ABC airs the seventh episode of Leslie Stevens’ anthology series The Outer Limits. Peter Breck and Jeff Corey star in a script by Meyer Dolinsky.
A murder at a top-secret Defense Department facility attracts the attention of Senator Orville, who arrives to personally conduct the investigation. During the course of his inquiry, Senator Orville learns of the highly classified O.B.I.T. (Outer Band Individuated Teletracer) surveillance device, which the facility’s personnel claim can observe any person, at any time, in any location within 500 miles; the device has been used to gather intelligence, but Senator Orville is worried that it may be finding another use as a means of determining the loyalty of those observed. The murder victim was operating O.B.I.T. at the time of his death. The Senator demands that all records related to O.B.I.T.’s origins be sent to him immediately, and wants to see Dr. Scott, one of the researchers on the O.B.I.T. project, but the officer in charge of the facility warns the Senator that carrying the investigation any further would work against the interests of national security. Senator Orville calls Dr. Scott in despite that warning, and learns that Scott knows that O.B.I.T. has another function – that of eliminating the people it observes. Scott is also aware of another deeply disturbing fact: there’s one person in the facility who can’t be seen by O.B.I.T. under normal circumstances – and that person has his own O.B.I.T. device.
written by Meyer Dolinsky
directed by Gerd Oswald
music by Dominic FrontiereCast: Peter Breck (Senator Orville), Jeff Corey (Byron Lomax), Joanne Gilbert (Barbara Scott), Alan Baxter (Colonel Grover), Harry Townes (Dr. Clifford Scott), Sam Reese (Clyde Wyatt), Konstantin Shayne (Professor), Jason Wingreen (O.B.I.T. Operator), Lindsay Workman (Dr. Anderson), Robert Beneveds (Armand Younger), William Douglas (O.B.I.T. Creature)
LogBook entry by Earl Green