Ape vs. Monster

A space capsule crashes near Roswell, New Mexico. Dr. Linda Murphy takes control of the investigation, answering to National Security Advisor Ethan Marcos. The discovery ties back to ELBE, a secret US-Soviet program designed to enable first contact.

Marcos directs Linda to lead the site investigation promptly to beat the Russians to the truth. Linda accepts the assignment and begins assembling the team for the Roswell site. The order signals high political stakes surrounding the discovery of the alien craft.

Linda's father, Noah, was a lead ELBE scientist. The two grew estranged when Noah used Abraham, the chimp Linda befriended, as the capsule's pilot. The mission is declared a failure when Earth loses contact with the craft in 2007.

Upon arrival, the capsule occupant breaks out after landing and the capsule is coated in a strange green fluid. Abraham grows into a gigantic creature and kills Reynolds, while Linda is knocked unconscious. Eva Kuleshov, Linda's former classmate and now a Russian agent, arrives and tranquilizes Abraham; a Gila monster begins feeding on the exposed fluid.

Abraham is taken to Langley Research Center for confinement as Linda, Eva, and a team of scientists examine his mutation. At the crash site, the guard detail protecting the capsule is killed by the mutated Gila. The team begins studying the mutation and its effects.

Linda and her assistant Jones pursue the creature as it ravages the area. The Gila destroys a bridge and a passenger train before the pair heads underground to avoid detection. The pursuit drives the action as the monster continues its rampage.

Eva reveals that the alien substance breaks down in Earth's atmosphere and secretly injects the remaining supply into Abraham to stabilize him. Abraham grows even larger and escapes from Langley. Linda is left to process Eva's deception as the threat to the nation escalates.

They track means to suppress the monsters and learn about the substance's role in their power. Eva admits deception; Abraham inhaled the substance while the Gila consumed it. General Delaney orders the team to find the monsters as soon as possible.

The team tracks Abraham to Huntington, West Virginia, where Linda discovers the substance breaks down in the blood he leaves behind. Eva admits deception, Linda ejects Eva from the team, and she flees with an Apache helicopter. Linda joins a group of Special Forces to engage Abraham, but the men are killed and Abraham escapes.

Back at Langley, beams of cosmic energy from the Andromeda Galaxy remotely control monsters via the bodily substance. The Hubble Space Telescope detects an alien ship approaching Earth, prompting Marcos to call Noah for assistance.

Linda believes Abraham may resist the aliens' control. She, Jones, and Noah plan to jam the alien signal using a prototype transmitter mounted to the Washington Monument. Abraham arrives in Washington, D.C. and the jamming signal frees him briefly, but the Gila remains unaffected. A missile strike is ordered, causing the Washington Monument to collapse and destroying the transmitter, allowing the aliens to regain control.

Noah reveals a prototype transmitter and Linda and Jones retrieve it. Jones is devoured by the Gila, and when the transmitter is activated, Abraham is freed again. He battles the Gila to protect Linda, and Eva's suicide attack disorients the Gila long enough for Abraham to snap its neck, killing it.

Marcos halts the attack as the alien ship retreats and the Gila's energy is neutralized. Abraham is sent to a facility outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he can live in peace. Linda accepts Noah's offer to join her and is granted exclusive rights to study Abraham.