Killers from Space

While collecting aerial data on a USAF atomic blast at Soledad Flats, the pilot loses control and crashes. Dr. Douglas Martin survives the incident and walks back to the air base unhurt, but memory of the crash is missing. A strange scar appears on his chest that wasn't there before.

Back at the base hospital, Martin acts so strangely that the USAF calls in the FBI to see if he is an impostor. He is eventually cleared of impersonation, but his unusual demeanor fuels questions about his mental state. The investigation hints at deeper concerns beyond ordinary stress.

Martin is cleared of being an impostor but is told to take time off from his project, which fuels his frustration. He protests being excluded from ongoing research and access to data he previously helped gather. Tension grows as his role in the program becomes unclear.

An atomic test is set off without Martin’s knowledge and he retaliates by stealing the data. He travels back to Soledad Flats and hides the information under a rock, effectively defying orders. This act marks a turning point as he actively resists the base authorities.

An FBI agent follows Martin after the data theft, but Martin manages to elude capture for a time. He eventually crashes his car, closing the immediate chase and heightening the mystery surrounding his actions. The incident deepens the intrigue around his memory and motives.

Back at the hospital, Martin is subjected to truth serum. Under the influence, he narrates being held captive by space aliens, led by Denab, in an underground base on Astron Delta. He claims the aliens revived his lifeless body after the aircraft crash.

He describes the aliens’ plan to exterminate humanity using giant insects and reptiles fed by radiation from our bomb tests. The beings allegedly used memory loss and hypnotism to recruit him as their data courier. He mentions their homeworld Astron Delta and a ruler named The Tala.

The FBI agent and the base commander remain skeptical about Martin’s alien tale. They confine him in the hospital while the attending physician contends that Martin truly believes what he is saying. The tension between belief and disbelief shapes the hospital’s response.

Martin, using a slide rule, deduces that the aliens rely on stolen electric grid power to operate their equipment and that A-bomb energy can be balanced and predicted. He links this insight to the threat posed by the aliens and the possibility of turning their systems against them. The calculations shift the narrative from myth to a tentative science-based plan.

He escapes the hospital and travels to a nearby electrical power plant, forcing a technician to cut the power. With the grid briefly disabled, he prepares to implement his plan and test the hypothesis about alien technology. The moment hinges on precise timing and dangerous action.

The power is cut for ten seconds, causing a massive overload in the aliens’ equipment. Their base sustains catastrophic damage as the energy disruption propagates through their systems. The attempted alien conquest is halted by a human-made intervention.

With the alien base destroyed, Earth is saved from conquest. Martin’s role in averting disaster remains controversial, but the physician acknowledges his belief in the story. The ending leaves a lingering sense of mystery about what truly lies beyond the crash and the wider universe.