you doin', buddy? - I'm all right.
Jesse, I wanted to tell you something.
Uh, I wanted to let you know... um... that is,
if there's anything you want to talk about at all,
anything that happened while you were gone, uh...
I'm not really that hard a guy to talk to.
I was just lost. That's all.
Yeah. Okay.
You know, your father, he was a real hero once.
A real hero. You should be proud of that.
Good night.
(shuffling cards)
People believe what they want to believe.
They find meaning where they can. and they cling to it.
In the end. it really doesn't matter what's a trick and what's true.
(children playing outdoors)
What matters is that people believe.