Summaries

Synopsis

We open with a dawn view of a government installation in the desert. A narrator (Mark Scott) tells us, "Soledad Flats, Nevada. The time is 6:15 a.m. The climax of arduous planning. Operation A-bomb test underway." Detonation is two minutes away and troops are stationed in trenches to witness the test. A jet is aloft carrying sensitive instruments and Dr. Doug Martin (Peter Graves). He is ready to record the levels of radioactivity from the closest possible vantage point. Observers on the ground, settle in their wooden chairs, and we see the flash and the growing mushroom cloud from a high angle above. While the cloud increases in size the title of the movie is shown. The plane circles the cloud as Dr. Martin records data on radioactivity. The pilot, call sign Tar Baby 2 (Ben Welden) radios in altitude and speed while Dr. Martin reads radiation levels to the ground. The pilot moves in closer and spots a flashing light on the ground. The pilot loses control of the aircraft. Repeated calls to the jet go unanswered. A search is launched and wreckage is immediately discovered.

Col. Banks (James Seay) calls Dr. Kruger to ask that he join him in his office. Banks is meeting with Ellen Martin (Barbara Bestar). Banks tells Mrs. Martin that wreckage was discovered, and the body of the pilot, but not of her husband. Dr. Kurt Kruger (Frank Gerstle) enters the office and comforts the widow. Sometime later, Dr. Martin wanders back to the base guard gate, still wearing his flight suit. He is brought to the base hospital and examined by Dr./Maj. Clift (Shepard Menken). Clift pronounces Martin fit and asks him to recount his movements after the crash. Martin, now sporting an "L" shaped scar on his chest that measures about four inches by four inches, remembers nothing between the crash and his arrival at the base gate. The doctor asks about the scar, and Martin explains he must have gotten it in the crash. Dr. Clift refutes that story by explaining, "No this was surgery. Very skillful incision."

Mr. Briggs (Steve Pendleton) is from the FBI. He joins Col. Banks and Maj. Clift to discuss Dr. Martin. Banks just finished questioning Dr. Martin. Briggs is concerned about security and wants all the missing time to be accounted, and adds, "Did you ever stop to think that perhaps this Dr. Martin isn't really THE Dr. Martin?" Sometime later Briggs was able to confirm that Dr. Martin was the same and informed Col. Banks. Banks and Cliff called Ellen in to brief her on her husband, and why he was still being held in the base hospital. They inform her he is to be released into her custody.

Doug Martin sleeps fitfully at home. He wakes and sees a pair of eyeballs stare at him from the window. It wakes his wife. Doug gets up and phones the duty desk at the base. He speaks to Sgt. Bandero (Burt Wenland). He asks about the next planned test and is upset when he is told, "Sorry sir, regulations. I can't give out information to anyone. No sir, it won't do any good to come down." Doug argues with his wife, but decides to stay home. He goes out to get the newspaper and is shocked to read the headline, "Another Atom Bomb Exploded: 6 a.m. Blast Visible for 300 Miles." Doug confronts Col. Banks and Dr. Kruger. He demands to know why he wasn't briefed and is told he is still sick and a security risk. He is given a choice; Go home or be confined to the base hospital. He storms out of the room and enters his office where he is greeted by his secretary, Miss Vincent (Ruth Bennett). He gives her the rest of the day off and waits until after 6:00 p.m. He fills his pipe, but when the phone rings he ignores it. Dr. Kruger locks up his office vault and departs. He checks Dr. Martin's office, and finds it empty. Doug heard his colleague and hid behind the door. Doug steals into Kruger's office, unlocks the vault and enters. He reviews some files, then exits Kruger's office, leaving the vault door wide open. A guard (Robert Roark) on rounds discovers the security breach and contacts the main gate. Sgt. Powers (Ron Gans as Ron Kennedy) confirms Dr. Kruger checked out and had left the base about twenty minutes before the call. Dr. Martin signs out at the gate as the guard is taking the call.

Briggs meets Dr. Kruger at his home. He asks that Kruger return to the base. They drive separately. Now in his office, Kruger confirms for Briggs that the papers in his vault are in order. Briggs asks about why he left the vault open, but is assured by Kruger that it was secured for the evening. Briggs asks who has the combination. The answer is only three - Kruger, Banks, and Dr. Martin. Briggs notes that Dr. Martin signed out twenty minutes after Kruger left. The final clue is tobacco on the floor of the vault, which matches a brand Doug has in his office and at home.

A police dispatcher (an uncredited Roy Engel) puts out an A.P.B. (all points bulletin) on Dr. Martin's car. Dr. Martin drives out to a deserted canyon (Soledad Flats) and leaves a paper message at a rock. Before he can hide it behind a rock, Briggs is there to intercept it. Doug is confronted by Briggs, slugs the FBI man, and escapes in his car. Doug stops at a gas station to fill his car. The attendant has the police band playing in his office. Doug calls home but no one answers. He hears the APB and drives off. The attendant (Lester Dorr) calls the police to report Dr. Martin. Briggs wakes and walks to his car. He answers a radio call and is told of Martin's sighting. Doug gets into an accident, distracted by the hallucination of the eyeballs. He wakes in a hospital bed mumbling, "There here. There here. They're going to destroy us." Hovering over his bed are Dr. Clift, Briggs, Kruger, and Col. Banks. The doctor gives him an injection of truth serum. Under its influence, his interrogation is recorded. The first question they ask involves the examination of the contents of Kruger's vault. Doug explains he was gathering and delivering information to a drop location at Soledad Flats. Doug starts his story at the point he was in the jet gathering information around the atomic cloud.

Doug recounts that after the crash he woke on a table surrounded by pop-eyed men wearing black hooded shirts. His heart was on his chest, beating outside his body. When he got up from the table the "L" shaped scar was fresh and he was escorted through a cave system to confront Denab (John Frederick as John Merrick). Denab explains that he is a scientist from a planet unknown to humans. Doug tries to run, but Denab activates a ray that immobilizes Doug. Denab goes on to explain that they are accumulating the energy released by atomic explosions, then hands Doug the information gathered on the most recent test. Denab reminds Doug that he did not survive the crash and that they revived him because, "We had an important need of your services." Denab explains that their sun is beginning to fail and they moved to planets closer to the dying star. Their next move will have to be to Earth, all one billion aliens. The invasion is already being staged. Doug manages to escape into the cave system, but doesn't really know how to get out. During his wandering he encounters giant spiders, lizards, and insects. He learns that they are being bred to devour all life on earth to make way for the alien invasion. Doug guesses the aliens are tapping power from a local power station to keep the energy they've already captured safe. He surmises that an overload would destroy the facility. The Tala (also John Frederick as John Merrick) hypnotizes Doug to remember nothing and to obtain information on the upcoming tests. Doug finishes his story. Of course, no one believes him. The doctor gives him a sedative.

Dr. Kruger drives out to Soledad Flats where Doug was going to make his drop and is met by Briggs who was already there looking around. At the hospital, Ellen comes to see her husband. Doug gets up and tries to leave, but is put back to bed. Doug asks for a pencil, paper and a slide rule. Kruger is called and soon arrives in Doug's room. Doug feverously works on formulae and calculations. Doug calculates that he only needs eight to ten seconds of power cut to accomplish his goal of stopping the aliens. Doug escapes the base hospital and drives off to the power generating station. Kruger and Ellen follow in another car. Doug arrives at the power station and is confronted by the guard. The guard warns a worker, who calls another worker (an uncredited Coleman Francis) to warn him of the intruder. The two workers begin a search of the plant for Doug. Banks, Briggs, Kruger and Ellen arrive at the power station and search for Doug. Doug manages to gain access to the control room and orders the operator (Jack Daly) to cut power. The guard refuses and tries to back his objection with a gun, but is quickly disarmed by Doug. With gun in hand, Doug forces the operator to cut power. When the master switch is pulled, Doug counts to eight. A tremendous explosion takes place at Soledad Flats. We close with a giant mushroom cloud seen through a window. The credits roll over the image of the expanding cloud.