Original subtitles

There is nothing wrong with your television set.

Do not attempt to adjust the picture.

We are controlling transmission.

We will control the horizontal.

We will control the vertical.

We can change the focus to a soft blur

or sharpen it to crystal clarity.

For the next hour, sit quietly,

and we will control all that you see and hear.

You are about to participate in a great adventure.

You are about to experience the awe and mystery

which reaches from the inner mind to...

In this room, 24 hours a day,

7 days a week,

security personnel at the defense department's

Cypress Hills research center

keep constant watch on its scientists

through O.B.I.T.,

a mysterious electronic device

whose very existence was carefully kept

from the public at large.

And so it would have remained,

but for the facts you are about to witness.

Tell me about Norton.

If his father hadn't been on the board of trustees,

they would have literally tossed him

out of grad school.

Now he's the head of my bio-chemical project.

He doesn't know the difference between

a periodic table and a timetable.

Code I3b4d.

Dr. Anderson.

Derogatory remarks against superior.

12th occurrence.

Sight of image on screen.

Checking resolution, circuitry,

and video self-control.

Senator Orville, Mr. Lomax.

Nice meeting you, Mr. Lomax.

An honor, Senator.

Are the witnesses all assembled?

Yes, sir.

I don't quite understand

the purpose of this investigation.

Well, a murder has been committed.

Well, that's a police matter.

To drag the senate and Washington down here?

Take it easy, Mr. Lomax.

The Senator isn't here to hurt your project.

Oh, I understand your concern, Mr. Lomax,

but you must realize that, well,

since captain Harrison's death, we have received

all kinds of letters concerning

the morale situation at this base.

Now, Cypress Hills is one of our top secret

defense installations.

Now, we know that murders can occur

in soda fountains, uh, paper box factories,

even ladies tea rooms,

as can morale situations.

But when a key center of the defense department

is spotlighted in sordid headlines,

well, the public is justifiably concerned,

and I intend to get to the bottom of it.

But I assure you, Mr. Lomax,

that I will conduct my investigation

as briefly and as cleanly as possible,

in the interest of all concerned.

Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me,

I believe we're delaying the proceedings.

Barbara, not now.

They haven't called you yet to testify.

You may be spared the embarrassment.

But it's important that I go in there...

Witnesses will be making insinuations

about you and your husband

to hear him publicly discredited.

But that's why.

I feel I owe it to cliff.

No.

You don't owe him anything.

Not anymore.

You owe me...

A little self-concern.

Just... just keep on trusting me.

Mr. Clyde Wyatt?

Would you take the stand, please?

Mr. Wyatt, what is your occupation?

Investigator, C.I.D.

And you conducted the inquiry

into captain James Harrison's demise?

Yes, sir.

And the body was found in this room?

Yes.

Where?

Slumped over that machine.

What kind of machine is it?

It's, uh...

It's a computer used

to process security data.

And the victim was operating it at the time?

Yes, he was.

Well, now, you examined the body.

What were your findings?

Well, we know that the cause of death

was strangulation committed

by an unusually strong person.

Unusually strong?

The marks at the throat, sir,

the way the bone was literally crushed

at the base of the skull,

I never saw anything like it.

I see.

In your opinion, Mr. Wyatt,

would you say that a blunt instrument

could have been used?

No. There were no other bruises

beyond finger marks.

How long have you been here

in Cypress Hills, Mr. Wyatt?

About 5 days.

Well, now, would you say that the center

was a reasonably contented, peaceful place?

I was investigating a murder, sir,

so that took all my time.

Well, now, that wasn't very responsive.

Well, I don't know

what you want to know.

Well, let me put it this way.

You wouldn't say that the morale

at Cypress Hills was any lower

than any other installation

with the same sort of personnel?

I'm not competent to say so.

I'm really not.

Thank you, Mr. Wyatt. You may go.

A murder at a defense installation

such as Cypress Hills

cannot be construed

as a random...

If captain Harrison's murder was an act

of private passion

or a crime of personal revenge,

then it becomes necessary to understand exactly

what relation that passion or that revenge had

to the psychological climate of Cypress.

Now the press has seen to it that rumors

of distinct and distressing morale problems of Cypress

have been brought to the attention

of all and sundry.

Well, I cannot,

nor do I wish to,

ignore those rumors.

And in the interest of exploding

or verifying them

or perhaps even compounding them,

I find it necessary

to investigate certain otherwise irreproachable

members of Cypress research.

Call Dr. Philip Fletcher, please.

Do you recognize this letter, doctor?

You will have to reply aloud, doctor.

The stenographer has to hear you.

Oh, yes.

Uh, I wrote it to your office.

I now will regret that I did so.

May I ask why, sir?

Well, I...

I'm not a complaining sort of a person.

I try not to be.

No one threatened you

or reprimanded you for writing to my office?

No.

How long have you been employed by Cypress Hills?

5 years.

And in what capacity?

Research consultant in astrophysics.

It says here that you were...

Awakened by military policeman

and taken out of your quarters

and taken to security headquarters.

Yes.

What prompted that? Do you know, doctor?

I had written some letters.

To who?

No one.

No one?

I mean, I...

I never mailed them.

Oh, please, please,

I don't want to tell you.

I didn't want to tell them, but...

They wouldn't take no for an answer.

They kept after me and after me:

Why did I write those letters?

And then tear them up and burn them?

Why did I write in the dead of night?

With the curtains drawn?

Well, how could anyone ever know

you wrote those letters, doctor?

They know.

They know everything.

They know what you say in your sleep,

in your bathroom.

And everywhere rumors, fears.

Cypress Hills is just like a ghost town.

People whisper in their own houses.

Husbands discuss their wives,

and...

Nobody laughs.

Is there any connection

between these letters you mentioned

and the death of captain Harrison?

They have nothing to do with it.

About these letters, doctor,

I must ask you to explain.

I have a terminal illness.

When it's very painful,

I want to have at my side someone...

Who is close to me.

I wrote those letters

to my son in Philadelphia.

He's a wonderful boy, but...

He's married,

he has 2 children.

To disrupt his life, his home,

to come and hold an old man's hand...

After the pain lets up,

I always destroy those letters.

Thank you, doctor.

You may go.

Call Dr. Clifford Scott.

Uh, Senator...

Yes?

Um...

Dr. Scott is, um, not here.

He was called.

He was, Senator.

He's, uh, unable to attend.

He's unavailable.

Dr. Clifford Scott,

head of the Cypress Hills research center,

is unavailable.

Well, now, I wish you'd tell me why.

He's suffering a physical breakdown.

As acting head of the center,

I'll gladly answer all questions

in the doctor's absence.

Is Mrs. Clifford Scott present?

She's right outside. Perhaps we sh...

One moment.

We had planned

on calling on you later, Mr. Lomax,

but since we've more or less begun...

Would you mind taking the stand?

No, not at all, Senator.

How long have you been at the center, Mr. Lomax?

A little over a year.

Mm-hmm. How would you describe

the morale situation here?

Oh, neither better nor worse

than we anticipated.

Now, that seems to be a discrepancy

between Dr. Fletcher's ghost town testimony

and your statement.

How do you account for that?

Scientists are likely to be

withdrawn, introspective individuals

with a great deal of inner tension.

The center's composed

almost exclusively of such men.

Those words describe almost exactly

my initial reaction to the morale rumors.

And I was, uh, sorely tempted

to credit that reaction.

But a Senator must learn

not to be impulsive.

That is, until he has all the statistics.

Thank you.

That's a sound, uh...

Scientific approach.

I have here the war department's statistical report

on your center.

About your, uh, social problems.

Your functions,

golf tournaments, and, uh...

Barbecues, dances.

All went virtually unattended.

As with any, uh, small group

in confined surroundings,

these social affairs tend to start out

with a great deal of zest and enthusiasm

and then run down.

Well, now, that seems

to be a gross understatement, Mr. Lomax.

The divorce rate went up 400%,

alcoholism became a major problem,

and, uh, there were 3 suicides at the center.

Now, remember,

we're dealing with people

who are hard-driving, fantastic perfectionists

who live on a veritable razor's edge.

Now, about that unfortunate homicide.

Captain Harrison was operating that machine,

a, um...

Data processing computer,

I believe that's what it's called?

That's correct, Senator.

We use it regularly in security procedures.

Well, what is it?

How exactly does it work?

Well, I'm afraid,

Senator, I'm, um...

Not at Liberty to discuss it.

I have here a, uh...

Letter from one of your technicians.

A woman.

Uh, do you mind if I quote?

"There's a bizarre story going the rounds.

"They say the center has a peeping-Tom machine

"that follows you anywhere, anytime,

and sees and hears everything."

The device is top-secret.

I am unable to discuss it.

Colonel Grover, you are the military liaison officer

of this subcommittee.

I don't care how you do it,

but I expect to see that machine

in full operation

first thing tomorrow morning.

Thank you, Mr. Lomax. You may step down.

Oh, Senator?

You must have really put on pressure

to get clearance from the Pentagon.

I didn't think any outsider

would get to see O.B.I.T.

Well, I'm confident that we will continue

to get the cooperation of the defense department.

They realize that the United States senate

has the right and the duty

to get the facts,

all the facts.

Well, Senator...

Are we going to see a demonstration

of the peeping Tom?

Do I understand you correctly?

This machine can pick up people

anywhere, anytime,

through steel or concrete walls?

Well, the, uh, density of the surrounding

has no appreciable effect on reception.

What do you call it?

O-B-I-T.

Or O.B.I.T.

Actually, uh,

those are initials for

outer band individuated teletracer.

How does it work?

Well, you see,

um, every living organism is a transmitter

operating 24 hours a day,

and that, of course,

is true of human beings, too.

Uh, awake or asleep,

active or passive, we are each of us

constantly sending out our particular brain waves,

heart sounds, respiratory rhythms,

and, uh... well, like fingerprints,

no 2 human patterns are, uh, alike.

Well, now, do you mean to tell me

that you can pick up anyone's signal at will?

Yes. It's like, uh...

A push-button radio.

You see, once we have an individual tuned in

and have their particular wavelength,

it's simply a matter of, uh...

Hitting the right buttons and...

Bringing them in.

Who is that?

That's, um, Ed Wilson,

one of the draftsmen at Cypress Hills.

He's in Washington on a particular project.

I knew his wavelength code.

Suppose you didn't?

Well, I could still bring him in

on this location finder.

You see, this dial tells us

where we're picking up our transmission from.

It's like a shortwave receiver

that says London, Moscow,

Washington, Bangkok.

I can turn this dial to a given location

and pick up signals from

the various persons there.

And you can do this anywhere on earth?

Oh, we're limited to a 500-mile radius now,

but we're working to extend that limit.

Wouldn't you say, Mr. Lomax,

that this machine in large part

was responsible for the faltering morale

of the research center?

Well, nobody at the center

was aware of O.B.I.T.'s existence.

Dr. Fletcher was pulled in for questioning

on the basis of the information

you received on this machine.

No doubt others were questioned.

People with nothing to hide

have nothing to fear from O.B.I.T.

Are you that perfect, Mr. Lomax?

Well, I'd hate to have that thing trained on me

when I was cussing out fellow Senators

or the president of the United States

or my former law partner,

to say nothing of my wife.

That will be all, Mr. Lomax.

Oh, just a moment.

Are you the inventor of O.B.I.T.?

Oh, no, Senator.

I was assigned to operate it

and tabulate statistics.

By whom?

Well, the defense department.

Thank you.

Colonel Grover, will you please take the chair?

Colonel Grover, why weren't the American people notified

of the existence of this equipment?

Well, let me say

that the intelligence community

must of necessity employ many secret devices.

And who authorized its acceptance and purchase?

Well, the head of G-2 signed the papers.

But, of course, hundreds of items

cross his desk daily,

and I'm certain he never got a proper picture

of this machine any more than I did.

He merely signed the papers.

Well, now, who wrote the papers

that the head of G-2 merely signed?

We haven't been able to find him.

Who manufactures it?

Heh. A company that's since gone out of business.

Colonel, if this is the old badger game

and if your department

is knowingly concealing information

from the Senatorial investigation...

I assure you, Senator,

we're as much in the dark as you are.

Colonel, I want every available record

on that machine, and I want them quickly!

Is that clear?

That will be all, Colonel.

Call Mrs. Clifford Scott.

Would you take the chair, please, Mrs. Scott?

Mrs. Scott...

How would you describe the morale climate

at Cypress Hills?

Not good.

And, uh, did this condition prevail

when you and your husband first moved out here?

Well, it wasn't until toward the last

that things became almost unbearable.

And would you attribute it to that machine?

I didn't know it existed

until I heard about it this morning.

And who told you about it?

Mr. Lomax.

Your husband never mentioned O.B.I.T. To you?

No. He never spoke of security matters.

But Mr. Lomax did this morning?

Senator,

Mrs. Scott was called as a witness.

She's the wife of the head of Cypress Hills.

I don't see any harm...

Neither do I.

Mrs. Scott, it's in the record

that you had filed for separation

from your husband.

Yes.

But I never pursued it. I...

I began to see that he was ill.

And you never actually separated?

No.

Have you ever visited him at the rest home?

I don't know where he is.

We've hunted everywhere for him, but...

We?

Yes. Mr. Lomax and I.

We've phoned and written

and hounded the army.

Maybe he just doesn't want to see me.

Well, you don't know that for sure.

No, but...

These past months,

before they took him away, he...

Please go on.

Well, he...

He imagined things...

About me.

He accused me of horrible things.

He called me a monster.

And then he began to speak

of seeing real monsters.

And finally one night,

he didn't come home,

and they told me

that he had had a physical breakdown

and that they had taken him somewhere.

I don't know what to believe.

Did you locate Dr. Scott yet?

No, sir.

Why not?

I'd like to take this matter

up with you during recess.

Thank you, Mrs. Scott.

It is not in the best interests

of the government

for Dr. Scott to attend these hearings.

Who said so?

Senator, you have no idea

what you're opening up.

Well, perhaps you might enlighten me.

I'm afraid that's impossible.

Well, are you trying to tell me

that I can't be trusted with secret data

and you can?

It's not a matter of trust.

Well, what is it a matter of?

Senator,

the storm warnings are up back home.

You're facing a very rough election.

Now, I don't think it would help

if you were to be charged

with undermining the security

of your country.

Colonel, I want to see Scott.

Even at such a price?

Yes.

Should you make a moral decision

so abruptly?

Morality makes its own decisions, Colonel.

I want to see Scott,

and I want to see him tonight.

I'm sorry, Senator,

but Dr. Scott doesn't want to see anyone.

Or perhaps it's that

he doesn't want anyone to see him.

Why is he in this place, Colonel?

Well, you heard Mr. Lomax say...

A complete physical breakdown.

Which is his very polite way

of saying that the man is not

in full possession of his senses.

Yes.

Then can a man who is considered irrational

be given the right to decide

as to whether or not the United States senate

can properly conduct investigations?

Well, I cannot conduct this investigation

without all the facts,

and you know this, Colonel.

And Dr. Scott has especially pertinent facts

which I need.

Well, if you wanna take the responsibility

for interrogating a sick man...

Not interrogation, Colonel,

just a few questions.

Dr. Scott?

Colonel Grover again.

Dr. Scott?

Come in.

Dr. Scott, I'm Senator Orville.

I know.

Colonel, the corridor's drafty.

Please close the door.

Do you know why I'm here?

Oh, yes.

Do you know why I'm here?

I know what I've been told.

Don't you believe it?

Doctor, I'm a Senator,

not a psychiatrist.

You're here because you belong here,

or you're being held... I believe the word is

incommunicado.

Either way, it's a direct result

of the conditions at Cypress Hills.

A direct result.

When I told them what I saw,

they got very quiet

and looked at me with great, quiet eyes.

Quiet can tell you so much.

Until they looked at me that way,

I was certain that I had seen

what I had seen.

Dead certain.

What did you see, doctor?

Of course, I hadn't.

It was just that...

My life had become a nightmare,

so naturally I saw the kind of things

that inhabit a nightmare world.

Dr. Scott...

I saw a monster.

I saw a monster.

When I told them that.

They got very quiet.

Can you describe these...

This monstrous thing you saw?

That's very strange.

You're the first one who's asked me

to describe it.

Did you see it on the O.B.I.T. Screen?

Yes.

Is it my imagination, Senator,

or do you believe me?

I believe you saw something,

something monstrous.

Why?

Because you believe it.

Do I?

I think you do.

Of course, I do.

No one has ever been able to convince me

that I didn't see it.

I wish they could, but they couldn't

yet you stayed here

and pretended to agree with them.

I'm out of it now. I'm away from it.

I just want to forget it.

Doctor, I'd like you to return with us

to Cypress Hills.

I'd like to question you on the stand.

Oh, no.

I need your help, doctor.

Everybody at Cypress Hills needs your help.

Not everybody.

Now, if you're referring to your wife,

you're wrong, doctor.

She needs your help, too.

I'm not referring to my wife.

Someone else there who doesn't want me

to say anything more than I've already said,

who'd be perfectly willing to kill me

rather than let me talk.

Why do you think I'm willing to stay here?

Because I'm safe.

As long as I'm insane, I'm safe.

It's a pretty lousy way to live, isn't it, doctor?

I hope that you believe in nightmares, Senator.

Well, I phoned several times,

but they won't let me talk to him.

They said that Senator Orville

hasn't been at the rest home

and hasn't seen my husband.

Why do you keep asking?

Sometimes I...

I feel that you don't care about me at all

and that you're using me in some odd way.

I'm sorry, Byron, I do know better,

only sometimes I...

All right, Byron.

Will you call me if you hear anything?

I couldn't get anything out of her.

If Orville's found Scott,

he's keeping him out of range.

Something far more worrisome than Scott has come up.

A night watchman at the center,

Armand Younger.

He saw me?

He claims he saw someone

inside the restricted zone of the center.

Never gave it much thought

till he read about the investigation.

He offered to testify.

But if he saw me, I haven't a...

Not your face.

He claims he saw the killer from the back

as he left the murder scene.

He mentioned a peculiar walk

he's certain he could identify.

Where is he now?

He's still in his apartment.

1708 west Holton street, apartment 12.

Have you what you need this time?

I won't be taken by surprise again.

Mr. Younger, it's Senator Orville.

You'll have to sign some documents

before you can appear.

Put that thing down!

Who are you?!

Call Armand Younger.

Uh, Senator...

He isn't here.

Where is he?

We don't know.

You don't know?!

Well, he isn't in his apartment.

He may have gone off on a binge

or run away somewhere, I can't say,

but we're looking for him.

Colonel Grover, will you please

take the stand?

Colonel Grover, I assume you have a record

of the number of O.B.I.T. Machines

in use at the present time.

Yes, an instillation check has revealed

that there are 18 O.B.I.T.s

in use on our military bases,

and we've discovered that these machines

are also being employed

in civilian life.

Well, how is that possible? They're top secret.

I don't know, sir.

Are they used in industry?

Industry, education,

communication networks, all over the country.

It's like a debilitating disease.

Now, surely there... There must be a record

of the total number of machines installed?

There are no records.

None at all?

It's awful. Awful!

I feel responsible. I should've spoken out.

Weren't you in favor of O.B.I.T.?

I was at first,

but I was wrong.

It's the most hideous creation ever conceived.

No one can laugh or joke.

It watches.

It saps the very spirit.

And the worst thing of all is...

I watch it.

I can't not look.

It's like a drug,

a horrible drug. You can't resist it.

It's an addiction.

What Colonel Grover has done is a very brave thing.

Addiction to any form of deadliness is

difficult to admit.

In the past 24 hours, I have learned facts

and seen examples of this debilitating disease

that's been infesting this great country of ours.

And I have been advised to leave it alone,

to drop it.

I have been threatened

with the loss of political support.

But I just happen to believe that the people

who entrusted me with this office

might just like to know all the facts.

Even the ones that no human mind

today can explain.

Call Dr. and Mrs. Scott please.

Mrs. Scott, will you please be seated?

Dr. Scott, would you please take the stand?

Doctor, I don't want to tax your strength,

so if you feel you need a rest,

let me know and we'll hold up proceedings.

How long have you been confined to a rest home?

A month.

And what was the reason for that confinement?

The doctor said that I was suffering

complete exhaustion

precipitated by anxiety.

Now, doctor, during this period of time,

did you ever suffer from a lapse of memory

or incoherence or hallucinations

or any other mental aberrations of this type

that might tend to impair your judgment?

No.

Have you ever suffered

from the conditions I described?

I have not.

Now, doctor, as head

of the Cypress Hill research center,

can you recall your reaction

when O.B.I.T. Was first installed?

I was unalterably opposed to it.

And did you notify

the defense department of this?

Yes.

And what did they do?

Nothing.

I got the view that they thought

that the machine was highly successful

in eliminating undesirable elements.

Who told you this?

Mr. Byron Lomax.

What were your feelings towards Mr. Lomax?

I considered him highly intelligent.

Very perceptive.

Were your relations cordial?

No,

but respectful.

Till I found out what was happening

to the people at the center.

Friends. Colleagues.

I couldn't bear to look at the man.

I hated what he stood for.

Did you continue your efforts

to have O.B.I.T. Removed?

No.

Why not?

Well...

I was having what was becoming

a daily argument with Lomax over O.B.I.T.

He deliberately clicked on a familiar image

in a bathing suit

lying next to a young officer.

It was my wife Barbara.

They were at the beach.

It seemed to me

that she was being overly friendly to this man.

But I realize, now,

she's simply gregarious by nature,

loves laughter and friendship

and perhaps even innocent flirtation,

but at the time I was convinced

that it was more.

Much more.

And you questioned her about it?

Relentlessly.

I made her account to me

for every move that she made.

I made life miserable for her.

I even watched her without her knowing it

on the machine...

Her every gesture and intonation...

And I would throw it up to her at night.

I literally drove her away from me.

Then, it finally happened.

She was driven to someone else.

I could see that she was serious about him,

but I couldn't tell who he was.

I would sit in front of the machine

and tune in her image.

I could see her clear as crystal,

but no matter what I did,

I couldn't pick up his image.

He was the one person on the center

whose image I couldn't pick up on O.B.I.T.

And you never found out who this person was?

I found out.

How?

Well, I discovered who the one person was

on the center who never appeared

on the screen.

And I found out why.

He had seen to it that his wavelength was

outside the operating limits of O.B.I.T.

So, it was impossible for you to bring in

this person's signal?

I finally did, accidentally,

by violating the machine's operating instructions.

The O.B.I.T. Machine was manned 24 hours a day

by security officers.

How were you able to use it

to follow your wife's activities?

I swore captain Harrison to secrecy

and then I told him that I have been given

special instructions to keep certain individuals

under my personal surveillance.

In other words, you lied to him?

I lied to him.

Do you have any idea how

or why captain Harrison was murdered?

He saw something on the machine

he was not supposed to see.

And what was that?

What I saw.

Mr. Lomax...

The machines are everywhere!

Oh, you'll find them all. You're a zealous people!

And you'll make a great show of smashing a few of them,

but for every one you destroy,

hundreds of others will be built.

And they'll demoralize you, break your spirits,

create such rips and tensions

in your society

that no one will be able to repair them!

Oh, you're a savage...

Despairing planet.

And when we come here to live,

you friendless, demoralized flotsam

will fall without even a single shot being fired.

Senator, enjoy the few years left you.

There is no answer.

You're all the same.

Dark, persuasive. You demand...

Insist on knowing every private thought

and hunger of everyone.

Your family's, your neighbor's,

everyone, but yourselves.

Agents of the justice department

are rounding up the machines now,

but these machines,

these inventions of another planet

have been cunningly conceived

to play on our most mortal weakness.

In the last analysis, dear friends,

whether O.B.I.T. lives up to its name or not

will depend on you.

We now return control of your television set

to you until next week at this same time

when the control voice will take you to...