Quite a show.
What do you think it is?
I don't know.
But I'm gonna get a closer look.
Hey.
Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy, take it easy,
I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm not gonna hurt you.
I thought you were an alien.
No.
I'm a real live human being. See?
You live here?
No. This is-- was the Abbott place.
Now where are they?
I don't know. They just upped and left one night.
- No one knows why. - Huh.
- Did you see those lights? - Yeah. It was awesome.
Yeah.
Hi. My name is MacGyver.
Oh, yeah. I heard your name.
You're working at the hot spring.
Yeah. That's right.
I'm Tommy Wiley. I live across the road.
Well, I'd better be going. So long.
W-W-Wait a minute. Um,
do you think your folks would mind if I used their phone?
Probably.
Well, you see, the electrical system in my car is shot,
and I'm gonna need a tow truck.
My dad doesn't like strangers.
It's 12 miles back to Elm Creek.
Uh, okay. But I can't promise you nothin'.
Anything.
Whatever.
Yeah.
Where have you been? You're late for dinner.
Who are you?
Uh, this is MacGyver.
He's working at the hot springs.
His car conked out in front of the Abbott place.
What were you doing over there?
We were both looking at the light show, actually.
Lights.
Yeah. They were like a big saucer.
All blue and white.
I bet they saw them clear to town.
Yeah. You didn't see 'em?
I don't have time to go chasing after lights.
My wife's not well.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Take this soup to your mother before it gets cold.
Yes, Dad.
Uh, see you, MacGyver.
- Hope you get your car fixed. - Tommy, get on with it.
What's wrong with your car, mister?
Well, I'm not sure. I think it's the electrical system.
Well, Parnell down at the Elm Creek Garage has got a tow truck.
You can use the phone in the living room there.
Thanks.
MacGyver.
Is that you, Tommy?
Morning.
Hi.
Phil Sternwise,
Vortex Vacuums.
MacGyver.
Did you find out what caused those lights?
No, I got whacked on the head before I could get close enough.
Did you happen to see what hit me?
I didn't see anything, except that bright light.
Definitely saucer-shaped.
Well, did you see anything on the ground,
uh, a metallic, shiny sort of thing?
- Kind of cigar-shaped? - Yeah.
A landing craft from the mother ship, perhaps?
Tell me, Mr. MacGyver,
do you believe in flying saucers?
Well, as a matter of fact,
I tend to chalk that stuff up to natural phenomenon.
But you must admit,
considering all the stars out there,
life on other planets is more than possible.
It's practically a certainty.
And some very credible people have reported seeing UFOs.
Police officers, military and airline pilots.
Let's just say I have yet to be convinced.
Ah, a man of science.
Then perhaps you'd be interested
in a great vacuum cleaner.
The Vortex 6000.
The next generation in household care appliances.
Well, thanks, but, uh, I'm not in the market.
Oh, well.
Good luck in hunting your natural phenomenon, Mr. MacGyver.
Here's your receipt.
$245.
That includes labor.
But this generator's only a month old.
I installed it myself.
Well, that may be, but it's junk now.
Say,
were you in Abbott's field last night
when them lights were flying around?
- Yeah. - Uh-huh.
Now, there's your answer.
I read them UFOs emit electromagnetic radiation.
That fouls up anything that runs on electricity.
Is that right?
A documented fact.
Pretty soon them aliens will be coming down everywhere,
just drain all our electricity.
Then we'll be at their mercy.
It's just the beginning.
You watch.
Thank you.
You're trespassing, mister.
This is private property.
Well, I thought the folks who lived here packed up and left.
What the Abbotts did is their business.
The bank owns it now and they made me caretaker
until it's resold.
And I got enough to worry about without you going around
spreading some crazy gossip about lights in the sky.
Hello, John.
Been having some excitement last night, I hear.
Yeah, more than I care for, sheriff.
Everybody in town must've seen those lights.
My phone's been ringing all night.
Thought I'd come out and take a look for myself.
Well, I'm glad you're here. I just caught this fellow trespassing.
You're that scientist from the Phoenix Foundation,
been poking around the hot springs, right?
The name's MacGyver.
Mind if I ask what you're doing out here now, Mr. MacGyver?
Well,
I saw the lights last night, too.
I just wanted to see what it was.
It's a curiosity, all right.
Still, it's my bet it's just some local kids playing a joke.
That's kind of sophisticated for kids, sheriff.
If you didn't mind, I'd sure like to take some tests.
Sheriff, I just fertilized this field.
Now, some hooligans caused enough damage already,
I don't need a bunch of UFO nuts tramping all over the place.
Now, John, I'm sure Mr. MacGyver means well.
Oh, they're the ones that cause the most trouble.
This is private property, mister.
Next trespasser I find will know it, too.
He's got a problem?
Oh, he's just scared like other folks in these parts.
These aren't easy times.
The Phoenix Foundation gonna build
some kind of new power plant up there at the hot springs?
Yeah, geothermal.
Sounds like it could mean paying jobs for these folks.
I think that's more important
than chasing after little green men, don't you?
Yes, sir.
Tommy?
Please,
don't let my dad know I'm here.
He'd blow his gourd if he knew I told you.
Told me what?
These really weird people have been coming to our farm.
They told my dad they know lots of people
who are having the same kind of trouble as us.
They said they can fix things.
But I don't care!
I'm not going with them, MacGyver!
I'll run away instead.
Tom, w-w-what are you talking about? Go where?
On their spaceship.
Dad says they're gonna take us to another planet.
Uh, Tom,
I just talked to your dad.
He didn't strike me as the kind of guy
that would believe in flying saucers.
But he didn't, until the aliens showed up.
Wait a minute, whoa.
Aliens?
They're just like us, but different.
Mom says they look like they've never been sick in their whole lives.
They said they're from outer space, huh?
Yeah. It's got no wars,
no diseases. No one ever dies.
That's why Dad wants to take Mom.
She's got cancer.
I'm sorry to hear that, Tom.
I'll bet this trip costs a lot, huh?
Dad says it's worth all we've got if it helps Mom.
I want her to get better, too,
but I'm scared.
I don't want to go to another planet.
Trust me.
Nobody's going to another planet.
But they came back this morning.
I heard them say they talked to the aliens on that ship we saw.
It's all been arranged.
We're going.
Tonight.
Tom, you got any idea where I could find these people?
I followed them on my bike after they left this morning.
They've parked their trailer at the Elm Creek Campground.
What am I gonna do, Mr. MacGyver?
You're gonna go home. Come on.
I'll see if I can talk these people into scrubbing their flight.
In the meantime,
no running away, okay?
- Okay. - All right, get.
Can I help you, mister?
I was just admiring your trailer.
It's a Silver Streak, isn't it?
Yeah.
It suits our needs, mister...
MacGyver.
Name's Rigel.
Ray Rigel.
What is your real reason for being here?
Oh, honest, I was just looking.
Looking for what?
Love?
Joy?
A new beginning?
I can help.
That's enough, Ray.
This man is not a believer.
Mr. MacGyver?
Hey, sheriff.
My secretary says you were looking for me at the station.
Yeah, I got a chance to study a dirt sample
from that burned patch in the field.
I thought we agreed you were gonna leave that UFO nonsense to me.
The dirt contains napalm.
The stuff they dropped at Nam?
Yeah, it's used in flamethrowers as well.
It's how they faked the landing site.
And who are they?
A couple calling themselves the Rigels.
The plate on their trailer says they're from Illinois.
Why would a couple of tourists go to all that trouble?
They're not tourists.
They're con artists.
Tommy Wiley says that they talked his folks into booking passage
on a spaceship to another planet.
Oh, John Wiley's the most Bible-fearing man I know.
He'd never swallow such nonsense.
They've got him convinced that they can cure his wife's cancer.
Sheriff, you don't believe me.
Quite frankly, I don't blame you.
But I think you should talk to the Wileys.
The steam from those hot springs must've baked your brain.
You expect me flat-out to ask John Wiley
if he's planning a trip to outer space?
I'd be laughed out of my job.
All right. Well,
at least check out the Rigels.
Run their plates through the Illinois DMV.
See if they've got any kind of a record.
That's the number.
All right. On one condition.
You steer clear of the Wileys.
Yes, sir.
You go in the house and see if your mother needs anything.
Well, go on.
Hello, John.
How is Sarah?
Good as can be expected.
Cold weather troubles her.
You'll be happy to know the temperature on our planet
never drops below 70 of your Fahrenheit degrees.
Well, that's nice.
This should be a glorious time
for you and your family, John.
But I sense you're troubled.
I worry for Tommy.
And this man's been around the landing site,
wanting to run some tests.
Would this man be called MacGyver?
Yeah, that's it. Do you know him?
There's very little we don't know, John.
Oh, John, this could complicate our plans.
Yes, I'm afraid our superiors
will ask us to cancel the trip now.
Oh, they can't.
We have a deal.
The decision isn't ours to make, John.
It's up to them.
However, there is one thing
you can do that may convince them otherwise.
I've already agreed to give them my life's savings.
I'm gonna take a loan out on the farm.
What more could they want?
Nobody questions your faith and commitment, John.
But this MacGyver,
he could destroy everything
we've worked so hard to accomplish.
My suggestion is, he be
neutralized.
How do, folks?
Phil Sternwise, Vortex Vacuum.
Where'd you come from?
Spotted your trailer. Walked in from the road.
What I have here is the future of household cleaning.
We're not in the market.
That's what they all say.
Till I show them my all-purpose, lightweight model.
Ideal for trailers, I might add.
With the Vortex 6000, dust is a thing of the past.
It comes with a full line of attachments, for carpets, hardwood, upholstery, and
those hard-to-reach corners.
You heard my wife, mister.
We're not interested.
Oh, well.
Can't blame a fella for trying, I always say.
MacGyver.
Hey, sheriff, come on in.
You and I have to talk.
What the sam hill was that?
Electrochemical plasma.
It's what we all saw last night.
I thought I told you to lay off that UFO business.
No, you told me to stay away from the Wileys, which I have done.
But I'm positive the Rigels are behind this whole thing.
Come here, take a look at this.
Let's say these ammonia vapors
are coming off Abbott's field from the fresh fertilizer,
and the hydro lines over the field
get a sudden shot of electricity
from the generator in their trailer,
like this wire.
Instant UFO.
Now, a flame thrower would make, uh, the jet burns.
And then they salted the entire area
with a very low-grade uranium,
just hot enough to create a mysterious radiation.
You can't actually prove the Rigels did this.
They've got everything in their trailer to do it.
Check them out.
I did check them out.
The Vehicle Services Department in Springfield
says the Rigels are from Orion, Illinois.
Sheriff,
I think it's pronounced Orion.
Rigel is a star in the Orion constellation.
This has got to be an alias.
Listen, I checked like you asked,
and this is the answer from the DMV.
Well, I think it's a phony answer.
And I think you're driving me and everybody else around here nuts.
And this is the result of it.
An arrest warrant? For what?
John Wiley phoned mad as a pit bull.
Says he saw you back in the Abbott's field
after you were warned to stay out.
Well, I'm sorry, but he's lying!
I never went near the place.
Well, then it's your word against his.
But John went to the county attorney,
and had you charged with trespassin'.
So I got no choice.
You're under arrest, MacGyver.
You did a good job of convincing the county attorney.
MacGyver should be in jail all night,
where he won't interfere with your departure.
- We're leaving tonight? - So soon?
Oh, don't be afraid, John.
It's a better world, where people like you can live with peace,
and health and dignity again.
I trust you made arrangements to get the money?
You're sure you need so much?
No one on our planet needs money, John.
What little we keep is to carry on our work here.
But the important thing is that only by divesting yourselves completely,
can you prove that you are ready to live in our world.
You must cut all links to this life, John.
No compromises.
Fifty thousand's all the bank would loan on our property.
Still, it's so much money.
Please, John.
These people want to help us.
I trust them.
All right.
We'll have the money when it's time.
Wonderful.
Tonight,
you and Tommy will leave this troubled world forever.
Thanks, hon.
Well, you're in luck, MacGyver.
My wife makes some of the best jailhouse cooking
you ever tried.
My thanks to your wife, sheriff,
but I'd just as soon get out of here.
Well, you come up with $1,000 bail, and you're free to go.
I spent all my cash getting my car fixed.
Well,
then you'll just have to wait till the judge gets back tomorrow morning.
It's only one night in jail, MacGyver.
Sheriff, the Rigels know that.
It means they've gotta make their final move on the Wileys tonight.
The Wileys are your friends.
Don't you care if they get ripped off?
Or worse.
I didn't see you standin' there, mister.
Can I help you?
Phil Sternwise, Vortex Vacuum.
Oh, I don't need one.
That's what they all say.
But I'm not here to make a sale.
I want to post bail for this man.
So don't you think it's about time
you told me who you are?
Phil Sternwise.
Vortex Vacuums. Yeah, I know.
But you're more involved here than you're lettin' on.
Who do you work for?
The government, police, military, what?
I'm a concerned bystander, like you.
The Wileys seem like good people.
They almost bought a vacuum cleaner from me once.
Yeah, but,
how do you manage to keep showin' up
the way...
I mean, it's weird, you got to admit it here.
A good salesman always manages to be where he's needed the most.
What do you think you're doing, boy?
Hey, what are you doing?
Let me go!
What'll we do with him?
Lock him in the trailer.
We'll keep him out of the way until we've got the money.
Leave me alone! Let me go!
I warned you about trespassing, mister.
Now you're on my land.
I'm within my rights to blow you away.
Mr. Wiley, please, you've got to listen to me.
The Rigels are con artists.
Yeah, they warned me you'd try to ruin everything.
I know how they created that UFO we saw last night.
It's nothing but a bunch of gas and electricity,
I can show you how they did it.
Come on, give me a chance.
Okay, mister, let's see what you got.
Well, go on, show me, and be quick about it.
No!
You've got nothing to show us.
What are you doing out of bed?
Tommy's not in his room. I can't find him anywhere.
What have you done with our boy?
I haven't seen him.
I don't believe you.
You're trying to keep him from us so that we can't take the trip.
There isn't going to be a trip, Mrs. Wiley.
The Rigels made the whole thing up.
You're a disbeliever.
There is no flying saucer.
No paradise on some distant planet.
Mrs. Wiley, you've got to believe that all that we get
is right here, right now.
We are God-fearing people, Mr. MacGyver.
But what have we got?
A farm that we can't afford to keep,
bills we can't pay,
the bank and the government on our backs.
Doctors' bills, hospitals...
I know that God never meant us to live like this.
There has to be a better place.
A place where bad things don't happen to good people.
We're going to find it.
Don't try to stop us.
You heard my wife.
And don't come back.
Oh!
What are you doing here?
I thought you might need a hand.
- Oh, man. - What is all this?
It's a little demonstration for the Wileys.
I hope you're not too late.
Come on.
Evenin', folks. Come on in.
Give me a hand here.
Straighten that out. Watch your hands.
Well, folks, are you ready for the journey?
Tommy's gone missing. We can't go without him.
The boy is safe in our trailer.
You found him? Thank God!
He's a little hysterical about the trip.
I think it would be better to leave him alone until you're ready to go.
Is that so?
Do you have the money?
I'll give it to you just as soon as we're all on the ship.
That's not how it's done, John.
You see, you must prove that you're willing to commit totally,
before they'll allow you aboard.
Payment before delivery, is that it?
You must understand...
I think I'm just starting to.
Like maybe you folks don't really expect to deliver after all.
John,
this kind of mistrust can destroy everything you worked for.
Don't lose faith now.
I'd rather lose my faith
than our life savings to a couple of shine artists.
Is that what you think we are?
You let our boy out of that big tin can right now
before I get the sheriff to arrest you for kidnappin'.
I don't think so.
Now give us the money!
You can't do this. We trusted you!
Put a lid on it, lady.
Well, John,
are you ready to divest yourself?
Stay put. I'll untie the kid.
It looks as if the Rigels have shown their true colors.
Shall we rush them?
No, there's no telling what they'll do with that gun.
I got another idea.
Ah, a salt lick.
You're turning your demonstration into a distraction, I see.
Sodium chloride is perfect,
in case there's not enough fertilizer in the cow pen to produce gas.
Hmm.
Right.
Why don't you do the same?
Yes.
No! Let me go!
You see? They're crooks, just like MacGyver said.
Oh, John, I've been a fool.
Get the flamethrower.
There's gonna be a terrible accident.
Go on! Move it!
Let's do it.
Come on! This way.
Look. There.
You get that one.
Nice to see you, MacGyver.
Stop!
MacGyver!
How'd you guys get out of the barn?
Well, the door was open all of a sudden, and the fire was gone.
Didn't you unlock the door?
No, uh...
Must have been Phil.
Who?
Phil.
The little guy?
The vacuum cleaner salesman, he was right...
He was here.
My deputy found a pile of forged IDs in their trailer.
It seems the Rigels had a dozen different aliases.
Even the FBI was looking for 'em.
MacGyver, we owe you a big thanks.
Without you, well...
Thank you for not giving up on us, Mr. MacGyver.
They're coming up with new treatments all the time, Mrs. Wiley.
Don't you give up on that, okay?
Oh, by the way, MacGyver, my deputy looked in at the motel
for that Phil Sternwise character, like you asked.
He checked out this afternoon.
I remember he came here just before the Rigels showed up.
Tried sellin' us a vacuum cleaner.
Mighty strange fella.
Yeah. Yeah.
You gotta see what's outside!
Come on!
Hurry up, you guys!
Look!
Lord, not again.
Wow!
More of that electro-plasm?
No.
That one's movin'.
Yeah, and there are no hydro lines out there, either.
Well, then, what could it be?
You gotta wonder.