The Seaview is tracking a harmless meteor shower which is due to land in the ocean some 2 miles from their current position. All seems to be going well and they count 8. Kawalski announces the meteors have changed course and will impact on Seaview! Crane orders an emergency dive but Seaview is still struck and holed by the objects, luckily the automatic hull repair seals the holes.
After getting things back under control the chief brings one of the objects up to the control room, it looks like a 70mm shell but is red in colour and has no markings (totally stupid of the chief to bring the object into the nerve centre of the sub and to make it worse he's got it in a plastic bucket!)
The object soon opens and gas pours out which is made 10 times worse by Crane picking up the bucket and wafting the gas with it. Soon everyone is unconscious and Seaview is out of control. (Naturally) Oddly Crane comes round first and together with the Chief they take the controls and get things back in order.
Nelson and Crane retire to his lab to carry out tests on the object, as a safety procedure they lock themselves in the lab and keep the mike open. The object is impervious to the diamond drill and strong acid. They then decide to take an x-ray but this does not penetrate the object.
Suddenly the object opens on its own and an electrical discharge of some kind shoots out of it but Nelson and Crane are unharmed. Nelson (with the aid of a magnifying glass) spots tiny equipment inside and concludes it's a miniature space ship. He doesn't want to go any further before reporting his findings to General Haynes. Nelson reports his suspicions to a disbelieving Haynes and then rather quickly tells him it's an alien invasion of some kind and the target is a mothballed atomic storage base called SATO 6. (At this point Nelson and no real evidence it was an invasion)
Nelson gets the go ahead to proceed to Sato 6 at full speed to investigate and he also orders the flying sub to take off and deliver the object in the lab to General Haynes. (we see the flying sub take off and then Chip comes up from the nose hatch?? Bit of a goof)
Things take a decidedly sinister turn when Nelson retires to his cabin to presumably tuck into his sandwiches only to discover a very old (and thought dead) friend eating them for him! The man is Sam Garitty and he's dressed in world war two uniform. Nelson isn't really taken in by this and soon unmasks Garitty as an alien from the miniature space ships. Garitty knocks Nelson out with an electrical discharge and then disappears in a big cloud of smoke and sparks.
Back in the control room the computer has gone haywire and seems to be printing out all manner of random figures. Chip finds Nelson in his cabin and brings him round and they head to the control room. Things seem to be hopeless when all controls seem to lock and Seaview scrapes along a nasty looking rock formation (you know the one) and rests on the bottom at crush depth... Nelson orders that all power aboard the ship be cut. This seems to do the trick and they very carefully take the sub back up from crush depth and restore normal depth and speed.
Nelson decides to form a "combat party" as he calls it and head to Sato 6 in flying sub to save time. Not missing another chance to get himself killed he tells Chip and Crane to fire nuclear missiles at the base if they receive his destruct signal. (Why nuclear missiles?? Normal ones would surely do? and the destruct alerter looks like a Christmas decoration)
It's a pity they couldn't have used a different undersea base for Sato 6 rather than one that's been used a few times already. I take it the base extends deep into the rock face?
Once Nelson arrives he quickly informs Crane that the aliens are in the base, all the lighting and ventilation systems are on. The revised plan is to fire the nukes at the base if they don't hear from him in 10 minutes..... This gets Crane a little uneasy. The base seems to have three main corridors or banks as they are called and Nelson decides to foolishly divide his forces and split up.... he takes one corridor the Chief and a crewman in red take another and a crewman in blue takes one. (you know where this is going)
The poor chap in blue is called Peters and he hasn't gone very far when he hears a strange electrical noise and two burly crystal headed figures appear round the corner. Despite holding his ground and firing at them repeatedly he is quickly killed. Nelson and the others hear this rumpus and come running only to discover his body. Nelson seems to give a little snort and announce he's dead and they will come back for him (i bet he forgot)
The three reach the main control room and discover the alien still assuming the appearance of Sam Garrity. Garitty plays it cool and states they come in peace and explains they are aliens and only intended this as a pit stop to replenish their energy (no mention of the crewman they just murdered) The base needs a correct combination to reactivate it and Nelson is one of only 6 who has this. Garitty can read his mind but the combination is too well hidden in Nelsons brain. (Naturally)
While Nelson is chatting to Garitty the crewman dressed in red tries to make a grab for the destruct lever but his cover is blown by Nelson giving the game away with his eyes (thanks Harry) Garitty quickly kills him in a puff of smoke. Nelson just has time to activate the destruct signal on Seaview before he is rendered unconscious by Garitty.
Crane with much hesitation orders the torpedoes loaded but there is a problem with the control panel it seems to be alive with electricity. Kawalski cuts the main power so they can fire manually (note his rubber gloves disappear after he cuts the wire and goes to put his mask back)
Despite the delay two torpedoes are fired at Sato 6 but Garitty makes sure they explode way before they reach the target. Garitty then ups the stakes and has Seaview pulled straight towards Sato 6, despite Crane cutting all power this doesn't work.
Back in Sato control room Garitty puts a stop to Nelson and the Chiefs meddling by surrounding them in a heat field (shower curtain) and warns them that they will be roasted unless they stay where they are and even gives them a mini demo of the consequences.
Having arrived in the Sato airlock Crane and four others arm themselves and head off into the complex looking for the Admiral. Crane has site plans so i think we have to assume Sato is a truly huge complex. They run into trouble and as normal guns seem useless but instead of killing them Garitty suspends them and they end up looking like shop dummies.
While the coast is clear Nelson takes a risk and bursts out of the heat field and is about to pull the lever to destruct the Sato reactor when one of the crystal heads shows up and starts throwing him about. Sharkey breaks out of the heat field to join in the rumpus but the two seem to be losing the fight when all of a sudden the crystal head disappears in a puff of smoke.
Garitty shows up and has Crane brought in still frozen. He explains to Nelson that there are a huge amount of alien crafts on their way and unless he starts the complex the aliens will come as destroyers.... Nelson gives in. Crane is unfrozen and Nelson tells him that Sato is going to be reactivated and he needs specialist equipment from locker B in Seaview's reactor room. Crane stalls so Nelson is sharp with him.
Back on Seaview Chip and Crane are in the reactor room. Locker B was a tip off from Nelson and it contains radiation guns (very handy things?) Crane quickly works out that the aliens weakness must be radiation as the capsule they x-rayed in the lab opened due to the rays. Wasting no time they charge two cylinders for the guns using the reactor. Crane stands behind a shield and wears gloves while chip has no protection at all. Crane then simply wipes the cylinders before handing them to chip! (This show never even tried to be a tiny bit realistic when it came to the subject of radiation)
Chip and Crane don't bother asking for anymore crewman and armed with the radiation guns they storm the base. They soon kill a crystal head and burst into the control room. What happens next is a huge punch- up, although Garitty seems to stop them before things really get started they manage to come out fighting again. During the rumpus Nelson boots Garitty onto his own homing device which promptly kills him! Soon the rest of aliens disappear. All that's left of Garitty is his world war two cap.
Back on Seaview Nelson and Crane watch the rest of the alien ships hot footing it away into space. Nelson then explains he worked out radiation was the aliens one weakness when his watch broke during his fight with one of them and even the radium dial was enough to kill it. (I'm sure he would have thought of something anyway)
I've always enjoyed this episode. The idea of the space ships being miniature was original and i didn't really have a problem with the alien's true or partly true appearance. The idea that the leader assumed the appearance of a long dead friend of the Admirals was quite chilling. Warren Stevens as usual is totally bankable in his role, nice job. The concept of having a mothballed abandoned atomic doomsday base sitting silently on the ocean floor was superb; i just wish they could have tweaked the set a bit more, even if it was just a matte shot of a seemingly endless corridor or something.
After getting things back under control the chief brings one of the objects up to the control room, it looks like a 70mm shell but is red in colour and has no markings (totally stupid of the chief to bring the object into the nerve centre of the sub and to make it worse he's got it in a plastic bucket!)
The object soon opens and gas pours out which is made 10 times worse by Crane picking up the bucket and wafting the gas with it. Soon everyone is unconscious and Seaview is out of control. (Naturally) Oddly Crane comes round first and together with the Chief they take the controls and get things back in order.
Nelson and Crane retire to his lab to carry out tests on the object, as a safety procedure they lock themselves in the lab and keep the mike open. The object is impervious to the diamond drill and strong acid. They then decide to take an x-ray but this does not penetrate the object.
Suddenly the object opens on its own and an electrical discharge of some kind shoots out of it but Nelson and Crane are unharmed. Nelson (with the aid of a magnifying glass) spots tiny equipment inside and concludes it's a miniature space ship. He doesn't want to go any further before reporting his findings to General Haynes. Nelson reports his suspicions to a disbelieving Haynes and then rather quickly tells him it's an alien invasion of some kind and the target is a mothballed atomic storage base called SATO 6. (At this point Nelson and no real evidence it was an invasion)
Nelson gets the go ahead to proceed to Sato 6 at full speed to investigate and he also orders the flying sub to take off and deliver the object in the lab to General Haynes. (we see the flying sub take off and then Chip comes up from the nose hatch?? Bit of a goof)
Things take a decidedly sinister turn when Nelson retires to his cabin to presumably tuck into his sandwiches only to discover a very old (and thought dead) friend eating them for him! The man is Sam Garitty and he's dressed in world war two uniform. Nelson isn't really taken in by this and soon unmasks Garitty as an alien from the miniature space ships. Garitty knocks Nelson out with an electrical discharge and then disappears in a big cloud of smoke and sparks.
Back in the control room the computer has gone haywire and seems to be printing out all manner of random figures. Chip finds Nelson in his cabin and brings him round and they head to the control room. Things seem to be hopeless when all controls seem to lock and Seaview scrapes along a nasty looking rock formation (you know the one) and rests on the bottom at crush depth... Nelson orders that all power aboard the ship be cut. This seems to do the trick and they very carefully take the sub back up from crush depth and restore normal depth and speed.
Nelson decides to form a "combat party" as he calls it and head to Sato 6 in flying sub to save time. Not missing another chance to get himself killed he tells Chip and Crane to fire nuclear missiles at the base if they receive his destruct signal. (Why nuclear missiles?? Normal ones would surely do? and the destruct alerter looks like a Christmas decoration)
It's a pity they couldn't have used a different undersea base for Sato 6 rather than one that's been used a few times already. I take it the base extends deep into the rock face?
Once Nelson arrives he quickly informs Crane that the aliens are in the base, all the lighting and ventilation systems are on. The revised plan is to fire the nukes at the base if they don't hear from him in 10 minutes..... This gets Crane a little uneasy. The base seems to have three main corridors or banks as they are called and Nelson decides to foolishly divide his forces and split up.... he takes one corridor the Chief and a crewman in red take another and a crewman in blue takes one. (you know where this is going)
The poor chap in blue is called Peters and he hasn't gone very far when he hears a strange electrical noise and two burly crystal headed figures appear round the corner. Despite holding his ground and firing at them repeatedly he is quickly killed. Nelson and the others hear this rumpus and come running only to discover his body. Nelson seems to give a little snort and announce he's dead and they will come back for him (i bet he forgot)
The three reach the main control room and discover the alien still assuming the appearance of Sam Garrity. Garitty plays it cool and states they come in peace and explains they are aliens and only intended this as a pit stop to replenish their energy (no mention of the crewman they just murdered) The base needs a correct combination to reactivate it and Nelson is one of only 6 who has this. Garitty can read his mind but the combination is too well hidden in Nelsons brain. (Naturally)
While Nelson is chatting to Garitty the crewman dressed in red tries to make a grab for the destruct lever but his cover is blown by Nelson giving the game away with his eyes (thanks Harry) Garitty quickly kills him in a puff of smoke. Nelson just has time to activate the destruct signal on Seaview before he is rendered unconscious by Garitty.
Crane with much hesitation orders the torpedoes loaded but there is a problem with the control panel it seems to be alive with electricity. Kawalski cuts the main power so they can fire manually (note his rubber gloves disappear after he cuts the wire and goes to put his mask back)
Despite the delay two torpedoes are fired at Sato 6 but Garitty makes sure they explode way before they reach the target. Garitty then ups the stakes and has Seaview pulled straight towards Sato 6, despite Crane cutting all power this doesn't work.
Back in Sato control room Garitty puts a stop to Nelson and the Chiefs meddling by surrounding them in a heat field (shower curtain) and warns them that they will be roasted unless they stay where they are and even gives them a mini demo of the consequences.
Having arrived in the Sato airlock Crane and four others arm themselves and head off into the complex looking for the Admiral. Crane has site plans so i think we have to assume Sato is a truly huge complex. They run into trouble and as normal guns seem useless but instead of killing them Garitty suspends them and they end up looking like shop dummies.
While the coast is clear Nelson takes a risk and bursts out of the heat field and is about to pull the lever to destruct the Sato reactor when one of the crystal heads shows up and starts throwing him about. Sharkey breaks out of the heat field to join in the rumpus but the two seem to be losing the fight when all of a sudden the crystal head disappears in a puff of smoke.
Garitty shows up and has Crane brought in still frozen. He explains to Nelson that there are a huge amount of alien crafts on their way and unless he starts the complex the aliens will come as destroyers.... Nelson gives in. Crane is unfrozen and Nelson tells him that Sato is going to be reactivated and he needs specialist equipment from locker B in Seaview's reactor room. Crane stalls so Nelson is sharp with him.
Back on Seaview Chip and Crane are in the reactor room. Locker B was a tip off from Nelson and it contains radiation guns (very handy things?) Crane quickly works out that the aliens weakness must be radiation as the capsule they x-rayed in the lab opened due to the rays. Wasting no time they charge two cylinders for the guns using the reactor. Crane stands behind a shield and wears gloves while chip has no protection at all. Crane then simply wipes the cylinders before handing them to chip! (This show never even tried to be a tiny bit realistic when it came to the subject of radiation)
Chip and Crane don't bother asking for anymore crewman and armed with the radiation guns they storm the base. They soon kill a crystal head and burst into the control room. What happens next is a huge punch- up, although Garitty seems to stop them before things really get started they manage to come out fighting again. During the rumpus Nelson boots Garitty onto his own homing device which promptly kills him! Soon the rest of aliens disappear. All that's left of Garitty is his world war two cap.
Back on Seaview Nelson and Crane watch the rest of the alien ships hot footing it away into space. Nelson then explains he worked out radiation was the aliens one weakness when his watch broke during his fight with one of them and even the radium dial was enough to kill it. (I'm sure he would have thought of something anyway)
I've always enjoyed this episode. The idea of the space ships being miniature was original and i didn't really have a problem with the alien's true or partly true appearance. The idea that the leader assumed the appearance of a long dead friend of the Admirals was quite chilling. Warren Stevens as usual is totally bankable in his role, nice job. The concept of having a mothballed abandoned atomic doomsday base sitting silently on the ocean floor was superb; i just wish they could have tweaked the set a bit more, even if it was just a matte shot of a seemingly endless corridor or something.
