 |
|
Volume 3, 4 May 1997 |
Nina Justis is an "alleged UFO abductee" touring the country hyping her book, VISITORS. Jimmy Olsen is one interviewer. "Link Rambeau" (Rush Limbaugh) notes the Challengers of the Unknown debunked her story. What's next? Nina's going to film an expose' on the Challs. "I'm going to show them for what they really are!"  |
"Kenn Kawa", pronounces Nina. "Renegade games designer whose violent computer scenarios prey on teenage arcade junkies!" "Clay Brody - race car driver accustomed to fast cars and fast women." A NASCAR hero! "For rednecks." "Brenda Ruskin - physicist with secret government connections and a cloudy past." She worked at a university, "but who do you think universities work for?" "Marlon Corbet - commercial airline pilot at the controls during a crash that cost over 200 lives!" But he was just the co-pilot! Nina demands, "What brought these four together? What is their mysterious purpose? Why is their history so meticulously buried? What happened to their predecessors? Who are - the Challengers of the Unknown?" |
Nina bushwhacks Rocky Davis outside his apartment.  The "former" Chall notes, "A Challenger's a Challenger for life - plus. We don't give out gold watches, know what I mean?" Recording without permission, Nina asks, "Where are your partners?" Is there a link between their disappearance and the new Challs? Does the new team live up to the name? "Your were a feared fighting force! [The new Challs] spend half their time on television! Doesn't it bother you to watch strangers cash in on their reputation?" Rocky will say only, "Our fans are smart enough to judge the new Challengers on their own merits." Then he sends Nina packing. (The comment about "our fans" shows Rocky visits the office and stays in touch.) |
Nina next bursts into the "posh West Coast offices" of the Challengers. The only one home is Sarah Hargate, the business manager. (See the new HQ here.) Nina demands to see the Challs. Sarah notes "the Challengers don't react well to demands." Nina vows to dig up their "dirty little secrets." Nina interviews people at the Challs' old work sites. Lab techs say Brenda Ruskin was an excellent physicist. At the race track, she learns Clay Brody was a "wild" driver. Didn't win that many races, but he's NASCAR Hall of Fame material. On a jet, she hears Marlon Corbet was a co-pilot that pilots "asked for by name. Steady, a real family man, the sort of guy you'd want as a best friend." At a computer design lab, the geeks are so amazed at seeing a GIRL they can't talk about Kenn Kawa. |
In a dark apartment, a former lover named John complains about Brenda. They were ready to move in together when she broke it off, "Bing! It's over!" But he still cares for her, though his smoking "drove her crazy. [She was] always wanting to change things." In the hills of Appalachia, Nina tries to interview Clay's family. They don't talk about "brother Clay", who felt he was "too good for the mines" and his family. Roy Brody, the eldest brother, tells them to "make like a shepherd and get the flock out o' here." He won't hit Nina, but roughs up her cameraman Graham. In San Francisco at Kenn's old apartment house, a neighbor says, "Kenn was a real loner." In Seattle, Nina and Graham (who's "healing") find the church where Marlon Corbet's family worships. "Very religious bunch... Members of the choir. Bet they're not thrilled with their son dabbling in the occult." Marlon's mother, Mrs. Corbet, says only, "I have faith in my son, and I trust him." Marlon's fiancee Jessie says nothing - for the moment. |
From San Diego to Long Island, Nina interviews. Dozens of people say over and over, "They saved us..." Only in Harvest (COTU V3 1) are the Challs considered "busybody punks". Nina's disgusted. "No, no, no. This just won't cut it..." Comes a knock at the door. It's Jessie, Marlon Corbet's fiancee. Nina mutters, "Please, don't let this be a dream." Jessie speaks confidentially. "I do love him... He put off the wedding... The Challengers, they're bad! They're changing him!.. Something happened to all of them. It bound them together, he said... He has his head in the clouds now... Please help me save him..." |
Cut to... A dramatization shows the supposed origin of the new Challengers. A burning jetliner falls from the sky. (Note on dramatizations. They were a flop fad of the 1990s. TV news programs started recreating sensational stories using actors, narration, and special effects. It quickly became apparent dramatizations were a BAD way to report - or distort - news, and they were dropped.) The film continues. "278 people, passengers and crews, on a routine flight. Suddenly, disaster!"  (Keep in mind this is NOT an actual shot of the jet crash, but a dramatization, as the tag notes.) |
"Death toll, 274. Yet four survived, unscathed. This is the story they will not tell." Actors portraying Marlon, Brenda, Clay, and Kenn are stunned to find they're still alive. Then, "What's that light?"  (Again, these are actors and a simulation.) |
The narration continues, "In a shrill of unearthly music, 274 souls streaked into the light. Four survivors. Four witnesses. This is the story they will not tell. Why?"  (This picture is NOT a recreation. It's the real vision that the Challs won't talk about.) |
Actors portraying firefighters and EMTs tend actor-Challs. "What's so special about these four? Maybe it's just a miracle." The Challs "can't remember" - and the film freezes. Cut to... Uncommonly nervous, Nina babbles, ".... that that that's it so far... Did you like it? Can you guys um ah understand a word I'm UH saying?" Where IS Nina? Would you believe, inside a hovering alien spaceship?  The alien or machine or alien-machine snatches the videocam. Nina bleats, "That's my only copy! Sorry, sorry! Nice alien! Good alien." To herself she prays, "Lord, get me out of this and I'll never lie again..." |
Nina gets out. In a flash of light, she's dropped from the sky into her convertible on a dark country road. "Whoa! What a trip!" She's immediately nailed by a cruising sheriff. She yells, "Thank God! A cop! I was kidnapped by a UFO!" The cop nods. He's seen her on TV. "Loved your book." "Officer, listen! The Challengers! I've learned they have protection - alien protection! Big aliens! BIG!" The cop laughs. "No offense, Ma'am, but you need to find some new material. Everybody knows you never been on a flying saucer..." |
Comments So the cosmic joke falls on Nina Justis. A fake UFO abductee gets debunked by the Challengers of the Unknown. In a fit of pique, she goes after the Challs to debunk THEM. But after gathering a ton of hard facts and wild speculation, she gets abducted by real live aliens who steal her report. And now, of course, no one will believe her. So... Why do aliens want to know about the Challengers? Did they trigger the great white light seen after the crash? Or are the events unrelated? Are the aliens protecting the Challs, as Nina claims? Or do they have some other agenda? Marlon later comes to the rescue of his fiance Jessie (COTU V3 13). |