- Captain Michael Quinn: Our nation is suffering from a form of hysteria, right now, one we can't afford - not with Russia breathing down our necks and a nuclear arms race on the brink of disaster. When people panic, communication channels jam, police can't do their jobs, and the border patrol literally chases the moon. How would you like to help the U.S. Air Force instill rational scientific thinking back into our public consciousness again?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Um, how?
- Captain Michael Quinn: For starters, come with me to Fargo. Pilot there by the name of Henry Fuller claims to have gotten into a dogfight with an alien spacecraft.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: You want me to investigate flying saucers?
- Captain Michael Quinn: I want you to help me prove to the public the truth - they don't exist.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Captain, I already have a full-time job, and a grant I'm applying for with people who are depending on me. Thank you for the offer, but this is really not my field.
- Captain Michael Quinn: Thought you were smarter than that. "Genius" is what I was told. In my experience, that doesn't always mean intelligent.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: What are you trying to say, Captain?
- Captain Michael Quinn: I'm trying to say I think you're missing out on a great opportunity.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: I just told you this wasn't my field.
- Captain Michael Quinn: You think I started out here? I was a pilot in the Air Force, 10 years. Flew countless missions during the War - that was my field. Never imagined I'd be doing this. But you know why I did it? Because this is a chance to show the world the truth. Kind of like Newton knew that did when he proved the world was round.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Pythagoras.
- Captain Michael Quinn: Come again?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Pythagoras was the first to suggest the world was round. Newton is better known for discovering the law of gravity. But you knew that already, didn't you? You are good at this - persuasion.
- Captain Michael Quinn: I studied a little psychology. It's how I got the job. I know people.
- Joel Hynek: What's going on? Why are you packing?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: I have to leave town for a few days. For a new job.
- Joel Hynek: What is it?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Well, um... You know how Flash Gordon is always fighting these evil spacemen in your comics? Well, it's going to be something a little bit like that.
- Joel Hynek: That sounds silly.
- Captain Michael Quinn: Crazy about that saucer, eh?
- Cashier: Whole town's on edge about it. Everyone that comes in here, that's all they want to talk about.
- Captain Michael Quinn: Well, you can tell them it was just a weather balloon. No aliens in Fargo right now.
- Cashier: Yeah, that we know of.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Did you just put on that song?
- Captain Michael Quinn: Yeah, why?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: In your notes, Fuller said the song - that song - told him that he was in danger. And you just put it on.
- Captain Michael Quinn: I don't know what you're getting at there, but song, no song - it was a weather balloon.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: But on paper...
- Captain Michael Quinn: On paper is not the same as being up in a fighter plane at 5,000 feet in the air traveling 200 miles an hour.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: I'm just trying to find a reasonable explanation for the evidence we have.
- Captain Michael Quinn: You have a reasonable explanation. Me.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Well, take me up and prove me wrong. You show me what a weather balloon looks like at 5,000 feet and I'll agree with you to write the report. But until then, the math says otherwise.
- Captain Michael Quinn: You want to play chicken at three g's just to prove a point? All right. I'll take you on a ride. Show what those numbers really mean.
- Captain Michael Quinn: This is Fuller's account of the incident. Read it aloud once we're up there. Maybe we can recreate his exactly maneuvers.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: I've already read this file and memorized its contents.
- Captain Michael Quinn: You sure you're not the alien?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: [humoring] Well, maybe I am.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Hey, Captain.
- Captain Michael Quinn: Yeah?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: With the time you've logged in the air, you've never once come across something you can't explain?
- Captain Michael Quinn: There's a lot of guys I know who claim they've seen lights. "Foo Fighters", they called them when were over there. Me personally? No. Nothing.
- [they see the ball of light]
- Captain Michael Quinn: All right. There it is. You ready with Fuller's flight sequence?
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: I'm ready.
- Captain Michael Quinn: From the top.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: After he saw the ball of light, he did a 4 g dive to get under it.
- Captain Michael Quinn: 4 g's? Better hold onto your lunch.
- Captain Michael Quinn: General, no one mentioned you were coming.
- General James Harding: Well, I certainly wasn't planning on it. Until they told me that you crashed a plane. Where's the professor?
- Captain Michael Quinn: Sorry, if - if I may? First? That plane had a faulty service record that no one told me about...
- General James Harding: Oh, shut up. What the hell were you doing up there in the first place?
- Captain Michael Quinn: Testing a theory.
- General James Harding: What? That the Air Force doesn't know what it's doing? Need I remind you of our purpose here? The first thing I told you in our meeting?
- Captain Michael Quinn: Flying saucers don't exist.
- General James Harding: That's right. This professor, is he bossing you around or something?
- Captain Michael Quinn: No, sir.
- General James Harding: Well, then, stop indulging his bullshit.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: The study of the flying saucers has never been done before.
- Mimi Hynek: Because they're not real.
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Yes, but that's never been proven.