Them! Page #4

You found no winged ants?

We saw only worker ants.

l don't get it.

You act like it was the end of the world.

lt could be.

These two empty egg cases

contained queen ants.

Newborn queen ants have wings,

so have their consorts, male ants.

-You found no ants with wings?

-Not a one.

The fact is we didn't destroy

this first nest soon enough!

Two young queen ants hatched out,

dried their wings and flew away.. .

...each with one or more winged males.

They've gone on their wedding flight.

We needn't worry about the males.

They'll die very quickly, but the queens--

Doctor, are you telling us

there'll be other nests?

A single queen can lay thousands of eggs.

From these will hatch dozens

of other queens, who may in turn.. ..

How far can they fly?

These giants? l don't know.

Ordinary queens of the smaller species

have very limited flying powers.

They're dependent mostly on winds

and thermal currents to carry them along.

They have been found in the stratosphere.

But these giants.. ..

l don't know, you guess.

l thought today was the end of them.

No.

We haven't seen the end of them.

We've only had a view of the beginning

of what may be the end of us.

We'd better inform Washington, General.

Sergeant Peterson.

-Sir?

-What about your superiors?

Do they know these creatures

are causing the crimes in your desert?

No, sir, they don't.

Gen. O'Brien and Dr. Medford felt

that absolute secrecy.. .

...about the existence of the big ants

was essential.

Do you also think

this extraordinary hush-hush is necessary?

Yes. l don't think there's a police force

anywhere that could handle the panic.. .

...if the people found out

these babies were loose.

Gentlemen, l believe we are ready.

Some of you have displayed incredulous

attitudes towards our reports and photos.

The rest of you are trying to understand

the gravity of our situation.. .

...but repeatedly ask

how really serious it is.

For your edification,

l have prepared a short film.. .

...which l hope will give you some idea

of the nature of the creatures we face.

ln a small way, of course.

Robert, please turn out the lights.

These ants and related species

are common to most of America.

ln fact, you can find them in backyards,

empty lots, and fields.. .

...throughout the temperate zones

of the world.

They haven't changed in form or habits.. .

...for more than 50 million years.

Here, for instance, is one such specimen.. .

...that got himself trapped in amber,

which we know is at least that old.

Now we come

to some different kind of ants.

The big fellow there,

feeding on the smaller, red grease-eaters.. .

...is of a savage species called

Camponotus vicinus Mayr.

He's of a desert variety.

Very similar to the giant mutations

we found in New Mexico.

There is a side view of a small nest.

Those white objects are ant eggs.

Ants don't see well at all.

They hear, smell and locate objects

with their radar-like antennae.

Only after food or an enemy is located

with the antennae.. .

...are the savage mandibles put to work.

Now, gentlemen,

watch this demonstration of power.

A pebble has blocked

the entrance to the nest.

That creature is determined to remove

the obstacle.

Note how the mandibles are used

to grasp the pebble and pull it aside.. .

...with only a slight assist

from another ant.

There's the same pebble

on a laboratory scale.

Balancing it, is a dish containing 20 ants.

We've learned that one of these

quarter-inch long insects can lift.. .

...20 times its own weight.

That's equal to one of you

lifting a ton and a half or more!

Here are rare shots of a newborn queen

and her consorts.

Technically, she should be referred to

as a princess, until after the mating flight.

Now there is a close shot

of a winged male.

Males are unequipped for survival

beyond the mating and die soon after.

The queen flies on, or more precisely,

is borne by the winds.. .

...until her need prompts her

to seek a place to lay eggs.

Does a queen ever fly away

from her nest once she's established it?

No, never. She loses her wings

after the wedding flight.

See? One has dropped off.

Now she starts her function

of establishing a place.. .

...in which to lay her eggs

and begin the nest.

Queens live quite a long time.

They continue to lay eggs.. .

...from the one mating.. .

...for from 15 to 1 7 years.

Here are ants at war.

As you can see, ants are savage,

ruthless and courageous fighters.

This fight lasted 72 hours

between those two alone.

Ants are the only creatures on Earth

other than man.. .

...who make war.

They campaign.

They are chronic aggressors.

They make slave laborers

of the captives they don't kill.

None of the ants previously seen by man

were more than an inch in length.

Most were considerably under that size.

But even the most minute of them

have an instinct and talent for industry.. .

...social organization and savagery.. .

...that makes man look feeble

by comparison.

How large were the ants you found?

The smallest measured nine feet

in body length.

That, gentlemen, is why you are here.

To consider this problem.

And l hope, solve it.

Because unless you solve it.. .

...unless these queens are located

and destroyed.. .

...before they've established

thriving colonies and can produce.. .

...heaven alone knows how

many more queen ants...

...man, as the dominant species

of life on Earth.. .

...will probably be extinct.. .

...within a year, Doc?

-How about some information, Senator?

-Sorry, boys, no comment.

There must be something you can tell us.

All the newswire services, AP, UP, lNS,

are in there, but nothing's coming out.

No newsmen are being allowed in there.

What was that mysterious

3:
00 a.m . meeting about?

Can't tell you a thing, boys, sorry.

There are about a million radio receivers

installed in there, too.

-What for?

-l don't know.

Texans. When bigger stories are told,

Texans will tell them.

Should fit in with the kind of stuff

they're looking for upstairs.

-Know what's going on in this building?

-No.

Real ''T.S ." stuff. Top Secret.

Okay, we'll meet you at the airport

in 20 minutes.

Says he can have us in Brownsville

in less than three hours.

Good luck, Bob.

They ain't kidding me. Nobody is.

Not you, not anybody.

This is no hospital. This is a loony bin.

A nuthouse.

Do you think l'm crazy?

l don' t care what you think. l'm not!

l saw those things with my own two eyes!

Do you think anybody could make it up?

l guy would have to be nuts.. ..

You're a flyer. You didn't get that yard

sitting on the ground.

You've seen guys blow their stacks.

Do you think l act and talk

like a guy whose lost his marbles?

Tell us what you saw, Mr. Crotty.

l've told those head-shrinking doctors

four dozen times! l'm sick of it.

l tell them and l get laughed at

and clucked over.

You promise not to laugh at me?

Promise.

Okay.

l was flying south from Corpus Christi,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes