[Theme music playing]
(Narrator) You're tra vel/ng through another dimension...
A dimension not onl y of sightand sound, but of mind,
a journey into a wondrous land
whose boundaries are tha t of ima Gina tion.
Your next stop, the twilight zone.
[Sighs]
(Male voice on speaker) Mr. Chambers? Mr. Chambers?
It is the meal time.
Kindl y sta te your preference, please.
Mr. Chambers?
It is the meal time.
Kindl y sta te your preference, please.
[Spits]
Please deposit cigarettes in appropria te receptacle.
This is a safety measure.
Why don't you take a flying jump at the moon?
Kindl y repea t request.
Aw, knock it off, leave me alone.
You do not care for food a t this time?
Yes, I do not care for food at this time.
Very well.
[Sighs]
[Mutters] "Very well... Very, very well."
[Sighs]
[Whirring]
[Tap running]
Please conserve water.
[Sighs]
What time is it?
There is no time in space.
This is to sa y,
there is no chronology tha t can be cal/bra Ted.
I said what time is it? What time is it on earth?
Can you tell me that without an exercise in euclidean geometry?
Now, just tell me what time it is on earth!
On earth, it would be 12:00 noon.
[Sighs]
[Muttering] 12:00 noon, 12:00 noon.
(Chambers, off) This is the way n/ghtmares be gin,
or, perha ps, end.
Very simple, direct, unadorned.
Incredible, and yet so terribl y real
tha t even while the y're happening,
we live with them and digest them
and assimila te them.
And if it's 72:00 noon,
tha t's what? t you preoccupy yourself with.
You don't think about 12:00 noon
on the next da y or the da yafter tha t.
But tha t's what we should ha ve been thinking about...
Tomorrowand the da yafter tomorrow.
We were preoccupied with the hands ona clock
when we should ha ve been checking offa calendar.
It was an April da y, and it was noon then, too.
And people walked and drove
and boughtand sold and fretted and la ughed.
The world went on much as it had been going on
witha tenta tive tiptoeing
al ongsidea precipice of crisis.
There was Berlin to worryabout,
and indochina, and Algeria
and all the other myriad problems, major and minor
tha t somehow had lost their inc/sive edge of horror
because we were so familiar with them.
And then...
[Whirring and whistling]
[News over radio]
And tha t's when it happened.
Tha t's when we first heard tha t they had come.
Tha t's when we should ha ve prepared oursel ves
for any eventuality, but we didn't.
Instead, we milled around like frightened farm animals
looking for formulas and fa ther images,
while the secretary general of the United Nations
made the first official announcement
of the arr/val of crea tures from outer space.
They called themsel ves kanamits
and announced over the short wa ve
tha t on tha t given afternoon, they would arrive on earth.
At 11:00 this morning, eastern standard time,
the first of these landings
took place in an area just outside of Newark, New Jersey.
Subsequently, we have had reports of other landings
in the Soviet union, in Norway, the southern coast of France
just outside of rio de janeiro and several others.
Speaking on behalf of the United Nations,
I can only tell you that at this moment
it would be premature to assume hostile intent
on the part of these, these kanamits.
And so, it is the position of the United Nations
that the world population remain calm,
to make no hostile move,
to keep in mind
tha tall governments are being appr/sed
of the events as they happen
and ha ve the situa t/on well in hand.
What do they look like?
Yeah, what do they look like?
Who are they?
Can't we get a more specific statement?
We do not know what theylook like.
We only know that several of their craft have landed
and that they...
[Anxious murmuring]
Wha t's the secret?
Why can't we have a statement?
What's going on? What's happening here?
It appears... it appears that one of the craft
has landed just a few blocks away.
That close?
Does the defense department know?
One of their representatives is on his way to this building.
Fantastic!
Unbelievable!
[Clamoring voices]
[3/0 w footsteps]
Respectfully submitted for your perusal: A kanamit.
Height: A little over nine feet.
Weight: In the neighborhood of 350 pounds.
Origin: Unknown.
Motives?
Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment
we're going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively,
with a Christopher Columbus
from another galaxy and another time.
This is the tw/I/ght zone.
(Male voice) Ladies and gentlemen of the earth,
we greet you in peace and friendship.
We come from a planet far beyond this galaxy,
a planet far more developed than earth,
but we come as friends.
Although we know your language,
our own methods of communication are mental rather than verbal.
Hence, the voice you hear me speaking with
is totally mechanical.
Our intentions are honorable.
We desire above all things to help the people of earth...
[Simultaneously translating]
To establish embass/es here,
and, in the near future, to set up rec/procal visits
between earth people and kanamits.
(Chambers, off) Perhaps you wa tched this initial ques tion/ng
most people on earth did...
On television sets, rad/os, shortwa ve.
Surely, some of the questions asked by your representa t/ves
must ha ve been identical to a few of your own
because as a race, we're una ccustomed to char/ty.
Brutality is a far more universal language to us
than an expression of friendship from outer space.
Would you be willing to be interrogated here
and at this time?
There are u.N. Delegates present
of most of the important countries
and the television cameras
are carrying our meeting throughout the world.
I will be glad to.
Senor valdes of Argentina is recognized.
(Va/des) Thank you, Mr. Se cre ta r y.
Senor, could you please inform us
precisely why have you chosen this planet for your visit?
It has come to our attention
that earth has been plagued
by both natural and unnatural catastrophes,
all of which could easily be acted upon and prevented.
We are here to help you.
Recognizing Dr. Denis leveque,
the representative of France.
Monsieur, my government wishes me to ask you
the nature of your help.
What forms will it take?
Indeed, if we should prefer not to avail ourselves
of the various aids that you mentioned,
your repl y would be what? t?
We will not force anything on you.
You will take only that which you choose to take.
For example, tomorrow we will demonstrate
to all interested parties
a new and extremely interesting power source
which is a tom/c in na ture
and which can suppl y a form of electric power
for entire countries
for the cost of a few dollars.
It's extremely economical.
Mr. Gregori, the representative
of the Soviet union, is recognized.
The Soviet people would like to ask the kanamits
precisely... I repeat that to him...
Precisely what are your motives
in coming here quite uninvited?
Are we to assume that there is no ulterior motive
beyond this vast humanity you speak of?
There is nothing ulterior in our motives.
Nothing at all.
You will discover this for yourselves before too long
simply by testing the various devices
which we will make available to you.
We can show you, for example,
how to adda certain very cheap nitra te to the soil
and end famine on earth for good and all.
We can demonstra te to you quite practicall y
the principles of the force field
in which you may cl oak each na t/on
with an invisible wall,
absol utel y impenetrable b y bombs, miss/les,
or anything El se.
We ask onl y tha t you trust us.
Only that you simply trust us.
(Chambers) Tha t was what? t we all thought.
It was theage of Santa claus.
Onl y these kris kringle came without white whiskers
and rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes.
They were nine-feet tall enigmas
who descended on us like locusts.
But nobody was counting or worry/ng.
Except perhaps a few professionals
whose job it was to second guess.
Ina sense, I was one of these...
A decoding special/st for the united sta tes government,
and this is where I got into theact.
(Male voice) Well, chambers, what have you got?
A corker of a migraine headache and eye strain.
You can't lick it?
No, not in eight hours, I can't.
Colonel, it took us almost a year
to crack the Japanese code...
We had an army of men working on that.
But this is a language of people from outer space,
probably 500 times as intelligent as we are
and a thousand times more complex.
You need more help?
All donations gratefully accepted.
I showed this to every man on our staff.
I've had a dozen people working on it since late last night.
We've tried pretty much everything...
Single transposition, double transposition.
We've tried every known method of cryptography there is,
and I don't know whether we're even close
or a million miles away.
Are you saying it's indecipherable?
No, we've just got to keep trying, that's all.
Standard, direct, reversed, systematically mixed,
keyword mixed, random mixed,
reciprocal, conjugate.
Every nature of sequence of letters there is.
I'll tell you something, colonel, this is a tough nut.
This is a real tough nut.
How important is it?
Hmm, I don't know.
That, that kanamit,
or whatever it is he calls himself,
walked off and left this book yesterday at the u.N.
The white house feels if we can decipher this book
we can find out what they're up to.
Well, obviously, nothing but our good.
He hasn't commented on the loss of this book.
Probably unconcerned that we have it.
Why should we be so concerned?
They've done all right by us so far.
Parlor tricks.
They don't seem like tricks, colonel.
That new nitrate use they demonstrated
in Argentina this morning...
That soil had more vitamins in it six hours later
than a drugstore chain.
I know that country.
That's as barren and fruitless
as any place on earth.
Well...
We might lick this, we might not.
But I got a strange feeling.
What?
That we're looking
a gift horse in the mouth.
I got another funny feeling, too.
And that is?
That if these kanamits
are as helpful as I think they are,
you boys will be out of a job.
And probably, so will I.
Am I to assume
this is a scientific analysis, Mr. Chambers,
or just some Kentucky windage?
Well, I don't know what it is, colonel,
beyond an instinctive feeling.
When this earth gets enough to eat
and there are no more wars or diseases or famines,
this is going to be a garden of Eden.
Your optimism is most refreshing, Mr. Chambers,
but I suggest you continue
your process of deciphering
until you can tell us precisely...
And I mean precisely... What that book says.
We've licked the title, anyway.
What does it say?
How much does it tell us?
Here it is.
Well, that makes the cheese
more binding, wouldn't you say, colonel?
I'd call that a reasonably altruistic phrase,
do you agree, Patty?
Well, I, uh...
Well, I want to believe it, but...
I don't know what to think.
"To serve man."
I hope so.
I ferventl y hope so.
(Secretary general) Gentlemen, the purpose of this meeting
is to acquaint you with certain tests made over the past week.
At the request of several delegates
and with the full consent
of our guests, the kanamits,
these tests were filmed, cut together into one short film
and you can watch them now.
Kindly lower the screen.
[Whirring]
(Male voice from film) These are the standard instruments used
to determine the truth of a sta tement.
Our first object,
since the physiology of the kanamits is unknown to us,
was to determine whether or not they react to these tests
as human beings do.
We will now repea t one of the many experiments made
in an effort to discover this fact.
This instrument records the subject's heartbea t.
This one shows the electrical conduct/v/ty of the skin
in the palm of the hand...
A measure of persp/ra t/on, which increases under stress.
This one shows the pattern
and intensity of the electrical waves
emana ting from the subject's brain.
Which of these is longer than the other?
(K anamiz') The gra y.
I shall repeat the question.
Which of these is longer than the other?
The black.
How did you get to this planet?
Walked.
Onceaga/n, how did you get to this planet?
In a spa cesh/p.
Many such experiments were made
and my colleagues and myself are sa tisfied
tha t the mechanisms are effective.
Now, / shall ask our distinguished guest
to repl y to the quest/on puta t the last session
b y several of the delega tes.
Namel y, what? t is the motive of the kanamit people
in offering such grea t gifts
to the people of the earth?
I hope tha t the people of earth will understand and bel ieve
when I tell you that our mission upon this planet is simpl y this:
To bring to you the pea ce and plenty which we oursel ves enjoy
and which we ha ve in the past
brought to other races throughout the galaxy.
When your world has no more hunger,
no more war, no more needless suffering,
tha t will be our reward.
(Chambers) And the ma chine sho wed no dev/a tion.
According to it, the kanamit was telling the truth.
You and I and the rest of this earth had a rings/de sea t
to the rebirth of every dream man had ever dreamed.
[Speaking French]
[Speaking Japanese]
( Speaking Spanish )
(Chambers) Santa cla us came through.
Ar/d deser ts became gardens
with the devices the kanamits showed us how to use.
The force field that was to end war did precisel y tha t.
Arm/es and na vies were pra cticall y disbanded.
(K anamiz') Pl ea se check your guest visas.
This is flight number 267 from earth to our planet.
They tell me they have a mean temperature of 76 degrees
on their planet, and the sun never goes down.
And their clothing...
It's a metallic substance, just beautiful.
Kind of like a spun gold.
My sister wrote me.
She says the day you land,
they take you on a conducted tour of all their shops
and you can pick out as much of it as you want.
But it's an entire planet.
Bigger than China.
Besides it's an opportunity
to spread peaceful coexistence to an entire galaxy.
Stand aside, please, I have diplomatic visa.
It's just one big holiday when you get there.
They've even got a form of baseball.
Leagues of everything, just like we've got.
And the whole trip, billions of miles,
only takes just a few days.
Oh, man, I don't think I'll want to come back
[once I do get there. Uaughs]
( Humming )
I'm going home, boss. Need me for anything?
Need you for anything? Like what?
This isn't exactly what you call a beehive of activity.
Well, this is the new story of man.
Nobody needs to decipher much of anything anymore
because there aren't any more codes
simply because there aren't any more secret messages.
Odd.
Huh?
Well, I mean,
we're not reading about the hydrogen bomb
or war scares or insurrections
or anything like that anymore.
Millennium.
Yeah, close to it.
How many of them are around now?
Anybody ever figure it out?
A few thousand, I guess.
They've got embassies in every country now.
And for every one of them that comes,
a few thousand of us take off in their ships
to live with them. [Clicks tongue]
Yeah, that's the odd thing:
The fantastic ease with which
human beings make adjustments.
One day, they watch with bated breath
while a single individual orbits the earth
in a rinky-dink little cubicle
and they think this is the most historic moment
that's ever happened in the history of mankind.
And then, one year later,
they stand in line
waiting to take off in a spaceship
to go 100 billion miles off into space,
and they act and react
as if this were a weekend picnic in the country.
Oh, strange and complex sanity of man.
Nothing fazes him.
Are you going?
Well, as a matter of fact...
I'm on a ten-year exchange group waiting list.
Mm-hm.
And what about you, Patty?
I'm on the list, too.
The trouble is, their quotas fill
just as soon as they make
the announcement of a new trip.
While I'm waiting,
I think I'll do the next best thing.
I'm still working on that book.
Deciphering that title has been of no help
because their capital letters are different
than the other signs they use,
just as ours are.
But it's starting to fall into place.
I think I'll get the answer eventually.
Well, I gave up trying a month ago.
(Male voice) This is flight number 914
from earth to our planet.
We will be taking off in three minutes.
Mr. Chambers.
Mr. Chambers!
Don't get on that ship!
The rest of the book, to serve man... it's...
It's a cookbook!
No! No!
No, no, no!
Hey! No!
[Whirring and whistling]
You ha ve not ea ten enough, Mr. Chambers.
Please, enjo y.
Ea t hearty.
Please, Mr. Chambers, eat.
We wouldn't want you to lose weight.
How about you?
You still on earth or on the ship with me?
Well, it doesn't make very much difference
because sooner or later...
We'll all of us be on the menu...
All of us.
(Narrator) The recol I ec tions of one Michael chambers
w/th appropria te flashba cks and sol/loouy.
Or more simpl y sta Ted, the evolution of man,
the cycle of going from dust to dessert,
the metamorphosis from being the ruler of a planet
to an ingredient in someone's soup.
It's tonight's bill of fare on the twilight zone.
(Male presenter) Rod serl/ng, creator of the twilight zone,
will tell you about next week's story
after this message.
And now, Mr. Serling.
Next week on the twilight zone, contributor Charles beaumont
provides us with a most charming tale
of an old man and some children...
An old man who's an exceptional playmate,
exceptional because, well,
how many old men do you know who can change into monsters?
Mr. Beaumont's excellent-tasting stew
is further seasoned by an element of mystery.
It's called the fugitive.
We hope to see you next week.
(Arness) This is James arness.
You know, it's onl ya short hop
from the twilight zone to dodge city and gunsmoke.
Sa turda y nights o ver most of these sta tions.