Dr. Douglas Martin, Peter Graves, a nuclear scientist working on atomic bomb tests, is sent to monitor a USAF blast at Soledad Flats. During the mission, the pilot loses control and crashes; Martin somehow survives, walks back to the air base unhurt, and returns with a mysterious scar on his chest that wasn’t there before. At the base hospital, his odd behavior triggers an FBI inquiry to rule out an impostor, but he is eventually cleared—though ordered to take leave, a move he resents because it keeps him away from his ongoing project.
When another atomic test is carried out without his knowledge, Martin seizes the data and hides it under a stone near Soledad Flats. An FBI agent trails him, yet Martin manages to evade capture until he crashes his car. Back at the hospital, he is subjected to truth serum, and under its effects he recounts a surreal, unsettling tale: he was abducted by space aliens led by Denab / The Tala John Frederick, from the underground base of their world Astron Delta, who revived his lifeless body.
The aliens intend to exterminate humanity using giant insects and reptiles grown with the radiation gleaned from Earth’s atomic tests. They supposedly manipulated Martin’s memory, hypnotizing him to retrieve the data they needed. The FBI agent and the base commander remain deeply skeptical of this incredible story, keeping Martin confined, while the attending physician, Dr. Curt Kruger Frank Gerstle, believes that Martin may genuinely believe what he’s experiencing.
As the plot unfolds, Martin uses a slide rule to work out a crucial vulnerability: if power to Soledad Flats is cut for a mere 10 seconds, the aliens’ equipment will overload. With that insight, he escapes the hospital and heads to a nearby power plant, where he forces a technician to shut the grid down for ten tense seconds. The result is catastrophic for the alien base—the massive explosion destroys their stronghold and halts the invasion, effectively saving humanity.
Throughout, the tension between evidence and belief, science and superstition, underscores a simple truth: human ingenuity and courage can counter seemingly insurmountable forces. The story balances techno-thriller intrigue with a classic “beneath the surface” mystery, presenting a lean, framed narrative where one man’s knowledge—paired with a brave, if imperfect, institutional response—stands between Earth and annihilation.
