Alien Nation

Rockne O'Bannon & James Cameron 1988

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094631/

In 1988, Earth makes the first contact with an alien civilization. In 1991, these aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after three years of quarantine.

		    ALIEN NATION


		Original Screenplay

			    by

		 Rockne S. O'Bannon


			 Rewrite

			    by

		   James Cameron


		    October 1987



FADE IN:

EXT.  MOJAVE DESERT - DAY (TELEVISION IMAGE)

A LONG LENS SHOT of a far distant metallic object hovering
just above the ground -- maybe two or three miles away.
The heat waves and the light refraction off the desert-
scape make the object undulate rhythmically, keeping its
true shape and appearance indistinct.

The VIDEO CAMERA recording this scene zooms back, then
pans over -- revealing a semicircle of US Army vehicles
and personnel.  Army Engineers with their tripod-mounted
scopes and binoculars are shoulder to shoulder with the
armed infantry.  Everyone stares off at the same point on
the horizon.  Waiting.

The VIDEO CAMERA movements are HANDHELD, unsteady, as it
moves through the line of Army personnel to reveal a
second, less organized semicircle of observers fifty yards
behind the Army.  LOCALS from nearby towns perch in truck
beds and on car roofs, Budweiser and Fritos at hand, eyes
glued to the distant object.

The VIDEO CAMERA image climbs up onto the roof of a parked
local TV van, finds the object again in the distance,
zooms in, and waits, like everyone else.

Abruptly the VIDEO IMAGE contracts, becoming a box
CHROMAKEYED behind CNN reporter DUNCAN CRAIS.

			CRAIS
	That was the scene in California's
	Mojave Desert three years ago today
	-- the historic fir