June 7, 2023

When a couple of astronauts are convinced that they have been in a fatal collision with an UFO whilst launching a top secret military satellite in space, they are shunned by their peers and their government. Thing is, they were right - and when White House Chief of Staff "Cain" (a shockingly wooden Robert Vaughn) is informed that the spaceship has landed in Arizona, he orders it all hushed up as there is an election looming. Not to be deterred, a… read the rest.

When a couple of astronauts are convinced that they have been in a fatal collision with an UFO whilst launching a top secret military satellite in space, they are shunned by their peers and their government. Thing is, they were right - and when White House Chief of Staff "Cain" (a shockingly wooden Robert Vaughn) is informed that the spaceship has landed in Arizona, he orders it all hushed up as there is an election looming. Not to be deterred, and somewhat irked by their treatment, our two intrepid explorers - "Price" (James Hampton) and "Bancroft" (Gary Collins) engage in lots of "Dukes of Hazard' style car chases before tracking down the missing ship. Meantime, a team of scientists led by "Forbes" (Darren McGavin) have discovered that the ship had occupants - if you have ever seen the head-bust of Mentuemhat in Cairo then you will know what I mean - and it appears that these folks had designs on Earth's defence and power supply facilities - could there be an invasion imminent? The production is basic - lots of cannibalised bakelite kitchen utensils, cylon-style sound effects and blinking lights, and the dialogue is all a bit naff - but at least it does try to illustrate the politics of the discovery being far more important than any scientific benefit. I didn't hate it, but I can't in all honesty recommend it.

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