The Vast of Night (2020) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Billy explains that the military deliberately selected Black and Mexican personnel for the top-secret project to ensure that if anyone exposed the program, their credibility would be immediately dismissed. This was calculated to protect the cover-up, as authorities and the public would be less likely to believe testimony from minority soldiers. The revelation exposes the racist structure of the military operation and adds another layer to the government conspiracy.

• military cover-up
• racial conspiracy
• secret project
• Billy

Everett and Fay test a new tape recorder early in the film, which foreshadows its later significance. When Billy mentions that his friend recorded the mysterious signal and sent it to others, Fay realizes the recordings ended up at the local library. She steals the tapes and brings them to Everett, allowing them to attempt broadcasting the alien signal. The tape recorder becomes their tool for documenting and sharing the truth.

Foreshadowing: The tape recorder is introduced early when Everett and Fay test it before the basketball game.

• tape recorder
• recording
• signal
• library
• Billy

The power goes out at the WOTW radio station just as Everett and Fay attempt to broadcast Billy's recordings about the alien signal. While the movie doesn't explicitly state who caused it, the timing suggests military or supernatural intervention to prevent the transmission of sensitive information. The blackout represents another obstacle in their quest to expose the truth.

• power outage
• radio station
• transmission
• blackout

Mabel explains that the aliens use their transmissions to hypnotize and control humans. When Everett plays Mabel's recorded alien message in the car, it triggers a hypnotic effect on everyone present, including Gerald and Bertsie. This causes the near-fatal car accident, demonstrating that the alien frequencies can directly affect human consciousness and control physical actions.

Foreshadowing: Mabel earlier warned that the aliens use their transmissions to hypnotize people during the basketball game when the town is least alert.

• Mabel
• trance
• hypnosis
• alien message
• car accident

Mabel reveals that the aliens deliberately send signals during the basketball game when the entire town is distracted and least likely to notice unusual activity. These transmissions serve a dual purpose: they hypnotize residents to lower their awareness, and they facilitate abductions. Mabel claims her own son was taken years prior, which is why she wants to be taken herself to reunite with him.

• aliens
• hypnosis
• abduction
• Mabel
• basketball game

After witnessing the flying saucer merge with a massive mothership and experiencing the swirling wind phenomenon, Everett, Fay, and Maddie vanish without a trace. The basketball game ends and the crowd disperses, completely unaware of what happened. Only their footprints and the tape recorder remain, suggesting they were abducted by the aliens. The ending leaves their fate ambiguous but implies extraterrestrial involvement.

Foreshadowing: Mabel predicted that people would be taken during the basketball game when the town is least alert.

• abduction
• Everett
• Fay
• Maddie
• missing
• mothership

Mabel reveals that her son was abducted by aliens years before the events of the movie. When she explains the aliens' methods of using hypnosis and abduction, she expresses a desire to be taken to the alien ship specifically so she can reunite with her missing son. Her willingness to be taken stems from grief and the hope of finding her child again.

• Mabel
• son
• abduction
• reunion
• grief

Billy describes an enormous object housed in a hidden underground bunker at a top-secret desert military facility. He heard the same mysterious signal while on a plane, which led him to connect the audio phenomenon to the classified project. The object remains largely mysterious, but Billy implies it is connected to the alien signals and may be either a spacecraft or advanced technology of extraterrestrial origin.

• Billy
• secret facility
• object
• underground bunker
• military

In the open clearing near the woods, the trio witnesses a flying saucer hovering nearby, which then merges with a massive mothership. The surrounding wind picks up violently around them. This encounter confirms the reality of extraterrestrial life and represents the climax of their investigation into the mysterious signals.

• mothership
• flying saucer
• aliens
• clearing
• woods
• encounter

The strange audio signal originates from the alien spacecraft. Billy reveals he heard the same signal while on a plane, connecting it to the top-secret military project. The signal appears to be a communication method used by extraterrestrials to either locate potential abductees or establish contact. Mabel confirms the aliens use these transmissions for hypnosis and abduction purposes.

• audio signal
• alien transmission
• frequency
• radio
• communication