Deadly Mantis, The (1957)

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For every action,

there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Radar.

Designed to defend us against attack.

Radar stations on
mountaintops, in deserts,

deep in untracked forests.

In a thousand secret and isolated places.

Over both oceans, there are
radar equipped picket planes.

In both oceans, manmade radar islands

to guard our flanks.

There are the inshore pickets

and several hundred miles beyond them

are the offshore pickets.

Another radar fence
stretches across the long,

unfortified border between
the United States and Canada.

The Pine Tree Radar Fence.

And beyond that, still another network

of electronic eyes.

The Mid-Canada Radar Fence.

Even farther north in the very shadow

of the North Pole, this fence,

the distant early warning
system known as the Dew Line,

ready to transmit the first warning signal

of a sneak attack across
the polar regions.

To build the Dew Line, an armada

of ships was assembled in the largest

and most secretly planned operation

since the Normandy invasion.

Grinding through
treacherous polar ice fields

in a desperate gamble
against time and weather

to land a mountain of supplies,

machines, tractors, and men upon the ice.

First things first.

Level landing strips
for heavy cargo planes.

Then shelters for the men, for the planes,

and for operations.

And while some hands are
busy laying long pipelines

to transport fuel, others
build tanks to store it.

The work continues day and night

around the clock, seven clays a week.

At long last, the ships are gone.

The summer is gone but
the job is finished.

Red Eagle One, sentinel of the arctic,

nerve center of the Dew
Line is operational.

- Colonel Parkman
arriving, dispatch jeep.

Colonel Parkman.

Glad to have you with us.

- Across the
roof of the continent,

still father north, an
outpost of the Dew Line.

Hey Mike.

Hey Mike, get a look at this.

I don't see anything.

Hey, wait a minute.

Listen.

It's almost on top of us!

- This is Kane, Picket
7327, calling Red Eagle One.

Come in, Red Eagle One.

This is Kane, Picket 7327,
calling Red Eagle One.

Come in, Red Eagle One.

- Hello, Picket 7327, ready,
go when I read you, over.

- Put the old man on
the horn, will you, Pete?

Roger.

I've got Lieutenant Kane, sir.

Colonel Parkman, Walter.

What's UP?

We're over Weather Four, sir.

The building's been damaged.

Looks like the roof's caved in.

If there's anyone inside,
they could be hurt or worse.

I tried to contact them but
there was no answer, over.

We'll get right on it.

Over and out.

When did Weather Four report in last?

At 0800, sir, right on the button.

See if you can contact them again.

Alright.

Red Eagle One calling Weather Four.

Red Eagle One calling Weather
Four, come in, Weather Four.

No answer, sir.

Keep trying.

Red Eagle One calling Weather Four,

Red Eagle One calling Weather Four.

Come in, Weather Four.

Operations.

Colonel Parkman here.

Get my plane ready.

Oh, and alert Lieutenant Pizar.

Red Eagle One calling Weather Four,

Red Eagle One calling Weather Four.

Come in, Weather Four.

Two men don't just vanish.

These did.

I don't get it.

Everything was under control
when they checked in 0800.

- Nothing unusual has
been reported since then.

No storms.

- It wasn't a gale that
wrecked this shack.

Besides, they're caved
out as though something

crashed into the roof.

Well, if it was a plane that hit it

Maybe there's a very ordinary
explanation for what happened.

Maybe the men are on their way
back to the base right now.

On foot?

There would be footprints in the snow.

Did you see any?

Take a look here.

What do you got?

I don't know.

Plane?

No plane ever made that short a run.

Helicopter?

- No, a helicopter couldn't
make a furl like that.

I think there is an ordinary explanation

to what happened but I
wouldn't take any bets.

So the only recent contact you had

with the weather shack
was when the helicopter

dropped supplies there five days ago?

Yes sir.

You checked Weather One?

Yes sir.

- Weather Four made
contact with them at 0813.

Everything was jake.

I'm picking up something, colonel,

but it doesn't make sense.

I never saw a blip like that before.

It's there, then it's gone.

Hey, there it is again.

What do you make of it?

I'm not taking any chances.

Sound the red alert.

- Vector 360,
climb to angel's three,

bogey 90 miles.

Red Leader to control.

Nothing here.

Give us a new vector.

Bogey has disappeared.

Return to home plate.

Charlie.

Sugar Pine to Red Eagle One.

Come in, Red Eagle One.

Sugar Pine to Red Eagle One.

Come in, Red Eagle One.

Hello Sugar Pine.

This is Red Eagle One, go ahead.

- Red Eagle One,
we're over the wreckage

of the C47.

They found it, colonel.

Get his position.

Yes sir.

Alert Lieutenant Pizar.

Yes sir.

Colonel!

Looks just like the weather shack.

Yeah.

Where are they?

Where are the bodies?

Easy.

Look out!

What in the world?

What is it?

I don't know.

Looks like it had been
broken off of something.

That point's as sharp as a needle.

I give up, you got me.

Well where do we go from here?

- We'll have to let
CONAD worry about that.

This is CONAD.

The Continental Air Defense
Command at Colorado Springs.

The focal point of the supersonic shield

that guards the North American continent.

A shield that could mean the difference

between life and death
for millions of Americans.

These are hot phones.

Using them, it takes only 15 seconds

to talk to Alaska.

10 Seconds to alert Newfoundland.

Five seconds to contact.

Three seconds to reach
the Pentagon Command Post.

General Ford speaking.

. " >. Iii?,. Li?. X

I see.

Good, I'll take a plane right out.

The Arctic Command has
delivered the package.

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

I'm General Ford.

Oh no, no, please sit down.

Gentlemen, I realize that the air force

hasn't given you much time
in which to make your tests

and that a definitive job may

have been out of the question
of the short time you've had

but the department of defense hopes

that during these two clays
of concentrated efforts,

you've come to some conclusion about this.

Professor Gunther, I
believe you're in charge.

- All of us are agreed
to except one thing.

This appendage comes
from some living creature

but as to what creature
it was once a part of,

we are completely in the dark.

Our anatomist, Dr. Arnold Burton,

has been unable to identify this object.

Professor Harvey Pierce is certain

from his exploration that the hook

cannot belong to the neurological system.

- Well you seem to know
more about what it isn't

than what it is.

That is correct, sir.

Gentlemen, let's be logical.

Now you tell me that this hook

comes from something
that's alive, alright,

but it wasn't part of the cargo

and it wasn't in the
plane when it took off

so it must have come aboard
after the crash, right?

That sounds logical.

Now what was it that came aboard?

It shouldn't be so difficult.

You know the animal life of the arctic.

We have asked ourselves that, general.

You're not suggesting that it comes

from some creature at present unknown?

- It's a possibility we
suggest you investigate, sir.

Haw?

- We recommend that you
ask Dr. Nedrick Jackson

of the Museum of Natural
History here in Washington

to look into this.

He is their chief paleontologist

and the country's leading authority

on the carnivory.

You lost me, professor.

- He deals with life of
past geological periods

as shown by the fossil
remains of plants and animals.

He has been able to reconstruct
prehistoric creatures

with no more to start with
than a handful of bones.

Hi Marge.

Hi.

What have you got there?

- A kid in my junior
science group made it.

Even added an extra vertebra

as though it doesn't have enough already.

Here, you wanna count 'em?

- Listen, if I'm ever to
get next month's issue

of the magazine out, we'd
better start working.

I've done a feature.

Life Parades Through The Ages.

Showing the progression
of prehistoric creatures

from the jellyfish to the
dinosaur to primitive man.

Sounds alright.

- And I'm going to include
the pictures we took

on your last field trip.

That's even better.

Oh, excuse me.

Jackson talking.

The Pentagon?

Sure, I'll wait.

What do you know, maybe they

wanna call me back into service.

This is Dr. Jackson.

General Ford.

. " >. Iii?,. Li?. X

. " >. iii?,. Li?. X

I see, general.

Of course, sir, I'll be right over.

Everything alright?

Of course.

- Well it isn't every day
the Pentagon calls you.

You're very nosy.

Okay, be mysterious.

- Well if I tell you,
you'll keep it a secret?

Hope to die.

- They found an old bone
up at the North Pole.

The Pentagon wants to
know to whom it belongs.

It doesn't look like bone.

More like gristle or cartilage.

A structure as large as this

would have to serve a
very specialized purpose

in order to be cartilaginous.

Have you any idea what it comes from?

Not the slightest.

If it were bone, we could start from that.

What it does tell me, however,

is that it can't be from an animal

because every known species of animal

has a bony skeleton.

Matter of fact, the
reptile structure is bony.

Gentlemen, even birds have bony skeletons.

Looks like we're getting nowhere fast.

- On the contrary, we're
making considerable progress.

At least we know what it can't be

which is bound to lead us to what it is.

Well then is there anything that doesn't

have a bony skeleton?

Lots of things.

Worms, snails, insects, shellfish.

Some invertebrates wore their
skeletons on the outside.

Well, it's an outer shell
called an exoskeleton

which is hard and rigid enough

to protect the internal organs.

Insects have thin, flexible places

between their heads and bodies

which allows them freedom of movement.

And they have folds where
the muscles are attached.

It's a possibility.

An insect?

Yeah, that's where the process

of elimination seems to lead us.

Of course, if it is an insect,

it certainly doesn't
tell us what kind it is.

We find that out partly from what we know

but mostly from what we deduce.

- Doc, you're beginning to
sound like Sherlock Holmes.

Sort of.

Professor Gunther, the fluid from the end

of the hook, you had it analyzed?

We did what we could in the time we had.

Of course you didn't know exactly

what you were looking for.

Precisely.

Well I'm not too much of an entomologist

but I do seem to remember
that with very few exceptions,

the blood of insects
contains no red corpuscles.

Now that we suspect this hook

may have come from an insect,
would you test the fluid

for me and let me know what you get?

Be glad to.

Thanks.

Well general, that's about it.

Professor Gunther will make his tests

and we'll see what we can dream up.

Do you think we'll get somewhere?

We'll do our best.

- So that's what they
wanted to see you about.

Don't you play games with me, Ned Jackson.

I'm sorry.

There's an old saying that you can't

keep anything from the press

and even if I'm only running a museum mag,

I haven't lost my nose for news.

That is what it's about.

Maybe.

I know it is.

Maybe not.

- Why, it's as plain as
the nose on your face.

Look, the Pentagon has
never consulted you before.

The papers say they have
a mystery on their hands.

One and one still make two

so it follows that they must
need information in your field.

Oh Ned, give me a break. You
don't know what it would mean

if I could run a story about something

that took place in this century.

Well I

They didn't say it was restricted.

You see?

Alright, it's like the paper says.

There have been crashes and disappearances

but the real story is what
they found at the last crash.

Well it's about five feet long.

It's model green in color.

Probably broken off a body some place.

What are you talking about?

It's part of something alive.

Something that must be
incredibly, unbelievably huge.

I think it's from an insect.

An insect?

Here.

Doesn't look very fearsome reduced

in size like that, does it?

No.

No it doesn't.

It looks like the spur on the leg

of a grasshopper or a cricket.

- Grasshoppers and
crickets aren't meat eaters

and at least five men have disappeared.

If that is part of an insect,

it's from the biggest
creature that ever lived.

Are you sure you're feeling alright?

There were long skid marks in the snow

as if the thing flew in for a landing.

Jackson talking.

Oh, hello Professor Gunther.

You have?

I see, sir.

Thank you.

Well, they just finished the blood tests.

There were no red corpuscles.

It's from an insect.

The ant inside this amber is
at least 90 million years old.

Now we've been able to learn from pieces

of amber like this that
certain ancient insect forms

have continued without
variation until today

but others have changed to
meet changing conditions

and certain species have
vanished completely.

I just can't believe that an insect

as large as you suggest ever existed.

Look behind you on the wall, professor.

That prehistoric dragonfly
measures two feet

from wing tip to wing tip and
like the modern dragonfly,

it too was a flesh eater.

- Alright, it's big,
but it's only two feet.

Is that the best you can do?

- I never suggested
I was looking for a dragonfly.

Then what are you looking for?

- To be honest with you,
I'm not exactly sure.

You're a pathologist, Professor Gunther.

The field of pathology is limited

but the paleontologist
field isn't narrowed

to what we understand.

On the contrary, we
stretch our understanding

to try and take in the universe.

- Alright, suppose just
for the sake of argument

that we admit such an insect once existed.

How could it be alive today?

Exactly.

Even the recently discovered
prehistoric Siberian mammoths

were dead.

The natives ate the flesh, used the skin

for clothing, made tools
from the ivory tusks,

but the mammoths were dead.

Are you sure they were dead?

What?

Everyone knows they were.

Everyone says they were.

Suppose the Siberians
hadn't been in such a hurry

to slice 'em up for steaks.

Suppose they were still
alive when found in the ice.

Does your learned young friend

always go on like this?

Alright, professor.

You know as well as I do
that if living organism

is frozen quickly enough,
it is theoretically possible

to stop the living protoplasm

from changing their geometrical patterns

which always happens when death occurs.

Theoretically, yes.

Is it unreasonable then to ask yourself

whether the mammoths
might have remained alive

all those years and it was the Siberians

who k*lled them before they had a chance

to thaw out and breathe again?

You believe this?

Well I don't disbelieve it

and I'll go along with it til someone

comes up with a better theory.

Look, five men have vanished.

To die is one thing.

To disappear without a trace
suggests complete destruction.

A flesh eating creature.

But there are scores of insects

that live on other insects.

Where do you start?

By thinking of the hook as though it

were infinitely smaller. As
though it were part of an insect

no larger than those we know today.

Like, oh, the grasshopper,
the beetle, or the cricket.

Then ask yourself what flesh eating insect

of normal size has such a hook.

Ned, you're making a lot of assumptions.

Well every paleontologist does.

Look, you start with a jaw
bone, a couple of teeth,

you figure whether they come from a flesh

or a grass eater and you go from there.

A normal insect that is a flesh eater.

I've narrowed the field to one.

The diet consists mostly of small insects

such as leafhoppers, grasshoppers,

caterpillars and others.

A substantial part of the diet

may also include small frogs and lizards.

The female is larger than the male

and invariably destroys her mate

when he's fulfilled his function in life.

Now the hook they found on the plane

may very well be a spur
from one of its forelegs.

If this is it, as large as
the monstrous creature we're

looking for, I doubt whether anything

that ever lived could be as deadly.

It's strong beyond
anything its size suggests.

It walks, leaps, and flies.

Its appetite is insatiable.

You mean this cute little bug?

Yeah, that cute little bug.

In all the kingdom of the living,

there is no more deadly
or voracious creature

than the praying mantis.

Anything new on the disasters, general?

Nothing else, gentlemen.

Say, you're Dr. Jackson in the Museum

of Natural History, aren't you?

That's right.

Well what have you been called in for?

Dr. Jackson is an old friend of mine.

- That's not answering
his question, general.

You're a paleontologist.

Isn't this out of your line?

- Have you any
theories, Dr. Jackson?

Gentlemen, if you were in my position

and what you had was a theory,

not facts, just a theory,
I'm sure you'd withhold it

to avoid any speculation
that might prove disastrous.

I'm sure you realize this

and that you'll cooperate with us

to avoid panic or hysteria.

I know I can count on all of you.

Well, good luck to you Ned.

Thanks, I'll do my best.

Hi.

Almost ready?

Just let me close this.

- I'm told the air force
doesn't like to be kept waiting.

Here, make yourself useful.

Nice of you to see me off.

I think so.

- You know, the arctic's
about the only place

where I haven't worked in.

Are those mine too?

No, doctor, they're mine.

Oh.

Yours?

- Well you couldn't go along
without your photographer,

could you?

' MY What?

Well I phoned General Ford's office

and requested permission for you

to take your photographer along.

I guess he forgot to tell you.

Boy, this is really going to be a story.

- You'd do almost anything
for a story, wouldn't you?

Almost.

Well come on.

Colonel, colonel sir.

Dr. Jackson is here from Washington.

He's got a, I mean there's a, we-

Well speak up.

He's with a woman.

A female woman.

I thought they'd stopped making 'em.

Show them in.

Yes sir.

I'm Ned Jackson, colonel.

I'm sure that Washington

Excuse me, this is Miss Margery Blaine.

Colonel Joe Parkman.

General Ford sent me up.

I'm magazine editor for the
Museum of Natural History.

How do you do?

That'll be all, men.

- It looks like you don't
have too many women up here,

colonel.

- Hey, well, we have
a little joke up here.

The boys say there's a
girl behind every tree.

Only try and find a tree.

Well when do we see what we came for?

I'll have a plane any time you're ready.

I'm ready.

Fine.

These are the skid marks.

At least what's left of them.

We found the same marks
at the weather shack

and the Eskimo village.

Here colonel.

Got it?

Eight and a half feet.

Let's get back to the plane.

At ease.

Gentlemen, this is Miss Margery Blaine.

I thought you wouldn't mind too much

if she had a look around
your recreation room.

- Oh, she's like a butterfly
gliding across a lily pond.

Yes, corporal?

- With your permission,
sir, would it be alright if,

would it be alright if I asked
Miss Blaine to dance, sir?

- Corporal, that decision is
entirely up to Miss Blaine.

Yes sir.

Miss Blaine, would you care to,

well, what I mean is, well, I'm not-

Yes corporal, I'd love to.

Oh hi.

Hi.

Hi Ned.

Thought you were going to join us.

I've been busy.

You two run along, have fun.

What are you up to?

- I'm trying to figure
out how big this thing is.

You know, people used to think

that carnivorous plants were defunct.

Actually, there are about
450 species of them.

Some are almost six feet tall.

I'm convinced that we're
dealing with a mantis

in whose geological world,
the smallest insects

were as large as man and that failing

to find those insects for his food, it's,

well, it's doing the best it can.

- If there is such a thing,
why hasn't anybody seen it?

Well those who have are dead.

Well who can be sure? It may
have been locked in a prison

of ice millions of years ago.

- What could have released
it after all that time?

Oh, any sort of unusual vibration.

You know how mountain climbers
are afraid of thunder?

Well, it's because the sound vibration

might start an avalanche.

Hit the alert button!

Yes sir.

Operations, Colonel Parkman speaking.

Condition red, scramble all
air traffic immediately.

Condition red!

Coffee, colonel?

Nine hours and not a whisper.

Which is alright with me.

- Red Eagle One,
this is Hunter Four.

Hello Hunter Four,

this is Red Eagle One, go ahead.

We have nothing here.

Request permission to
return to base, over.

Request denied.

Continue search procedure.

Over and out.

- The only thing to do is
to keep the patrols out

straight around the
clock until we're sure.

And remember, I want a report on anything,

from Mid-Canada or Pine Tree,
anything, you understand?

Yes sir.

- Got the Mid-Canada
radar line on the fence, sir.

This is Colonel Parkman.

Colonel.

Group Captain Hawkins here.

This is just a stab in the dark

but you chaps asked us to
report anything unusual and-

' Yes?

As I said, it may not mean a thing

but we caught an unidentified
object in our scopes.

Could have been a storm
or a weather balloon.

It was a fade signal that came and went

but it might be that
oversized bug of yours, eh?

What time was it?

Early.

0400 I should say.

Thanks Hawkins.

Thanks very much.

0400, that's almost six
hours after he left here.

Now it's 1500 miles to
the Mid-Canada Line.

Well, that's no good, he'd have

to be doing better than 200 miles an hour.

Why not, Joe?

We're dealing with an insect.

The deer fly does 600 an hour.

That's almost as fast as a jet.

- The Mid-Canada Line is 1500
miles south of here, right?

Right.

And where was that Weather Shack Four?

- Right there, straight
on the 80th meridian.

And the C47 crash was here.

- That's right, due
south of the weather shack.

What are you getting at, Ned?

And the Eskimo village?

- Right there
between us and the C47.

Hey, wait a minute.

He's been going straight south.

- And he'll keep going south
til he reaches the tropics

where he'll find the same kind of climate

and jungle vegetation from
which he came originally.

Now let's see, he'll probably

pass over Labrador, Nova Scotia,

then he'll hit the gulf stream

and I'm sure the warm
air above the gulf stream

will attract him and he'll follow it

all the way down to South America.

I've got CONAD on the hotline, colonel.

They say it's important.

Thanks.

This is Colonel Parkman.

Are you sure?

Thanks.

Pine Tree got it too.

It went through Newfoundland.

Well it looks like we're
on our way to Washington.

Come on, Marge, grab your toothbrush.

All over the United States this morning,

some 400,000 members of the
civilian ground observer corps

are gathered to learn more

about this fantastic creature.

This program is being presented

by the Continental Air Defense Command.

Our first speaker is
Major General Mark Ford.

General Ford.

Thank you.

I wanna say at the outset that contrary

to rumor and certain newspaper headlines,

the so-called deadly mantis
is no imaginary scare.

It's a very real and present danger.

With me this morning is Colonel Parkman,

commanding officer of an
advanced radar interceptor base

deep in the arctic circle.

Colonel Parkman.

Thank you, sir.

Ladies and gentlemen, I saw
this creature attack our base.

I visited a weather shack

and I also inspected the wreckage

of the aircraft that this thing destroyed.

Now we have every reason to believe

that the mantis is flying
south along the gulf stream

and we believe that it will be one

of you devoted men and women

with the civilian ground observer corps

who will spot it next time it appears.

I have with me today Dr. Nedrick Jackson,

curator of the department of paleontology

of the Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Jackson has something
important to show you.

Doctor?

Thank you.

This object is a spur
broken off the foreleg

of the mantis when it destroyed the C47.

Now the spur of a normal sized mantis

is so small, it's difficult to measure.

This spur, as you can see,

is nearly five feet long which will

give you some ideas to
the creature's size.

Thank you doctor.

Now you ground observers are well-trained

in the identification of aircraft.

Here, to scale, is the deadly mantis

and here is the C47 which is destroyed.

One other thing.

You spotters should listen
for a loud droning sound

much like that of a
squadron of heavy bombers

flying in formation.

Now the coast guard and the navy

have been alerted and they're standing by

on the eastern seaboard.

If the mantis is sighted, the procedure

will be the same as
though an enemy aircraft

had been spotted.

Take no chances.

Report any unusual flying object.

Thank you.

Target is down, target is down.

Cannot confirm k*ll due to low overcast.

Returning to carrier, out.

Well, here comes another one.

Granary fire in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

- There's some power lines
down there in Richmond.

Richmond, Virginia?

Yeah.

slide in Fresno.

Fresno, Fresno.

Oh, I'm so tired.

Where is Fresno?

California.

Fresno, California.

Hi.

Hi Marge.

Hello.

- Ned.
- Hey, what are you up to?

Well it's kind of a private deal.

We call it Operation Marge
because she dreamed it up.

On?

- We're charting every unusual
occurrence in the country.

Some may have been caused by the mantis.

It might give us a clue.

" Any luck?

- Well they're too scattered
to mean anything yet.

- You kids know what time
it is? It's after midnight.

Now you're dismissed, both of you.

But general, I haven't-

No buts about it.

You heard what the general said.

You're going straight home, young lady.

And I'm the guy who's taking you.

Night Ned.

Goodnight Marge.

- We
interrupt this program

to bring you a news flash.

A train wreck has been reported north

of Laurel, Maryland on US Highway One.

The engine and five cars were overturned

in what appears to have
been a freak accident.

We will bring you further
details as they come in.

It's only a few miles from here.

We'll have a look.

- Sorry colonel, there's
been a train wreck.

You'll have to go back to Warrington Road.

Take the detour to your
left through Laurel.

Is it pretty bad?

Could have been a lot worse.

How'd it happen?

- Probably couldn't see
the warning in the fog.

Can't tell for sure.

The engineer's still unconscious.

Joe, do you think it might?

No, just an accident.

Come on, let's go.

Thanks.

The light just turned green.

- It's too dangerous to
drive in fog like this.

Remember what happened
to that train back there.

This is more dangerous.

We'd better get going.

' Oh, you forgot
your package, lady.

Thank you, driver.

You know, it's good to get home safely

with all the strange things
going on around here.

- Oh, there's nothing
to worry about, ma'am.

You just be careful out in that fog.

Thank you.

- Here
is the very latest report.

An bus was demolished

at the intersection of Morton
Avenue and Arlington Road.

The cause of the accident which occurred

only five minutes ago
is still to be explained

since there was no other vehicle involved.

This accident, in addition
to the train wreck

which was reported a
very short time before,

makes a total of seven
accidents in this area

within the last 24 hours.

Take it easy.

How about a couple of blankets up here?

- What happened?
- Whose got any idea, colonel?

Something must have lifted
the bus and smashed it.

The front end's okay so we know
it didn't run into anything.

You boys might just as well go back.

There aren't any bodies.

Oh say, take care of this
lady for me, will you please?

Attention, all military

and civil defense personnel.

Attention, all police and
fire department personnel.

The mantis has been
sighted over Washington.

I repeat, the mantis has
been sighted over Washington.

Let's go.

Excuse me, pardon me.

This is a general alert.

- Archer, this
is Beagle One Seven.

Air born with four
chickens heading 035, over.

It's Colonel Parkman, sir.

Eagle One Seven, Archer control.

Continue your present heading.

Bogey at 12 o'clock, 100 miles.

Maintain present air speed,
altitude of 5000, over.

Bogey tracking 150.

I've got Baltimore, general.

Go ahead, Baltimore.

Second plot 340, range 150.

Unidentified object.

Speed, 250.

Altitude 2000, dropping fast.

- Dixie 35 bravo,
range 150, speed 250.

Altitude now 2000, dropping fast.

It's still moving northeast.

- You think you'll be able
to drive it out to sea?

I hope so.

Air defense warning red.

Stand by to lock on.

Baltimore, warning red.

Philadelphia, warning red, I repeat, red.

Attention Mitchell Field, warning red.

Pass to all g*n sites.

g*ns free, fire at any object

not identified as friendly.

I repeat, pass to all g*n sites.

g*ns free, fire at any object
not identified as friendly.

Dixie 35 bravo, 342 range, 110.

Vector 25, vector 352, range 110.

Vector 25, vector, contact lost.

Dixie 35 bravo, contact lost.

What happened?

It dropped below the radar net.

Well does that mean you've lost it?

- One of the ground
observers will pick it up.

, this is 19 hotel.

Thank you.

Mitchell track, bravo gone.

0339, at 25, going northeast.

Eagle One Seven, Archer control,

vector one niner zero.

Bogey at 12 o'clock.

Steady on course, 20 miles, over.

- That'll put it over
Newark in a few minutes.

Archer, this is Beagle One Seven.

When steady on vector,
bogey will be 12 o'clock.

Archer control, this is Beagle One Seven.

We have splashed mantis.

Give me pigeons to home plate.

Hey bud, it said on television

that the flyer who shot him down

is going in the tunnel after him.

Did you see it crawl into the tunnel?

Hey bud, hey, hey bud.

Bud.

He'! '

Hey bud, is it still in the tunnel?

It ain't out here, mac.

Anybody k*lled?

I only know what I read in the papers.

Hey smart guy, I thought I told you

to stay out of that road block.
Now come on, get back there.

I'm going home to watch it on TV!

Well go ahead home and watch it on TV!

Alright, don't push!

I can't see anything here!

- That's all the
smoke we need, shut it off.

How much longer do you think it'll take?

Oh, we got about a 90% saturation

of smoke in the tunnel now.

I don't think we can
do any better, general.

We'll be lucky if we
can hold what we've got.

- Those wet tarpaulins will
hold the smoke alright.

Just keep pumping-

- Everything's under control
on the Jersey side, sir.

What about the smoke?

It's packed in solid.

The tarp's holding it fine.

Did you go inside?

Yes sir, but we didn't get too close.

- How far in
do you estimate it to be?

- Oh, I'd say about a quarter
of a mile from this end.

- That puts the mantis
below the water line.

- I don't think we ought
to wait much longer, sir.

What do you think, Ned?

- No question in my mind
that he's mortally wounded.

If we can keep him in
that tunnel, he'll die.

- Is there anything between
us and the mantis in this end?

- 17 cars according to
the automatic counters.

Breaks through those tunnel walls,

we'll have a flood on our hands.

What do you say, general?

Go ahead, Joe.

Good luck, Joe.

Alright men.

You've all been told what to do.

Now the purpose of that smoke in there

is to give us cover.

Use it.

Now which of you men are
carrying the chemical mines?

Stay up front with me.

And remember, those
3RG mines are effective

only in a limited area so watch

for my signal before you throw them.

Alright men, check masks.

Let's go.

- There's your cover for
next month's magazine, Marge.

Go on, take your picture.

- Would you mind telling me
what's so funny, colonel?

Who, me?

Nothing at all.

Can I help you with the camera?

No thanks.

- Exactly where did you
crash into him, Joe?

- Well just about center
of the right hand side.

If you'll follow me, I'll show you.

There, I think you can
see right there, sir.

The base of the neck.

Look out, Marge!

I thought you said you k*lled it.

Don't blame Joe.

That was an auto-reflex mechanism.

It's dead alright.

Here, put me down.

I said put me down.

What's the matter?

Don't you like it up here?

I've got pictures to take.

Well that can wait.

- This is no place for
romance, Joe Parkman.

What about my pictures?

Let Ned do it.