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(Whirring)
Peter, please.
Take Jean back to the car.
I must get this.
(Gunfire)
(Gasps)
Run! Run!
(Gunfire)
(Gasps for breath)
(Clicking)
(Siren)
Minister, Colonel Straker.
- How do you do?
- A shattering business, Colonel.
The Prime Minister's
already at Chequers.
We'll be there in 30 minutes.
(Siren blaring)
We've been in communication
with Paris, Moscow
and Bonn during your visits.
I think the British Government's
approval will be a formality.
The evidence is conclusive.
- If I might
- Surely.
Colonel.
It may speed things up.
My God.
The clincher is at the back.
It's an enlarged frame
from the cine film, sir.
It couldn't possibly be a fake?
The film was found undeveloped,
still in the camera.
It's genuine.
Take my word for it.
(Siren continues)
(UFO engine noise)
(Drowned out by siren)
Keep pace with the escort.
I'll take the file, sir.
(Tyres screech)
(Tyres screech)
(Chokes)
- Good morning, sir.
- Good morning.
- Good morning, sir.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Miss Ealand.
- The report.
- Thank you.
Messages?
Information.
Q21, answer negative.
Q46, satellite link effective.
Q97, zero-zero.
The computer read-outs
available from today.
- Put them straight through to me.
- Yes, sir.
Mr Freeman to see you, sir.
All right, Mr Freeman.
The girl in reception calls me Alec.
So?
Doesn't that inflame you
with jealousy?
Obviously it doesn't.
But, soft! What light
through yonder window breaks?
It is the east
and Juliet is the sun.
(Computer) 'Voice-print positive
identification nine-seven.
'Freeman, Alec E.
'
(Lift machinery grinds)
- Good morning, sir.
- Good morning.
- You're new, aren't you?
- Uh-huh.
- Must have passed all the tests.
- All of them.
I bet.
(Knocking)
Patrick.
- Morning, Alec.
- Morning, Pete.
Won't keep you a moment, Alec.
- Trouble?
- Why else would I send for you?
Take a look at this.
That's Westbrook Electronics.
- Yeah, what's left of it.
- What happened?
For ten years
there have been setbacks.
We've had accidents, miscalculations,
errors of judgement
and other mishaps.
Let's put Westbrook Electronics
down to other mishaps.
- You mean a UFO?
- Well, there's no proof.
*** goes the Utronic project, just
as we had something to locate them.
The Utronic equipment is safe.
It wasn't in the building.
It's intact, fully tested
and ready for shipment.
The breakthrough.
SHADO have had Moonbase
and the other satellites
operational for the past few months.
There have been sightings,
but no interceptions.
We've got the teeth.
Soon we'll have the eyes.
Freeman, you know how important
this is to our whole organisation.
The Utronic design team and equipment
are ready in LA
to be flown here to England.
I'm making you responsible for the
security of the entire operation.
I mean you.
Personally.
Right.
It must be a while
since you landed an SST.
Let's say it's part
of the personal service.
SHADO Control, this is Seagull X-Ray,
confirm arrival Stevenson Base,
Los Angeles, 08:35.
'Take-off scheduled 1100 hours.
'
(Ford) Roger, Seagull X-Ray.
- Call Moonbase, will you?
- Yes, sir.
(Ellis) Status check.
- Target.
- Affirmative.
- Magnetic field?
- Check.
- Saturation density?
- Green.
- Resonator?
- Affirmative.
- Code.
- OK.
- Displacements?
- Go.
- Filters?
- Check.
- Fluctuation?
- Affirmative.
- (Beep)
- Reflex?
Excuse me.
Right.
- SHADO Control for you, Lieutenant.
- Right.
- Lieutenant Ellis.
- 'Good morning, Gay.
'I have some action for you.
'I want Moonbase
put on yellow alert from 10:45
'to track Seagull X-Ray.
'It's carrying SHADO VIPs
and the Utronic equipment.
'Let's keep everybody on their toes.
- 'Can't afford to take chances.
'
- Roger.
Joan, announce a yellow alert
for 10:45.
- Yes, Lieutenant.
- And complete the status check.
I think this will be for real.
I'm going to take a break.
I'll be back about 10:30.
OK.
Moonbase will be on yellow alert
from 10:45, earth elapsed time.
'Repeat 10:45, EET.
'All space trackers to be
fully operational by 10:45 EET.
'Astronauts to be on stand-by.
'
- Joanna?
- Be right with you, Lew.
No hurry.
I want to run
a computer check
on the interceptor systems
in ten minutes.
- Hi, Gay.
- Hello, Lew.
D'you think this could be it,
Lieutenant?
Looks like it, Lew.
An SST travelling at Mach 4
is a pretty tempting target,
particularly as it's carrying
the new Utronic equipment.
- Hello, Ken.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Hi, Mark.
Gay, this alert, what do you think?
Another false alarm?
Don't think so, Mark.
- So this time it could be real.
- Could be.
I guess we could all do with
a bit of action.
I could do with a cup of coffee.
- Sure.
- Thanks.
- Put Skydiver in the picture.
- Yes, sir.
(Buzzer)
'Message from SHADO Control, sir.
Yellow alert at 10:45.
'
Right.
That last entry.
- Did you send it?
- Yes, sir.
A refuelling schedule transmitted
- on security code B?
- Sorry, sir.
- How long have you been here?
- Two years, sir.
Two years.
Long enough to know how important
security is to SHADO.
Look, this headquarters,
controlling Moonbase,
the satellites
and a fleet of submarines
is 80 feet below a film studio,
right?
Now, 400 people work up there and not
one of them knows all this exists.
I have to play games,
pretending to be the studio's
chief executive.
No one even dreams
what my real function is.
That's what security is all about.
I'm sorry, sir.
Sometimes it's pretty difficult.
Difficult!
So you think it's difficult, huh,
Ford?
Well, I'll tell you
when it gets difficult.
Have you ever thought
about the victims of UFO incidents?
Have you ever considered
their parents,
brothers, sisters?
What do we tell them?
They can never know the truth,
so they live in agony for years,
praying that some day
their loved one may turn up,
clinging to a thread of hope.
Don't ever tell me
that security's difficult.
Sometimes it gets
pretty close to home.
(Buzzer)
(Man) 'Yellow alert starts
in two minutes, sir.
'
Be right with you.
Stevenson Base, this is Seagull
X-Ray.
Liftoff check complete.
'Liftoff clearance? '
(Man) 'Roger, Seagull X-Ray.
You are clear to go.
'
- Nina.
10:45.
- Right.
Brakes off.
Airspeed building.
VR.
Rotate.
This is Moonbase calling SID.
'This is
Space Intruder Detector.
'Pass your message.
'
(Ellis) 'Seagull X-Ray carrying VIPs
and Utronic equipment is airborne.
'Track progress of aircraft
until further notice.
'Keep sharp look-out for UFO.
'
(SID) 'Please pass your code so your
instructions can be complied with.
'
(Ellis) 'Stand by to receive code.
'
(SID) 'Standing by.
'
(Beeping)
(SID) 'Thank you,
your code is correct.
'I have Seagull X-Ray on scanners.
'It is on course.
'Speed 1500 knots.
'
Moonbase computers
confirm course correct.
- Air speed 1500 knots.
- Right.
Maintain tracking.
- Hydroplanes check complete, sir.
- OK.
Steer zero-four-two.
- Steer zero-four-two.
- Zero-four-two.
Maintain present speed.
Maintain speed.
40 knots.
Take over, Bill.
I have to do
my stuff with the passengers.
Right.
Herr Mahler.
Good morning.
- Colonel Alec Freeman.
- Ah, Colonel.
I'd like to congratulate you
and your team.
This could be the breakthrough.
Not my team, Colonel.
May I introduce our chief designer,
Virginia Lake?
How do you do, Colonel?
For the first time, I wish
I was flying subsonic aircraft.
The trip would take longer.
Just in case anyone's interested,
I'm Phil Wade.
How are you?
Well, looks like you're the answer
to all our prayers.
Would you like to see
the Utronic equipment, Colonel?
I think your equipment is fabulous,
but I am familiar with it.
- Really?
- Yes.
I know that a Utronic beam
travels instantaneously.
- Almost instantaneously.
- We'll be able to detect UFOs
flying many times the speed of light
in deep space.
Go on.
So our Moonbase Interceptors
will have a chance to destroy them
- before they reach the earth.
- Very good.
I could tell you more over dinner.
Hadn't you better get back
to your little seat up front?
I suppose so.
I'll be seeing you.
Colonel?
You were right.
You are familiar.
With the equipment.
- Everything OK?
- Yes, sir.
- No sign of any activity.
- Good.
(Man) ' in five seconds.
'Four, three, two, one
'zero.
(2nd man) 'Can we have a read-out
on pressure fuel gauge? '
'Your reading '
- I'll be in my office.
- Right, sir.
(Man) 'EOI? '
(2nd man) 'Affirmative.
'That indication is positive.
'
(Man) 'Roger.
'
(2nd man) 'We estimate turbo
eight-four-nine-zero,
'wave band four-zero-four.
'
(Communication continues)
(SID) 'Red alert.
'Red alert.
UFO four-two-eight
one-four-six green.
'
Got it.
Four-two-eight one-four-six green.
- Speed?
- SOL eight.
Trajectory termination?
Coming up.
This is Moonbase to SHADO Control.
Predicted trajectory termination
North Atlantic.
Speed SOL eight.
Going for intercept.
Out.
- Interceptors immediate launch.
- (Alarm buzzes)
'Interceptors immediate launch.
'
- Interceptors go.
- Right.
This is Moonbase
to all SHADO stations.
Moonbase to all SHADO stations.
UFO sighted four-two-eight
one-four-six green.
Will report.
Attention all defence systems.
This is a maximum security alert.
Attention all defence systems.
I say again,
this is a maximum security alert.
Condition red.
(SID) 'Speed one and a half
million miles per second.
'Range 75 million miles.
'
Right.
OK.
Yes.
(SID) '70 million miles.
'
Maintaining SOL eight.
Red one-two-nine zero-four-six.
- Trajectory?
- Still as predicted.
Lieutenant, I have green
on Interceptors one, two and three.
Moonbase to Interceptors.
- 'Set missile control computer.
'
- Right.
NTC reading
one-zero-one two-six-four
one-one-zero.
Missile timing two-four-niner-six.
Missile programme completed.
(SID) 'Range eight million miles,
closing.
'Seven million miles.
'
Missile firing
five-decimal-four seconds.
(Man) 'Roger.
'
(SID) 'Detonation confirmed.
'
Negative.
It's through.
Don't just sit there.
Warn Skydiver.
- And get me Alec Freeman.
- Yes, sir.
Gentlemen, Miss Lake,
SHADO Control have informed me
that a UFO is approaching
the North Atlantic.
We must assume
that this aircraft is its target.
We're reducing height
to take advantage of cloud cover.
This means we have to reduce speed,
but in the dense atmosphere,
so will the UFO.
That must increase SHADO's chances
of intercepting it.
Yes, it does.
I suggest you fasten your seatbelts.
Look, don't worry.
It'll be OK.
Anyway, we have a dinner date.
I wouldn't let anything
interfere with that.
Thank you.
(Radio communications)
(Man) 'Roger.
'
(SID)
'UFO entering visual speed range.
'Radar on visual alert.
'
(Man) 'Zero-decimal-four.
'
UFO on radar, track speed Mach 5.
(Man) 'Latest, one-decimal-zero
four-seven.
Stand by for new course.
'
Thank God for the atmosphere.
It's the best protection we have.
Positive radar fix.
Well, it's up to Skydiver now.
- In position, sir.
- Right.
- Stand by!
- Five, four, three, two, one,
- zero.
- Launch stations.
Launch stations.
- Clear one.
- One clear.
- Clear two.
- Two clear.
- Ready for take-off, sir.
- Liftoff stations.
- Liftoff stations.
- Checking boosters.
- Circuits.
- Cut boosters.
- Circuits OK.
- Cutting boosters.
- Relays OK.
- Good luck, Skipper.
- Interlocks engaged.
- Stabilise gyros.
Trigger circuits OK.
Right.
Stand by for liftoff.
SHADO Control from Sky One.
Airborne.
Position zero-two-zero red.
(Ford) 'Roger, Sky One.
'
Air speed down to 600 knots.
- Right.
Lower heat shield.
- Right.
These clouds give about as much cover
as a G-string on a belly dancer.
- 'Sky One to Seagull X-Ray.
'
- Am I glad to hear you!
- What's your position?
- Right above you at 20,000.
Sky One to Seagull X-Ray,
have UFO on screen.
Closing rapidly.
- Roger.
Ten degrees port.
- Right.
(Whirring)
UFO at 12 o'clock.
You are
the target! Coming in to attack.
UFO in clouds.
Keep a sharp lookout.
Roger.
- (Explosion)
- Hold her! Hold her steady.
Sky One to SHADO Control.
Reporting direct hit on UFO.
- 'It's gonna crash into the sea.
'
- Good shooting.
Come in, Seagull X-Ray.
Alec, are you OK?
I've aged about five years
but we're in one piece.
Sky One.
Follow it down, Captain.
- 'Use your reconnaissance cameras.
'
- Roger.
Will do.
It went straight under.
It seems to be breaking up.
Hold it!
There's a body.
Please confirm.
Did you say body?
Yes.
It's a body.
How's it going, Alec?
- Everything's fine.
- Good.
Good.
Moonbase and the other stations
will have the Utronic system
operational within a week.
That's great.
You look tired, Alec.
Help yourself to a drink.
Thanks.
Think I will.
- You never touch it, do you?
- Uh-uh.
Self-control.
Maybe drinking needs
more self-control.
When does it arrive?
Any time now.
We've waited a long time for this.
Yes ten years.
It's been ten years
since we had the first
confirmed UFO landing on earth.
That was after
a decade of speculation, reports,
- official denials.
You name it.
- You know, Alec,
when I was made commander of SHADO,
I thought it was all going to happen.
You've done a good job - the best.
Well, I've tried.
But how far have we progressed?
I mean,
what do we really know about UFOs?
What are they?
Where do they come from?
What do they want?
(Siren)
(Buzzer)
Yes.
(Man)
'Mayland Hospital, SHADO section.
'Your special patient has arrived.
'We will use underground corridor 32
to SHADO medical centre.
'
Right.
Well, maybe some of the answers
are coming in now.
- Well done, Peter.
- Thanks.
- You're wanted in debriefing.
- Right.
See you later.
- What's the position, Doctor?
- Alive but in a critical condition.
What are the chances of survival?
He was equipped
with an advanced apparatus
that enabled him to breathe liquid.
The helmet was removed
when he was picked up.
An attempt was made
to restore normal breathing,
but there's still liquid
left in his lungs.
So it's too early to say yet.
Excuse me.
Space travel in a liquid
environment -
just what we're experimenting with.
Apparently they've done it.
I must ask you to leave now.
Right.
Let me know the moment
you have anything, Doctor.
(Tapping)
Commander Straker.
- Is he alive, Doctor?
- Yes.
Well?
The general analysis shows
that he is humanoid.
You mean like us?
More or less.
Body temperature
three degrees paranormal,
blood pressure low,
muscular development poor.
The skin is
an artificial green colour,
probably from the liquid.
However, the hair
hasn't picked up this tint,
suggesting the liquid may contain
bioaquaphilic compound.
That the eyes were protected by
plastic shells supports this theory.
We'll know more
when we get the computer read-out
from the first electro-medical check.
It'll be a few minutes.
A man
from a solar system perhaps a hundred
million million miles from earth.
- It's incredible.
- What is?
We can't be certain yet,
but this test
shows organ and gland transplants.
Heart, liver
left lung, thyroid.
D'you realise
what this could mean, Alec?
- It's still theory.
- Theory.
Fact.
After almost ten years
of possible, probable,
and confirmed UFO incidents.
Fact.
On a number
of fully documented occasions,
mutilated bodies found
after UFO attacks.
Organs missing.
Fact.
An electro-medical examination
on the first alien we get
shows organ transplants.
- The doctors aren't certain.
- No.
Not yet.
But I bet that our proof lies
at the end of that corridor.
Dr Shroeder?
Intensive care unit.
We have an emergency.
(Gasps)
(Monitor beeps)
I'm afraid he's dead.
- When can I have a postmortem?
- 48 hours.
Make it 24.
Not the details.
Just what really matters.
The rapid ageing
isn't documented in the report.
We're not sure,
but it's connected with the reaction
of earth's atmosphere on the body.
Gentlemen, let's concern ourselves
with the three main questions
regarding UFOs.
One, where do they come from?
The fact that the lungs were filled
with an oxygenated liquid
seems to indicate a subjection
to phenomenal acceleration
and fantastic speed
over a long period.
Long enough for the skin to pick up
the green colouration of the liquid.
All this would appear to add up
to an extended journey through space,
perhaps several months
at many times the speed of light.
Question number two, who are they?
Obviously, in science and technology,
several hundred years
in advance of man.
But everything in this report
seems to add up to a dying race.
Hereditary sterility was evident.
But by using drugs
and advanced transplant techniques,
they could have found a way
to stop the natural ageing process.
They're also highly intelligent,
so they come to earth
knowing the risk of contact
with our atmosphere.
Which brings us inevitably
to question number three
why do they come?
This report indicates five major
organ and gland transplants.
In the case of the heart,
tissue compatibility tests show
that it was human in origin.
It came from earth, gentlemen.
Therefore one of the reasons
they must obviously come
is to obtain organ replacements.
But there may be other reasons.
Imagine a dying planet in some
distant corner of the universe,
its natural resources exhausted,
its inhabitants sterile,
doomed to extinction.
A situation we may one day
find ourselves in, gentlemen.
So they discover earth,
abundant and fertile,
able to satisfy their needs.
They look upon us not with animosity
but with callousness,
as we look upon our animals
whom we depend on for food.
Yes
it would appear
they are driven by circumstance
across a billion miles of space,
driven on by the greatest force
in the universe -
survival.
The check on the test, sir.
- There's no possible doubt?
- No, sir.
Electronic tissue analysis
is as positive as a voice-print.
Right.
You wanted to tell me something.
Yes.
I wanted to have a word
with you before you flew out.
- It's about my sister, isn't it?
- Yes.
I'm afraid she's dead, Peter.
There's no longer any doubt.
I think you know how sorry I am.
What happened?
I don't think you'd like
to know the details.
I think I'd like to know.
Your sister was last seen
in the vicinity of a UFO incident
nearly ten years ago.
The alien recovered from the sea
underwent intense
medical examination.
The heart was a transplant.
The donor was Leila Carlin.
- What will you tell your parents?
- I don't know.
You realise, of course,
that they can never know the truth.
(Straker) 'A funeral without a body.
'A symbol of human compassion.
'The long finger
of tragic coincidence
'stretching across
a billion miles of space.
'Is this the end or the beginning?
'Where does the universe end?
'Where does it begin? '