we have come to visit you in peace -- and with good will.
gort! deglet ovrosco!
it was a gift. for your president. with this he could have studied life on other planets.
just klaatu.
sit down, mr. harley.
about five months -- your months.
about 250 million of your miles.
from another planet. let's just say that we're neighbors.
i'm afraid, in the present situation you'll have to learn to think that way.
i mean the reasons for my coming here.
i'd be glad to. not now, of course -- with you alone.
this is not a personal matter, mr. harley. it concerns all the people on your planet.
i want to meet with representatives from all the nations of the earth.
i traveled 250 million miles. what about your united nations?
we've been monitoring your radio broadcasts for a good many years. that's how we learned your languages. lately, we've been getting your television also.
the first two years of television we were convinced that all you did was wrestle.
i am not concerned, mr. harley, with the internal affairs of your planet. i consider that to be your business -- not mine.
my mission here is not to solve your petty squabbles. it concerns the existence of every last creature who lives on earth.
i intend to explain. to all the nations -- simultaneously. how do we proceed, mr. harley?
then why not a meeting of all the chiefs of state?
i don't want to resort to threats, mr. harley. i simply tell you bluntly that the future of your planet is at stake.  i suggest you transmit that message to the nations of the earth.
apparently i'm not as cynical about earth's people as you are.
thank you.  have you any news?
it's not your government i'm thinking about. it's your world.
i will not speak to any one nation or group of nations. i don't intend to add my contribution to your childish jealousies and suspicions.
i can judge only by what i see.
i am impatient with stupidity. my people have learned to live without it.
before making any decisions, i think i should get out among your people -- become familiar with the basis for these strange, unreasoning attitudes.
my name is carpenter. i'm looking for a room.
no -- i'm afraid not.
how did you know?
perhaps before deciding on a course of action, you'd want to know more about the people here -- to orient yourself in a strange environment.
a person from another planet might disagree with you.
i must admit i'm a little confused.
i'd be glad to spend the day with him -- if you'd let me.
bobby and i had a fine time yesterday afternoon. we talked -- and listened to the radio. i thought today he might show me around the city.
suppose i ask bobby how he feels about it.
those are great words. he must have been a great man.
that's the kind of man i'd like to talk to.
bobby -- who's the greatest man in america today?
i was speaking of earth men. i meant the greatest philosopher -- the greatest thinker.
yes -- that would do nicely.
he lives here in washington, doesn't he?
where is that?
i shouldn't be at all surprised.
well -- atomic power, i would imagine.
no. it's for a lot of other things, too.
yes -- i think so.
maybe four thousand miles an hour. and outside the earth's atmosphere a good deal faster.
well -- there are several ways to reduce landing speed. you see, the velocity--
i don't know, bobby. i'm inclined to doubt it.
velocity is the time rate of change of position.
bobby -- i have an idea. let's go see professor barnhardt and find out how he talks.
wouldn't you like to meet him?
we can scare him more than he can scare us.
it's a problem in celestial mechanics.
he doesn't know the answer. and he'll never get it that way.
if he's that difficult to see, perhaps we ought to leave a calling card.
he'll catch on to it in no time now.
we came to see professor barnhardt.
you might keep this. i think the professor will want to get in touch with me.
i wouldn't erase that. the professor needs it very badly.
did all these people die in wars?
no -- i'm afraid not.
i'll tell you, bobby -- i've been away for a long time. very far away.
they have cemeteries. but not like this one.  you see, they don't have any wars.
what would you like to do this afternoon?
all right.
certainly. tell me, bobby -- do you have to have money to go there?
no -- i want to take you to the movies. do you think they'd accept these?
some places that's what people use for money. they're easy to carry -- and they don't wear out.
would you give me your two dollars for a couple of them?
why not, bobby?
yes. oh -- i suppose professor barnhardt's looking far me.
mrs. benson -- this is mr. brady.
we certainly did.
i enjoyed every minute of it.
we'll finish it tomorrow.  goodnight, bobby.
i was only trying to be helpful. he was having difficulty with a problem.
that's right.
in this case the secret wouldn't be worth much. he doesn't know the answer himself.
it's really quite simple.  the three- body problem, you know.
no -- i'm afraid not.
you don't.
they would have killed this man?
how long will that take?
it's very important, lieutenant, that i see professor barnhardt.
may i suggest that you call the professor?
sorry to trouble you, lieutenant.
it was a clumsy way to introduce myself -- but i understand you're a difficult man to see. i thought you'd have the solution by this time.
all you have to do now is substitute this expression-- --at this point.
almost negligible.  with variation of parameters, this is the answer.
i find it works well enough to get me from one planet to another. i understand you've called a meeting to study our space ship.
my name is klaatu. i spent two days at your walter reed hospital. room 309. my doctor's name was major white -- and i had a very attractive nurse called ruth, who's getting married next wednesday. if you are not interested -- or if you intend to turn me over to your army -- we needn't waste any more time.
you have faith, professor barnhardt
i would like to explain something of my mission here.
it was my intention to discuss this officially -- with all the nations of the earth -- but i was not allowed the opportunity. i have come to realize since that your mutual fears and suspicions are merely the normal reactions of a primitive society. we know from scientific observation that you have discovered a rudimentary kind of atomic energy. we also know that you are experimenting with rockets.
in the hands of a mature civilization, these would not be considered weapons of aggression. but in the hands of your people-- we've observed your aggressive tendencies, and we don't trust you with such power.
we want to be sure you don't make -- let us say -- an unfortunate mistake. we know the potentiality of these developments and we are disturbed to find them in the hands of children.  you see, we've had atomic energy for five thousand of your years. we discarded instruments like this many centuries ago. so long as you were limited to fighting among yourselves -- with your primitive tanks and planes -- we were unconcerned. but soon you will apply atomic energy to space ships -- and then you become a threat to the peace and security of other planets. that, of course, we cannot tolerate.
we had our atomic wars -- thousands of years ago. after that we fought with bows and arrows. then, slowly, we learned that fighting is no solution -- that aggression leads to chaos.
i came here to warn you that, by threatening danger, your planet faces danger -- very grave danger. i am prepared, however, to offer a solution.
what i have to say must be said to all concerned. it is too important to be entrusted to any individual.
i come to you as a last resort -- and i confess that my patience is wearing thin. must i take drastic action in order to get a hearing?
violent action -- since that seems to be the only thing you people understand. leveling the island of manhattan, perhaps -- or dropping the rock of gibraltar into the sea.
that's what i came to see you about.
i leave that in your hands.
no -- not at all.
my name is carpenter and i'm a very earthy character living in a respectable boarding house.
i'm sure i'll be quite safe until the meeting.
i'm afraid you have no alternative. in such, a case the planet earth would have to be-- --eliminated.
i assure you such power exists.
yes.
yes -- of course.
that can easily be arranged.
why don't you leave it to me? i'll think of something.
something dramatic -- but not destructive. it's quite an interesting problem. would day after tomorrow be all right? say about noon?
everyone seems so--
bobby's the only person i know who isn't -- jittery.
he's a fine boy, mrs. benson.
warm and friendly and intelligent-- you know -- he's the only real friend i've made since i've been here.
oh -- they just wanted to ask me a few questions. bobby and i tried to see professor barnhardt in the afternoon, but he wasn't in. apparently they thought i was looking for secrets of some kind.
excuse me. i was just going up to my room.
have a good time -- both of you.
all you have to remember is, first find the common denominator -- then subtract.
i'll say goodnight again.
goodnight, my dear.
bobby -- have you a flashlight?
why -- the light in my room went out. thank you, bobby. goodnight.
may i see you for a minute?
may i walk out with you?
i saw bobby this morning before he went to school--
i want to know what he told you last night.
did you believe what he told you? i have a reason for asking this -- a very important reason.
before i ask you to be honest with me, perhaps i should be completely honest with you--
what time is it?
we'll be stuck here for a little while -- about thirty minutes.
it won't work.
you see -- the electricity's been neutralized -- all over the world.
--i've already told you more than i told professor barnhardt, because my life, in a sense, is in your hands. i thought if you knew the facts you'd appreciate the importance of my not being -- apprehended, -- before the meeting tonight.
i can see no other hope for your planet. if the meeting should fail, then i'm afraid there is no hope.
it must be twelve-thirty.
back to the boardinghouse. i'll be safe there for the afternoon -- and i can keep an eye on bobby. he's the only other person who knows anything about--
who?
i'm sure barnhardt can arrange to hide me until the meeting.
at the ship.
i'm worried about gort. i'm afraid of what he might do -- if anything should happen to me.
there's no limit to what he could do. he could destroy the earth. if anything should happen to me, you must go to gort. you must give him this message: "klaatu barada nikto." please repeat that.
remember those words.
get that message to gort. right away--
hello.
i was.
no -- that is a power reserved to the almighty spirit.
this technique, in certain cases, can re-stimulate life for a limited period. it's a refinement of scientific principles known to your own people.
how long will i live? that no one can say.
gort and i will be leaving soon.
he'll have you -- and tom.
i'm sorry.
gort -- berengo.
i am leaving soon and you will forgive me if i speak bluntly. the universe grows smaller every day -- and the threat of aggression by any group -- anywhere -- can no longer be tolerated.
we of the other planets have long accepted this principle. we have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets -- and for the complete elimination of aggression. a sort of united nations on the planetary level.  the test of any such higher authority, of course, is the police force that supports it. for our policemen, we created a race of robots-- their function is to patrol the planets -- in space ships like this one -- and preserve the peace. in matters of aggression we have given them absolute power over us.
the result is that we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war -- free to pursue more profitable enterprises. we do not pretend to have achieved perfection -- but we do have a system -- and it works. i came here to give you the facts. it is no concern of ours how you run your own planet -- but if you threaten to extend your violence, this earth of yours will be reduced to a burned- out cinder.
your choice is simple. join us and live in peace. or pursue your present course -- and face obliteration. we will be waiting for your answer. decision rests with you.
gort -- veracto.