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00:00:00From time immemorial, the Earth has been bombarded by objects from outer space, bits and pieces
00:00:18of the universe piercing our atmosphere in an invasion that never ends.
00:00:24Meteors, the shooting stars on which so many earthly wishes have been born.
00:00:30Of the thousands that plummet toward us, the greater part are destroyed in a fiery flash
00:00:36as they strike the layers of air that encircle us.
00:00:40Only a small percentage survives.
00:00:43Most of these fall into the water which covers two-thirds of our world.
00:00:48But from time to time, from the beginning of time, a very few meteors have struck the
00:00:54crust of the Earth and formed craters, craters of all sizes, sought after and poured over
00:01:00by scientists of all nations for the priceless knowledge buried within them.
00:01:08In every moment of every day they come, from planets belonging to stars whose dying light
00:01:14is too far away to be seen.
00:01:17From infinity they come, meteors.
00:01:34Another strange calling card from the limitless reaches of space, its substance unknown, its
00:01:40secrets unexplored.
00:01:42The meteor lies dormant in the night, waiting.
00:05:42Ben?
00:05:43Ben!
00:05:44Ben!
00:05:45Ben!
00:05:46Ben!
00:05:47Ben!
00:05:48Ben!
00:05:49Ben!
00:05:50Ben!
00:05:51Ben!
00:05:52Ben!
00:05:53Ben!
00:05:54Ben!
00:05:55Ben!
00:05:56Ben!
00:05:57Ben!
00:05:58Ben!
00:05:59Ben!
00:06:00Ben!
00:06:01Ben!
00:06:02Ben!
00:06:03Ben!
00:06:04Ben!
00:06:05Ben!
00:06:06Ben!
00:06:07Ben!
00:06:08Ben!
00:06:09Ben!
00:06:10Ben!
00:06:11Ben!
00:06:12Who's that, Mr. Cochran?
00:06:13Yeah.
00:06:14Come on in.
00:06:15Looking for Dave?
00:06:16Mm-hmm.
00:06:17I haven't seen him around in a couple of days.
00:06:18Is everything all right?
00:06:19Sure.
00:06:20He had to go to Bakersfield, that's all.
00:06:21He'll be back tomorrow sometime.
00:06:22Weird, isn't it?
00:06:23What's it called?
00:06:24Beats me.
00:06:25I haven't even figured out what the stuff is.
00:06:26Where'd it come from?
00:06:27The old San Angelo Road.
00:06:28There's a whole flock of it out there.
00:06:29Lava, maybe?
00:06:30No, it's a solid.
00:06:31You can see strata if you look closely.
00:06:32They must have skipped this one in college.
00:06:33Well, either that or you slept through one class too many.
00:06:34Sure.
00:06:35Who is this chap?
00:06:36One of the Big Four.
00:06:37All right, I'll check out the basement from now on.
00:06:38So, what's up?
00:06:39I got an eye on a guy.
00:06:40He's just home from school.
00:06:41See anything?
00:06:42No.
00:06:43Well, in fact, he's a good college student.
00:06:44Ah, he's a good guy.
00:06:45I mean, I've seen him around.
00:06:46He's got a lot of friends.
00:06:47Does he have a girlfriend?
00:06:48No.
00:06:49No.
00:06:50He only has a boyfriend.
00:06:51And it's a long-term relationship.
00:06:52They must have skipped this one in college.
00:06:55Well, either that or you slept through one class too many.
00:06:59It'll probably turn out to be an ordinary aggregate.
00:07:02Something simple I'm unfamiliar with.
00:07:04Still, somehow it just doesn't seem to belong, you know?
00:07:09The desert's full of things that don't belong.
00:07:12Take the salt flats out there. Used to be an ocean bed.
00:07:15Now that ocean knew that the middle of the desert was a pretty silly place for it to be,
00:07:19it just dried up and went away.
00:07:23But if it hadn't been there once, there wouldn't be a salt mine out there now.
00:07:26Without that, there probably wouldn't even be a town.
00:07:28Then there's me.
00:07:31You?
00:07:33I don't belong here either. I never did.
00:07:35San Angelo needs a newspaper like that desert needs another bucket of sand.
00:07:40Now I ask you, what good is a newspaper man in a place like this
00:07:43when nothing ever happens worth writing about?
00:07:46Say, maybe I ought to be a geologist like you and Dave, huh?
00:07:51I've been stuck here among rocks so long, all I'd need is a refresher course,
00:07:55and I bet I'd be all right.
00:07:57No, you stick to your newspaper.
00:07:59Who knows? Maybe I've just discovered something new here.
00:08:02And you can write a world-shattering article about it.
00:08:06I doubt if there's even anything new, Ben.
00:08:09A few things we haven't understood yet, but nothing that's really new.
00:08:16Come on.
00:08:46Come on.
00:09:16Come on.
00:09:47Come on.
00:09:59Morning.
00:10:13Ben?
00:10:17Come on.
00:10:27Hey, Ben!
00:10:41Hi, this is Dave Miller.
00:10:43She took the kids to school.
00:10:46She took the kids where?
00:10:48The desert.
00:10:50Aren't you afraid they'll roast out there on a day like this?
00:10:53No. I'll call her at home.
00:10:55Thanks.
00:10:59Ben!
00:11:13Ben!
00:11:43Ben!
00:11:59Ben!
00:12:13Ben!
00:12:17Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
00:12:20What is this, a field trip or a ride?
00:12:23Goodness. That's better.
00:12:26Now, I want you all to remember not to touch anything that you don't recognize,
00:12:30and I don't want anyone wandering too far from the car.
00:12:33Do you understand?
00:12:35Okay. Explode.
00:12:43Explode.
00:12:53Find something, Jenny?
00:12:55Lizards.
00:12:59Do they live there together, Miss Barrett?
00:13:02Well, why don't you ask them? Maybe they're husband and wife.
00:13:06All lizards don't get married, do they?
00:13:10Well, maybe not the same way that people do.
00:13:12Maybe they just like to be together, like you and Mr. Miller.
00:13:16Oh, well, yes, I suppose so.
00:13:19Why don't you and Mr. Miller get married?
00:13:22Why, Jenny?
00:13:24Well, gee, you love him, don't you?
00:13:26Well, what ever gave you such an idea?
00:13:28The way you look at him when he stops for you at school.
00:13:32Mother looks at Daddy like that, and she loves him.
00:13:36You don't miss much, do you?
00:13:39I like Mr. Miller.
00:13:41Well, confidentially, so do I.
00:13:44Miss Barrett.
00:14:11Bye.
00:14:38Bye.
00:14:39Bye, Mrs. Barrett.
00:14:40Bye, Jenny.
00:14:41Thanks, Mrs. Barrett.
00:14:42Hello, Mrs. Simpson.
00:14:43Hi.
00:14:44Hi, yourself.
00:14:45Have fun?
00:14:46Uh-huh.
00:14:47Mrs. Barrett told us all about the irrigation dam,
00:14:49from Santa Angelo Canyon.
00:14:51We saw some lizards.
00:14:52Oh, there.
00:14:53What's this?
00:14:54It's from the desert.
00:14:55That's where it stays.
00:14:56Outside.
00:14:57Mom, it's a souvenir.
00:14:59Well, I can live without dirty old souvenirs
00:15:01messing up my clean house.
00:15:03Oh, Mom.
00:15:04And your hands could stand a good washing off.
00:15:06Hurry up now.
00:15:07Supper's almost on the table.
00:15:09OK.
00:15:26Jenny, we're waiting.
00:15:28Just a sec, Mom.
00:15:29Young lady, get in here right now.
00:15:31Yes, ma'am.
00:15:38I've never known an autopsy to take this long before.
00:15:45Dan, I've just called the Medical Research Institute.
00:15:48I'm shipping Ben's body to them in the morning.
00:15:50Why, Doc?
00:15:51They might be able to tell us what happened to him.
00:15:54I can't.
00:15:57First, I thought it could have been scleroderma,
00:16:00an extreme heart disease.
00:16:02But it's not.
00:16:04First, I thought it could have been scleroderma,
00:16:06an extreme hardening of the skin.
00:16:08But his entire body, organs, skin, muscle tissue, everything,
00:16:13he's been welded into a solid mass.
00:16:16Doc, you must have found something.
00:16:18That'd lead me to the cause?
00:16:20Yes.
00:16:21Not a thing, David.
00:16:22There's nothing to go on.
00:16:24It's not as if he'd been ill, shown symptoms.
00:16:29An intern with wet ears could have told you
00:16:31as much as I've been able to.
00:16:33It'll take a specialist to tell you any more.
00:16:36I'm sorry.
00:16:38Um, what am I supposed to print?
00:16:41Well, you can't print anything, not about this.
00:16:44Can't print?
00:16:46Look, I was a friend of Ben's, too.
00:16:48I'm just as sorry this happened to him as anybody.
00:16:50But I'm a newspaper man, and this is news.
00:16:52All right, go ahead.
00:16:53And just what do you think you can say about it?
00:16:55Local geologist turns to rock, autopsy fails to turn up reason?
00:16:58You'd have the whole town in a panic,
00:17:00thinking some horrible disease is running loose.
00:17:03It's a funny thing.
00:17:05Last time I saw Ben,
00:17:07he was kidding about making a new discovery.
00:17:11So I'd have something to print.
00:17:14Well, he came up with a story, all right.
00:17:17But if I print it, I get run out of town for inciting a riot.
00:17:21Or maybe for writing a crackpot yarn nobody'd believe anyway.
00:17:26I think there's more to this than just Ben.
00:17:28What do you mean?
00:17:29The condition the lab was in.
00:17:31Something tore it to pieces, almost wrecked it.
00:17:34An explosion, wasn't it?
00:17:36Well, if so, it had nothing to do with Ben's death.
00:17:38There weren't any flash burns on the body,
00:17:40no signs of exposure to a blast of any kind.
00:17:44It may have happened before, Dave, or even afterwards.
00:17:47I don't think it was an explosion.
00:17:49What are you getting at?
00:17:51This stuff.
00:17:53It was all over the wreckage.
00:17:55But I don't know what it is.
00:17:57Well, that's the rock I told you Ben brought in yesterday.
00:18:00Or one like it.
00:18:02You told us one piece.
00:18:04Yeah.
00:18:05Wait a minute, the lab's covered with it.
00:18:07There must be hundreds of pounds.
00:18:09How'd it get there?
00:18:11May I see that?
00:18:15Today, out in the desert,
00:18:18one of my children picked up some of this on our field trip.
00:18:21Jenny, Jenny Simpson.
00:18:23She had it with her in the car on the way back.
00:18:26I remember thinking how strange it looked.
00:18:28Are you sure it's the same rock?
00:18:30It looked the same.
00:18:33Then she'd have it at home now, wouldn't she?
00:18:35Yes.
00:18:37Look, I'm not saying it does.
00:18:39But if Ben's death and the rock had something to do with each other,
00:18:43another little girl's got some.
00:18:45We don't know any such thing.
00:18:47Might not even be the same rock at all.
00:18:50I hope it isn't.
00:18:52But we'll never find out until we go see for ourselves.
00:18:55Simpson, you said?
00:18:57Isn't that the family out past Four Corners?
00:18:59You're going out there at this time of night?
00:19:01I think we better.
00:19:02Dave.
00:19:04Dave, I don't like what you're thinking.
00:19:07I'm not thinking a thing.
00:19:09Just want an excuse to take you for a nice long ride.
00:19:12That's all.
00:19:13Well, that's the first pleasant idea I've heard this evening.
00:19:17Come on.
00:19:25Come on.
00:19:55Come on.
00:20:06Jenny.
00:20:25Jenny.
00:20:56Jenny.
00:21:02Jenny.
00:21:04Oh, Jenny, darling.
00:21:08Jenny?
00:21:25Jenny?
00:21:56Just like Ben,
00:21:58their bodies are turned to stone.
00:22:25I'd better stay put.
00:22:29You'll need this.
00:22:31Thanks.
00:22:33Oh, and Dave.
00:22:55Dave?
00:23:25Pretty deep in shock, isn't she?
00:23:27Well, that much is normal, but...
00:23:29High temperature?
00:23:31A child her age gets a fever at the slightest provocation.
00:23:35But her temperature's subnormal.
00:23:38Sometimes shock can almost be a merciful thing.
00:24:09Martin.
00:24:11Hmm?
00:24:13What's the trouble?
00:24:15This.
00:24:17There's a negative cleavage on every mineral in there.
00:24:20Negative cleavage?
00:24:22Yeah, see for yourself.
00:24:24Not one positive extinction point in the whole thing.
00:24:28Well, yeah.
00:24:30I guess.
00:24:32Now, look at this.
00:24:34I made a breakdown of the rock we found here in the lab.
00:24:37With the exception of a trace of iron phosphate.
00:24:40Not enough to mention, they're all silicates.
00:24:42Chert, feldspar, pyroxene,
00:24:45almost all the olivine group, flint.
00:24:47Almost solid silica.
00:24:49Little bits of it slapped together in such a way
00:24:51that it shouldn't even exist.
00:24:54What do you think?
00:24:56Well, I think that...
00:24:58I think I'd better stick to the newspaper business.
00:25:01What?
00:25:03Well, I'll need more than just a refresher course
00:25:05before I even know what you're talking about.
00:25:07Oh, I'm sorry.
00:25:09It doesn't make much sense to me either.
00:25:12Let's see how the Simpson rock compares with it.
00:25:21Identical.
00:25:24Identical.
00:25:26Two specimens are exactly the same.
00:25:31I don't know.
00:25:33Ben brings home a sample and it multiplies.
00:25:36Ginny Simpson picks up a piece and there's tons of it.
00:25:40Ordinary silica.
00:25:42The most common material you can find,
00:25:44and yet everywhere this stuff goes, somebody dies.
00:25:47Trouble is, we don't even know who else
00:25:49might have picked up a piece of it.
00:25:51Tourists, maybe.
00:25:53Why, they could carry it to every part of the country.
00:25:55Yeah.
00:25:57At the rate this stuff spreads destruction, Martin,
00:25:59when you write your story,
00:26:01there may not be anybody around to read it.
00:26:05Probably won't print it anyway.
00:26:08Couldn't spell the words.
00:26:11Yeah?
00:26:13Dave, this is Dr. Reynolds.
00:26:15Yes, Doctor.
00:26:16Dave, I want you to do something for me.
00:26:18Find someone who can make a fast trip to Los Angeles.
00:26:20I want to get Ginny to the California Medical Research Institute.
00:26:23Ginny? Is she worse?
00:26:25Yes.
00:26:26I've made arrangements with a young specialist there,
00:26:28Dr. Hendricks.
00:26:30He's a very good doctor.
00:26:32He's a very good doctor.
00:26:34He's a very good doctor.
00:26:36He's a very good doctor.
00:26:38I've made arrangements with a young specialist there,
00:26:40Dr. Hendricks. He'll take over.
00:26:42Okay. I'll take it myself.
00:26:44Good. When can you leave?
00:26:45Right away.
00:26:46Then get on over here.
00:26:47Wait a minute.
00:26:49How bad is it?
00:26:50Her hand has turned to stone, and it's spreading.
00:26:52Ginny has to reach that hospital as quickly as possible.
00:26:55It's her one chance to survive.
00:28:09Dr. Hendricks is ready for you in the examining room.
00:28:20You can see how the pectoral muscles became paralyzed.
00:28:23The disease merely followed the main arteries
00:28:25through the arms into the upper chest cavity.
00:28:28Well, will it keep spreading until her whole body's affected?
00:28:32Unless we can slow it down.
00:28:36We're asking you to save her life, doctor.
00:28:39That's why we brought her here.
00:28:41Miss Barrett, I can't cope with something I don't even understand.
00:28:45Then what are you going to do?
00:28:47Kathy.
00:28:48He won't know himself until he finds out what he's fighting.
00:28:51But, Dave, Ginny's dying.
00:28:53We're trying to avoid that.
00:28:55Pinpoint the reason and time to save her.
00:29:00I'm afraid I can't.
00:29:02There's no time to save her.
00:29:05Is that the rock?
00:29:07Thought I'd take it across the way in the morning to the college.
00:29:11There's an old professor of mine there, Flanders.
00:29:14He might make some sense out of all this.
00:29:16Get him out of bed.
00:29:18Take it to him. Now.
00:29:21Incredible.
00:29:23As if someone tossed all the silicates into a single wastebasket.
00:29:26Some wastebasket.
00:29:28What beats me is it's completely unknown.
00:29:31Nothing like it's been recorded in there.
00:29:33That could be the answer.
00:29:34What?
00:29:35What if it's never been recorded because it hasn't been here to record?
00:29:38What do you mean?
00:29:39It's a meteorite, I think.
00:29:40You're kidding.
00:29:41Why not, Dave?
00:29:42Its contents tell me it's a meteorite.
00:29:44I don't believe you.
00:29:45I don't believe you.
00:29:46I don't believe you.
00:29:47I don't believe you.
00:29:48You're kidding.
00:29:49Why not, Dave?
00:29:50Its contents tally exactly with the makeup of an aerolite, stony, iron meteorite
00:29:53composed entirely of silicates.
00:29:55It couldn't be a meteorite.
00:29:56We didn't find just this one rock.
00:29:58There's a ton of that stuff in my lab.
00:29:59Hundreds of pieces.
00:30:01And the Simpson Ranch is covered with it.
00:30:02We can't expect to solve all of its mysteries at once.
00:30:04Professor.
00:30:06All I want to know is how to keep it from multiplying.
00:30:09It's killed or injured everyone who's come in contact with it.
00:30:11And that kid's gonna die if we don't give them an answer.
00:30:13Dave.
00:30:14If it is a meteorite, chances are it's been hurtling around our universe
00:30:17for a good many centuries.
00:30:18The answer to your question lies buried in those centuries.
00:30:22We'll just have to dig it out.
00:30:25I'm sorry.
00:30:29It'll break Kathy's heart if anything happens to that little girl.
00:30:33Where do we start?
00:30:34Places it happened.
00:30:35Your lab and the Simpson Ranch.
00:30:36I want to go out there with you to see them.
00:30:38Then let's, uh, let's try to locate that parent meteor if there is one.
00:30:43When can you leave?
00:30:45I'm all packed.
00:30:52What is it, honey?
00:30:55Dr. Hendricks says another eight hours.
00:30:58Maybe.
00:30:59And maybe not?
00:31:03Maybe not.
00:31:07She's different from the others, Dave.
00:31:10Kind of special.
00:31:14You want to stay with her?
00:31:17Let me know the minute there's a change.
00:31:19Any kind of a change.
00:31:21I'll call you if we come up with anything.
00:31:24You be careful, Dave.
00:31:26It's your kind of special, too.
00:31:37Hi, Dave.
00:31:38Hi.
00:31:41How was the trip?
00:31:42All right.
00:31:43Professor Flanders, chief of police, Corey.
00:31:44How do you do, professor?
00:31:45Excuse me, please.
00:31:49How's the Simpson kid?
00:31:51She's alive, that's about all.
00:31:52Anything new here?
00:31:53Yeah.
00:31:54We can rule out the explosion idea.
00:31:56There wasn't any.
00:31:57The gas tank's in one piece.
00:31:58Smashed but intact.
00:32:00And none of the wiring was shorted out.
00:32:02So?
00:32:03That leaves us right where we started.
00:32:14Dave.
00:32:16Over here.
00:32:23See any difference?
00:32:26Different color.
00:32:27This looks strange.
00:32:29Now, look here.
00:32:30You'll see a strange thing.
00:32:33What is it?
00:32:34I don't know.
00:32:35It's a strange thing.
00:32:36What is it?
00:32:37It's a strange thing.
00:32:38What is it?
00:32:39It's a strange thing.
00:32:41Now, look here.
00:32:42You'll see a slight discoloration around the piles of rock.
00:32:47Why?
00:32:49Yes, you do.
00:32:51It's funny, I didn't notice that before.
00:32:53Seems to be only around the points of contact,
00:32:55always near where the rock has multiplied.
00:32:58Yeah.
00:33:03Now, look at the difference, Dave.
00:33:05More than just the color.
00:33:08This.
00:33:10It looks...
00:33:12lifeless.
00:33:14Yes.
00:33:16Yes, it does.
00:33:26It's got the same look to it as the wreckage.
00:33:29It should.
00:33:30Both of them are caused by multiplication of siliceous rock.
00:33:33Granted, but something just out of the earth looking so much like wrecked furniture?
00:33:36What could they have in common?
00:33:38They lack something in common, silica.
00:33:40They lack silica?
00:33:42Yeah.
00:33:44The dirt sample is ordinary earth, nothing more.
00:33:47The wreckage is exactly what it should be, wood, plaster, metal.
00:33:50But the silica content in both is missing.
00:33:53There's not a sign of it.
00:33:54That could be the answer.
00:33:55We know the siliceous rock does multiply.
00:33:57Perhaps a part of the process is the absorption of silica.
00:34:00Taking it right out of whatever it comes into contact with,
00:34:02be it desert or wood or...
00:34:06Human beings?
00:34:12I didn't know there was such a thing as silica in the human body.
00:34:15It's called silicon.
00:34:17It's a trace element like iron, copper, aluminum,
00:34:19only there's much less of it.
00:34:21Doctor,
00:34:23if the silicon content in a person were suddenly to disappear,
00:34:27By contact with a rock?
00:34:29No matter how, what if it did?
00:34:31Wait a moment.
00:34:33Science never has known for sure
00:34:35just what the function of silicon was,
00:34:37but there is one theory
00:34:39that silicon is what helps make the skin flexible.
00:34:46Flexible.
00:34:49And take it away?
00:34:52Ginny!
00:34:54Ginny!
00:34:56Ginny!
00:34:57Doctor, get word to Hendricks. Come on!
00:35:01Hey, where are you going?
00:35:02We've got a meteor to find.
00:35:23Is this the old San Angelo Road that Kathy spoke of?
00:35:25Yeah, she said it was about 12 miles up the canyon.
00:35:45Hadn't we better slow down a little?
00:35:47Yeah.
00:35:50There.
00:35:52That must be it.
00:36:04Look.
00:36:06They're the same fragments, all right.
00:36:09Then the meteor can't be far off.
00:36:19Let's go.
00:36:50Think of the knowledge buried down there.
00:36:54There's only one thing I want to know from that.
00:36:57What makes it multiply?
00:36:59What starts it?
00:37:01You've got to remember, David, when this hit our atmosphere,
00:37:03it burned at such a fantastic temperature
00:37:05that its metal-bearing compounds could have been altered,
00:37:08left ready to activate, to grow.
00:37:10And what's left?
00:37:12What's left?
00:37:14What's left?
00:37:16It's been altered, left ready to activate, to grow.
00:37:20No telling what went on inside of it.
00:37:23It's been gathering the secrets of time and space
00:37:26for billions of years.
00:37:30Billions of years.
00:37:32And how long have we got to unlock its most important secret?
00:37:35Three hours or three minutes?
00:37:47Three Hours or Three Minutes?
00:37:54Are you going to make some tests first, Doctor?
00:37:57If we took the time to determine Jenny's silicon level,
00:37:59the whole question would be academic.
00:38:02I'm sorry, Miss Barrett. I didn't mean to be so blunt.
00:38:05Please try to understand that anything medical science could do
00:38:08under the circumstances for Jenny would have to be experimental.
00:38:12On the other hand, Dr. Reynolds' report from San Angelo
00:38:15did coincide exactly with what we've learned
00:38:17from our autopsy on Ben Gilbert,
00:38:19that somehow that rock had robbed his entire body of silicon.
00:38:23That means only one thing.
00:38:25We've got to try synthetically
00:38:27to replenish that element in Jenny's body
00:38:29and arrest the solidifying action.
00:38:31I know you're doing the best you can, Doctor.
00:38:46It does everything but grow.
00:38:49Not heat. Not electricity.
00:38:53Not the simplest catalyst.
00:38:55And yet it has to be something simple.
00:38:57Something present both here and at the Simpson Ranch.
00:39:01Maybe it was something somebody did.
00:39:04Well, as long as it's not a catalyst,
00:39:06it's not a catalyst.
00:39:08It's not a catalyst.
00:39:10It's not a catalyst.
00:39:12Maybe it was something somebody did.
00:39:14Hmm?
00:39:15Well, as long as this stuff is left alone in the desert,
00:39:17nothing happens. It's dormant.
00:39:19It's only after somebody's picked up a chunk of it that it activates.
00:39:22But we've handled it.
00:39:24Apparently not in the right way.
00:39:27No, it has to be something Ben and Jenny did to it.
00:39:30No telling how Ben experimented on it.
00:39:33What could he have done in the laboratory
00:39:35that Jenny could also have done at home?
00:39:39What would a little girl do with a rock souvenir
00:39:41she picked up in the desert?
00:39:55Professor.
00:39:57Thank you, Dave.
00:40:11Oh, my God.
00:40:42I'm sorry, Dave.
00:40:44I guess this is beginning to get on my nerves a little.
00:40:47It's probably just my strong coffee, Professor.
00:40:50I'll make some fresh.
00:41:01You know, this coffee I brew
00:41:03is responsible for my prolonged bachelor status.
00:41:06Oh?
00:41:08Kathy tried a cup of it once.
00:41:11You said anybody who drank mud like this all day long
00:41:14has just got to be too grouchy to live with.
00:41:17Give me your cup. I'll rinse out the mud.
00:41:20Thanks, Dave.
00:41:27Professor.
00:41:39It was only a little chip.
00:41:41But what made it grow? What happened to it?
00:41:43It slipped into the sink, that's all.
00:41:45No, something started it, something we didn't.
00:41:47You poured coffee in the sink.
00:41:49Coffee?
00:41:50Coffee.
00:41:51Coffee is nothing but flavored water.
00:42:09And when there's no more water, it stops.
00:42:13But as long as there is water,
00:42:15it'll multiply again and again.
00:42:18Water.
00:42:20A simple thing like...
00:42:28Water.
00:42:30A simple thing like...
00:42:39Professor.
00:42:41The meteor!
00:43:01Stop the car.
00:43:05The engine.
00:43:08The engine.
00:43:38The engine.
00:44:08The engine.
00:44:24Incredible.
00:44:26Professor, they're going to follow this natural slope
00:44:28right down the canyon.
00:44:30They'll go straight through San Angelo.
00:44:39Evacuate? The entire town?
00:44:41Chief, those rocks are going to come crashing through here
00:44:43like an avalanche over an anthill.
00:44:45There won't be a living thing left.
00:44:47You won't even be able to tell where San Angelo was.
00:44:49When they're no longer confined within the walls of the canyon,
00:44:51when they break out onto the open valley floor,
00:44:53their rate of multiplication is going to be frightening.
00:44:55You mean they'll grow even faster?
00:44:57Each one that shatters will make a hundred more.
00:44:59When that hundred shatters, there'll be 10,000 of them.
00:45:01The third cycle will create a million.
00:45:03Unless we can stop them,
00:45:04they'll spread over the whole countryside.
00:45:06With enough rain, there's no boundary they can't cross.
00:45:08Then it all depends on how long it keeps raining.
00:45:10That's it. We'd better find out about that right now.
00:45:15The weather bureau in Riverside's your best bet.
00:45:17Right.
00:45:21There's no exact forecast, but...
00:45:23Well, can't you just give us a general idea
00:45:25of when the rainstorm might be over?
00:45:27Well, the prevailing nimbo stratus in your area
00:45:31seems to have begun to dissipate
00:45:33under the influence of divergence aloft
00:45:35associated with veering winds.
00:45:38Ordinarily, this would lessen the duration of precipitation.
00:45:41However,
00:45:44the unstable tropical air mass moving up from the south,
00:45:47combined with the polar outbreak moving down from Canada,
00:45:51could conceivably give rise to an area of extreme cyclogenesis,
00:45:55which in turn could develop into a...
00:45:57Friend.
00:45:58Hmm? Yes?
00:46:00When is the rain going to stop?
00:46:03Why, uh...
00:46:05Today.
00:46:09This morning.
00:46:11Can you tell us how long we've got before it starts again?
00:46:14Well, there's no additional precipitation forecast
00:46:18for another 48 hours.
00:46:20Thank you very much.
00:46:33Well, Professor,
00:46:35do you think we can figure out how to stop them in two days?
00:46:37I'd say we have no more choice in the matter
00:46:39than a student has in avoiding one of my assignments.
00:46:42I can vouch for that.
00:46:43What about the evacuation?
00:46:45I'd alert the people anyway.
00:46:46If our time runs out,
00:46:47you can get instructions to them by radio and TV.
00:46:49Right.
00:46:50Oh, get Cochran to use his wire service.
00:46:52They can contact all the broadcasting stations by teletype.
00:46:56Is that you, Ethel?
00:46:58This is Dan Corey.
00:46:59Now get this, Ethel, and get it straight.
00:47:03Call everybody in town?
00:47:05Do you realize I'm here alone?
00:47:07Then get some more help.
00:47:09I don't care how you do it. Just do it.
00:47:12Tell them to warn their neighbors. Spread the word.
00:47:15Well, at least that's a good idea.
00:47:17The way gossip travels in this town,
00:47:19everybody will hear about it in no time.
00:47:21What is it I'm supposed to warn them about?
00:47:28Yes, Chief.
00:47:30Yes, Chief. Right away, Chief.
00:48:00Miss Barrett! Miss Barrett, come here, quickly!
00:48:04Look!
00:48:07The doctor. Get Dr. Hemmings.
00:48:16And although the exact degree of danger
00:48:18has not yet been determined,
00:48:20all residents of San Angelo are requested
00:48:22by Chief of Police Dan Corey of that city
00:48:24to be fully prepared to evacuate if it becomes necessary.
00:48:28Stay tuned to this station for...
00:48:36Mommy, the TV went off.
00:48:38How can I listen to what they're saying if it went off?
00:48:42Honey, they said to stay off the phone.
00:48:45It's dead.
00:48:47The radio, the lights, everything's dead.
00:48:57She's going to be all right.
00:48:59She'll be all right.
00:49:01She'll be all right.
00:49:03She'll be all right.
00:49:05She'll be all right.
00:49:07She'll be all right.
00:49:10She's going to be all right.
00:49:12Breathing normally.
00:49:14She's completely out of danger.
00:49:35Outside, long distance, please.
00:49:40Long distance.
00:49:42I'd like to place a person-to-person call to San Angelo.
00:49:45I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't connect you.
00:49:47What do you mean?
00:49:49We've had a report of some trouble near San Angelo.
00:49:51What kind of trouble?
00:49:53I don't have that information, ma'am.
00:49:55It's impossible to get a call through to that exchange at this time.
00:50:00Dr. Hendricks, something's wrong.
00:50:02Something's wrong with the lines. I can't get through to Dave.
00:50:05Those rocks. I've got to keep trying.
00:50:08That won't do any good.
00:50:11Wait a minute, there is one way.
00:50:15Operator, get me to State Highway Patrol, Los Angeles, please.
00:50:26LAX to car 42, come in.
00:50:29LAX to car 42, come in.
00:50:31Car 42, come in.
00:50:33Proceed to San Angelo.
00:50:35Contact to Mr. Dave Miller,
00:50:37District Office of the Department of Interior.
00:50:40Roger, and out.
00:51:06They patched in a doctor's phone call at the Los Angeles headquarters,
00:51:09and they're relaying it through the big transmitter.
00:51:12Just press the button when you're talking,
00:51:14and when you want him to answer, say, over.
00:51:16Dr. Hendricks, this is Dave Miller. Over.
00:51:18Dave, I want to get word to you as soon as possible.
00:51:20Your theory worked. Jenny's completely out of danger.
00:51:23Over.
00:51:24Oh, that's wonderful news, doctor, for a couple of reasons.
00:51:27I have an idea there may be something in that formula you used on Jenny
00:51:30that would help us here.
00:51:32Her reaction resulted from contact with the rock.
00:51:34So why not suppose that the same agent is capable of controlling the rocks?
00:51:38One ingredient with a common power, if we can isolate it.
00:51:41What do you think?
00:51:42That's an interesting idea.
00:51:44Sounds logical on the surface.
00:51:46It's certainly worth a try.
00:51:48Here it is. Are you ready? Over.
00:51:50Just a minute.
00:51:54All right, doctor, go ahead.
00:51:56I used a base of silicic acid, uncut,
00:51:58CMC, glucose, DB,
00:52:01and monochloroacetic acid.
00:52:03That's it. Over.
00:52:04Got it. How did you suspend them?
00:52:06Normal saline solution.
00:52:07Say, Dave, is there any way we can speed things up from this end?
00:52:10Thank you, doctor, but I don't see how.
00:52:12Not unless you can chase rain clouds.
00:52:14Say, hold on a minute, doctor. It looks like trouble.
00:52:16Stay where you are. I'll talk to you in a minute.
00:52:22It was Joe Higgins.
00:52:27Chief, you gotta believe me. You're gonna think I'm blind.
00:52:30Rocks, Joe. Towers of rock.
00:52:32Crashing down and then growing up again.
00:52:34Yeah. Yeah. Hundreds of them. Thousands.
00:52:36They come crashing through my farm like a...
00:52:38like a... chief.
00:52:40There's nothing left. Nothing.
00:52:42My livestock's all dead and...
00:52:44Here. Here. I'll show you.
00:52:49Look at the dog. He's as hard as a piece of granite.
00:52:54Harry, what's wrong?
00:52:56I'd better get Doc Reynolds.
00:53:01I have it all done, Dr. Hendricks.
00:53:03One injection only.
00:53:05Now, what do we do about an iron lung
00:53:07to keep Mrs. Higgins alive until the solution takes effect?
00:53:09Over.
00:53:11Well, from what you told me, I can assure you she'll be all right
00:53:13for three or four hours without the lung.
00:53:15And I can be there with a portable unit long before that.
00:53:18And anyway, Dr. Reynolds, I'd like to be present, if you don't mind.
00:53:21Over.
00:53:23You're more than welcome. I was hoping you'd offer.
00:53:25Cigarette?
00:53:27No, thanks.
00:53:30She's gonna be all right, Miss Higgins.
00:53:32Dr. Reynolds is getting all the information
00:53:34on how the little Simpson girl was cured.
00:53:36He'll use the same formula on your wife.
00:53:38It ain't gonna take too long, is it?
00:53:40I mean, I don't even sit around here
00:53:42and wait for those rocks to catch up with us.
00:53:44You don't have to worry.
00:53:46You see, we found out that without rain, the rocks stopped growing.
00:53:48Mister, I seen them smash the big main power line
00:53:50that runs into town.
00:53:52Goes right through my place,
00:53:54and it hadn't been raining for half an hour.
00:53:56When they crashed into my house and barns,
00:53:58it wasn't raining a drop.
00:54:00No, mister, they're not stopped. They're moving right down this valley.
00:54:02You mean now?
00:54:04Sure, now. Right now.
00:54:06How far is your place from town, Miss Higgins?
00:54:08Six and a half miles.
00:54:10Professor, I'm going out there and have a look.
00:54:12We've got to know how much time we do have.
00:54:14That's Hendrick's formula.
00:54:16I'll get started in the lab.
00:54:24There isn't a chance that they can repair the lines in time.
00:54:27Martin, I've got 1,500 people
00:54:29waiting for word to get out of town.
00:54:31Now, how am I going to get that word to them?
00:54:33Well, now, Dan, I wouldn't say we're cut off.
00:54:36Not completely. Huh?
00:54:38Come with me.
00:54:48Bobby.
00:54:50Bobby. Over here.
00:54:58Like I started to tell you, Dan,
00:55:00I know I never have much to write about, Miss Sentinel,
00:55:03but what little there is always gets delivered
00:55:05to most every house in town, every day.
00:55:08You want me, Mr. Cochran?
00:55:10Martin, you're a genius.
00:55:13Bobby, you already know what kind of trouble we're in.
00:55:16Now, we're going to need your help.
00:55:18The first thing I want you to do is round up every kid in town,
00:55:21boy or girl, who's got a bicycle,
00:55:23and be back here with them in a half hour.
00:55:25Sure, Mr. Cochran, but...
00:55:27But? But what?
00:55:29Well, most of the guys I know won't do it
00:55:32unless I can tell them how much they'll get paid.
00:55:34Get paid at a time like this?
00:55:36You tell them this is police business.
00:55:38You tell them the chief of police wants them here, right now.
00:55:41Yes, sir.
00:55:44I don't know, Martin.
00:55:46Kids nowadays have to get paid for everything.
00:55:48Oh, don't worry about them, Dan.
00:55:50When they find out what we want them to deliver,
00:55:53you just watch the smoke fly.
00:55:57You know what I was thinking?
00:55:59This is going to be the most important delivery in the Sentinel's history.
00:56:02This ain't nothing but the biggest circulation getter.
00:56:05And because of it, I'm going to lose every paying customer I've got.
00:56:09Chief, you better come over here right away.
00:56:17What's the matter?
00:56:19She just drove in, stopped, and then passed out before she said a word.
00:56:22Get her over to the doctor.
00:56:36Let's warm up that radio phone.
00:56:38I want to talk to the governor.
00:56:43The governor has declared that a state of emergency exists
00:56:46in the area surrounding the doomed town.
00:56:48The highway patrol has issued a warning to all motorists
00:56:51and the evacuees to stay off the roads leading into San Angelo.
00:56:55Their patrol cars will stop anyone who disregards this order.
00:57:51Fire!
00:58:22That good?
00:58:24Let her roll, boys.
00:58:52They're still activating.
00:58:54They're pulling the water out of the sand like sponges.
00:58:57Well, the rain's stopped anyhow.
00:58:59Yeah. Without a continuing rainfall, at least the growth's been recharged.
00:59:03It looks like it's taken about ten minutes for each cycle.
00:59:06Still too fast.
00:59:08Professor, the way I figured, we've got to get out of here.
00:59:11We've got to get out of here.
00:59:13We've got to get out of here.
00:59:15We've got to get out of here.
00:59:17We've got to get out of here.
00:59:19Professor, the way I figured, we've got seven or eight hours,
00:59:22and San Angelo's going to look more like a petrified forest than a town.
00:59:26Dave, I know this is an unnecessary question,
00:59:29but are you positive that you wrote down all the ingredients in Dr. Hendrick's formula?
00:59:33Absolutely.
00:59:35You mean none of them work?
00:59:37That's about it.
00:59:39Our one chance is that maybe a combination of all the ingredients.
00:59:45Yeah. Yeah. Pairs. Three at a time. Maybe all at once.
01:00:15Well, let's try a mixture of salicylic acid and glucose DB.
01:00:43Don't be too discouraged, Dave. Your theory's certainly not sure of it.
01:00:48Cassie! What are you doing here?
01:00:51Oh, that's a fine greeting. I thought you'd be glad to see me.
01:00:54Of course I am.
01:00:57You look tired, honey. Did you get any sleep?
01:00:59Oh, don't worry about me. Ginny's all right.
01:01:01Oh, great.
01:01:03She's sleeping, mostly, from exhaustion.
01:01:05And I wanted to be with you.
01:01:08Well, I'm delighted you came, Miss Barrett. We can use some help.
01:01:11We sure can.
01:01:22We'd better get that lung in here.
01:01:23All right.
01:01:26You're the husband.
01:01:27Yes.
01:01:30You can relax now. We were on time.
01:01:36It'd be simpler if we could just find a way to keep the water from getting to them.
01:01:40See? The activity's almost stopped.
01:01:43Maybe this'll stop it, for good.
01:01:54It doesn't make sense.
01:01:56Something in that formula worked for Hendricks. Why wouldn't it work for us?
01:01:58It has me stumped. I thought surely if we grouped all four ingredients together like Dr. Hendricks did for the little girl, we'd get a positive reaction.
01:02:04So did I.
01:02:08Wait a minute.
01:02:11We didn't duplicate Hendricks' formula. Not completely.
01:02:14You mean the saline solution?
01:02:16Why not? We've tried everything else.
01:02:18But I thought you said that was nothing but a salt solution to hold the ingredients together.
01:02:21Yeah, that's what I said.
01:02:22Well, it couldn't possibly have any effect, could it?
01:02:24You're absolutely right. It's ridiculous.
01:02:27But that's what they said about the wheel when someone first thought of it.
01:02:58Dave, it works.
01:03:00More water. We've got to be sure.
01:03:09If we had that extra day, the water wouldn't have gotten to us.
01:03:12If we had that extra day, the weather bureau promised us.
01:03:28I'm sure we could figure a way to stop the monoliths for good.
01:03:31We're not that lucky.
01:03:33But I think we can cut them off here, before they reach town.
01:03:36That'd be like trying to stop a forest fire with a traffic signal.
01:03:39All right, Chief. How do you fight a forest fire?
01:03:42With a fire break, right?
01:03:43Yeah.
01:03:44Well, how about a salt break?
01:03:46Look here.
01:03:48The natural slope of the valley floor is bringing them right down here.
01:03:52Now, if we could lay a swath of salt right here,
01:03:55making it as wide as the monoliths are tall,
01:03:58then when they fell and shattered, they'd just pile up, keeping them inside the canyon.
01:04:02This would give us the time we need.
01:04:04Theoretically, you're right, David.
01:04:05But to cover an area that great in the time that we have,
01:04:08why, I doubt if a thousand dump trucks could move that salt over there fast enough.
01:04:12I've thought about that, Professor, but we've got to try.
01:04:14Will you gain enough time to make it worthwhile?
01:04:16If we had to have a misplaced ocean,
01:04:18why couldn't it have dried up and left its salt here where we need it in the first place?
01:04:23Even if it were there, it couldn't keep the monoliths from breaking out of the valley eventually.
01:04:26Why?
01:04:28The dry salt in either case will only act as a temporary barrier.
01:04:32When they pile up sufficiently, some of them are bound to go around it,
01:04:35or they go crashing through that irrigation dam like it wasn't there.
01:04:38And with the floodwaters to feed them, they'll march right on through the reservoir canyon
01:04:41and head out into the citrus area.
01:04:44And once they break through to the other side of the mountains,
01:04:46there'll be no stopping them ever.
01:04:49Chief, you lived here, didn't you, before that irrigation project was built?
01:04:52Yeah, sure.
01:04:54Did the water that flowed down the wash reach this end of the valley before the dam was put up?
01:04:59When it rained, what are you driving at?
01:05:01We're going to beat them to the punch.
01:05:03If the monoliths get to the water behind the dam, they'll feed on it.
01:05:06But if we could drain that reservoir first, that same water will stop them.
01:05:10After it floods through the dry lake, it'll be salt water, which will deactivate them completely.
01:05:14Dave, I don't think the floodgates will release the water fast enough.
01:05:16How about the discharge pipes?
01:05:18The discharge pipes are on the other side of the mountain.
01:05:20The dam was built by the citrus growers over there.
01:05:24Then we'll dynamite the dam.
01:05:26Blow it up? You can't do that. It's privately owned.
01:05:29Dave, you can't take on this responsibility alone.
01:05:32She's right. Besides, that's a $6 million irrigation project.
01:05:35There's no price you can put on the destruction those things will cause if they're not stopped here.
01:05:40Get in touch with the governor. He might order it in the public interest.
01:05:43Dave, where are you going?
01:05:46We've only got a few hours left, Dan.
01:05:48Those charges have got to be settled.
01:05:50We've only got a few hours left, Dan.
01:05:52Those charges have got to be set exactly right to move all that concrete.
01:05:56And we only get one chance.
01:06:01The salt reclaiming company uses a lot of dynamite.
01:06:04You'll find everything you need there.
01:06:06Thanks.
01:06:11And what do you think, Professor?
01:06:14Will it stop the monoliths?
01:06:16Well, it's like another laboratory experiment, Kathy.
01:06:19In science, there are no guarantees.
01:06:23Hey, you can see them from here!
01:08:20Mr. Miller, there are still some men down at the salt plant moving equipment out.
01:08:24I'm supposed to warn them before we set her off.
01:08:26You better make your call now just to be safe.
01:08:28Then keep your phone open and stand by. I'll tell you when.
01:08:32P1 calling P2. Come in, P2.
01:08:49P1 calling P2. Come in, P2.
01:09:14Dave, is everything all right?
01:09:16So far.
01:09:20One word on that car radio and $6 million worth of dam goes sky high.
01:09:24David, from our calculations, we know it takes at least a 3% salt solution to be effective against monoliths.
01:09:29So I did some fast figuring.
01:09:31Rough estimates based on what Mr. Cochran remembers about the volume of water behind the dam
01:09:36and the amount of salt that'll be in its path.
01:09:38And? What are the odds?
01:09:41We're going to have to be lucky. Very lucky.
01:09:45Dave, the governor's supposed to fly here to get a first-hand look at the disaster area.
01:09:49But so far, we haven't been able to locate him.
01:09:52When he sees what's happening here, he's sure to give permission to blow up the dam.
01:09:56The important thing right now is to get out to the edge of town where we can see something.
01:10:00Chief, will you have the patrol car stick close to us? We'll need that radio.
01:10:03Right, Dave.
01:10:06Professor?
01:10:08Can you figure how long it'll take the water to reach the wash after it's released?
01:10:12I'll have to know how far away it is.
01:10:14Two and seven-tenths miles from dam to city limits.
01:10:18If it's dull or statistical, I've written about it.
01:10:35Oh, my God.
01:11:06David, roughly three minutes after they dynamite the dam,
01:11:09the water will flood the wash.
01:11:11Three minutes?
01:11:14Then we've got to let them reach the wash
01:11:17and wait till they're growing right in the middle of it.
01:11:19It's kind of like waiting till you see the whites of their eyes.
01:11:22Dave, the governor still can't be reached.
01:11:24He's in his car someplace on his way to the airport.
01:11:28Officer, establish contact with Hank.
01:11:31I'm talking to the pilot of the governor's plane.
01:11:33He said the governor's at the airport on his way to the airport.
01:11:35He's going to be in the airport in a minute.
01:11:37We could use a radio.
01:11:39An anti-aircraft radio?
01:11:41I don't have any.
01:11:43We'll have to use a radio, Chief.
01:11:45We'll have to use a radio.
01:11:47I don't have any.
01:11:49Then we'll have to use an anti-aircraft radio.
01:11:51We'll have to use a radio.
01:11:53That's right.
01:11:55He said the Governor is at the airport now and will be aboard any minute.
01:12:26Get Hank, quick!
01:12:28Dave, just another minute.
01:12:30We don't have another minute.
01:12:31Dave Miller to Hank Jackson, do you read me? Over.
01:12:34I read you loud and clear. Are you ready? Over.
01:12:36Ready.
01:12:40Hit it, now!
01:12:55Well, let's hope the Governor makes the right decision.
01:14:25Hit it, now!
01:14:56It's working! It's working! The salt water is stopping them!
01:14:59It's right in their tracks.
01:15:25Hit it, now!
01:15:55And the Governor had stopped for an unscheduled meeting with the State Engineer and the State Disaster Director.
01:16:12That's why he was so late getting to the airport.
01:16:14Never mind that. What did he say about the dam?
01:16:17Oh, he said, don't blow up the dam.
01:16:21Unless you're absolutely certain it'll be successful.
01:16:29Martin, you always call that dry lake Mother Nature's worst mistake.
01:16:34Looks like now she knew what she was doing, huh?
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