Twilight Zone: The Arrival

Work Title: Twilight Zone: The Arrival
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: The Arrival
Year: 1961
Writer(s): Rod S
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: Yes
Summary:

After flight 107 from Buffalo arrives without a crew or passengers the FAA sends Grant Sheckly, an inspector with 22 years of experience and a flawless record of solving cases, to investigate the matter. He is assisted by the airport staff — Vice President Bengston, PR man Malloy, mechanic Robbins, and ramp attendant Cousins — but despite their combined efforts no one can explain how an empty plane could safely land and taxi to a stop (not into the hanger as previously stated). The investigation continues to prove fruitless until Robbins remarks on the plane's blue seats, which puzzles Sheckly since he quite clearly remembers them as being brown when he first entered the plane. Bengston adds that he remembers them as being red, and after the three of them examine the plane's tail and each see different registration numbers Sheckly comes to a conclusion: the plane is not real, but merely an illusion. In order to prove his theory, as well as to break the illusion, Sheckly proposes a simple, if potentially fatal, test: he will put his arm in the path of the plane's running propeller. Despite the objections he convinces the staff to go along with it, and Robbins starts the plane's engines. After some hesitation Sheckly places his arm directly into the path of the spinning propeller; just as he predicted his arm remains completely intact, and the plane disappears in front of his eyes. However, when Sheckly turns to reassure the others he is met only with silence, and seconds later they too disappear as the plane did. Calling out for the staff, Sheckly makes his way back to the Operations room and meets up with Bengston and Malloy, only to discover that they have no recollection of the empty plane or Sheckly's investigation. When asked, Bengston states that flight 107 from Buffalo landed safely earlier in the day, but further questions by Sheckly reveal that the only plane the airline ever lost was a flight 107 from Buffalo, roughly 17 years ago; the case was investigated by Sheckly but was never solved, closed as "presumed crashed for reasons unknown." Sheckly slowly makes his way out of the Operations room, weakly repeating that he has a perfect record of solving cases. As he wanders through the airfield he calls out, demanding to know where flight 107 is, what happened to it, and why it went down. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone what happened to you??", he finally sobs, sagging onto the runway, as the sound of a jet engine is heard above him... (combination of wikipedia and fandango)

  • Self-Written?:
  • Source Name: Wikipedia/Fandango
  • Source URL:
Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

It's everyday life.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: An airplane
  • Description of the technology: Sheckly can see the color of the seats and read the number on the plane, he is convinced that this plane is real, and he doesn't understand why everybody is seeing something different. Sheckly decides to put his hand in the propeller to convince his staff that this plane is real, but the plane disappears as does his staff. Sheckly can't believe what's happening because he knows that he saw the plane and he can recall details about it. The people at the airport told him that there never was such a plane but Sheckly is convinced that 107 does exist because he saw it and he touched it. He is responding to an accident from 17 years ago when a plane disappeared, and he can't separate himself from never being able to solve the mystery.
  • Nature of task or activity: Sheckly goes onto the plane, touches the plane, reads the number on the plane, and even goes as far as putting his arm in the propeller and turning the propeller on to see if it's real.
  • Performance of the Technology: The technology stays the same, but when you think about it, the technology was never really there to begin with.
  • Description of creator(s): None given.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): To get people where they need to go.
  • Description of users of technology: Everyday people.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: spatial_presence
  • Description of presence experience: Sheckly feels that the plane is really there, and he is experiencing an interaction with the plane.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: Sheckly is well aware of the technology, and he's confused as to why others aren't.
  • Valence of experience: The workers find the technology bothersome because everybody's seeing different things and they're freaking out because of it. No one can agree to what's on the plane.
  • Specific responses: Sheckly is trying to persuade others of what he sees because he is so sure of himself. After he realizes that what he's seeing is not real, he tries to convince others that it IS real even though everyone's telling him that he's thinking of the incident 17 years ago. He has a distorted memory and he's trying to redeem himself from not having solved the mystery 17 years ago.
Long-term consequences:

The story is a sad ending because it shows how people can't separate themselves from unfinished business. They will continue to work towards solving a problem that has deeply affected them, and others around them.

Other:

I think that this episode shows how the mind works in an entertaining way. Although people may say that they have "moved on" nobody ever really moves on, and they can convince themselves that something that isn't real, is real just to please themselves.

Coder name: Kira Stroh
Coder email: tua53492@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University