Dave Reed works the midnight shift in the Message Watch Office at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. On a lark, he and a coworker drive to Paw Paw, West Virginia, to investigate claims of strange, glowing objects in the sky. Reed and his coworker aren't the only ones interested in what's going on in Paw Paw. Lester Stone, a senior operations officer for a nameless, ultra-secret government project will be in Paw Paw on official project business-to do whatever it takes to diffuse the situation, and to make it look as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening in that little town.
When Dave returns home from Paw Paw, he discovers that the FBI is waiting to interrogate him. Falsely accused of espionage and with no clue about the whereabouts of his coworker, Dave submits to a lie detector test and "polygraphic hypnosis." His story is practically impossible for his interrogators to believe, but the sensors attached to Dave's head and torso indicate that he has to be telling the truth.
