The Space Children

A seaside trailer park houses personnel working with the military to complete the Thunderer, a rocket that will place an atomic device in permanent Earth orbit. The Thunderer will allow the United States to rapidly strike at any enemy nation. Seven children who live there meet on the beach and become friends. While playing together, they observe a beam of light shining down onto the beach. A small, glowing object floats down amid the beam and disappears among the rocks. One of the kids, Bud Brewster, seems to start listening to a voice only he can hear. That evening, after a community cookout, the kids head back to the beach and encounter a small alien life form, resting. The alien telepathically assigns them a secret mission, and Bud will be their leader. He and his brother Ken return to their trailer and tell their parents about the alien. Their father Dave becomes angry, believing they are lying to excuse the fact that they stayed out late and worried their parents. However, when Dave grabs Bud, his arm is paralyzed. The kids are under the alien's protection. Confused, Dave accompanies six of the kids back to the alien's hideout. The seventh, Tim, is accosted by his drunken stepfather Joe. Tim breaks away and runs after the group, but Joe chases him, shouting violent threats. Joe catches up with Tim, throws him to the ground, picks up a piece of driftwood and raises it to strike him. In its hiding place, the alien blazes with light, and Joe is thrown backwards. Terrified, Joe flees. Tim joins the other children and Dave as they arrive at the alien's lair. After silently conveying its instructions to Bud, the alien is carried back to the trailer by Dave. There, Bud says the alien must be kept safe until the following evening but does not explain why. His mother Anne is frightened for the family's safety. When Tim returns to the trailers, he finds Joe's body as an ambulance arrives. The alien killed Joe because he threatened Tim's life. The next morning, the Brewsters discover that the alien has doubled in size. Its purpose is connected to the launch of the Thunderer, which will happen that night. Bud and Ken carry the alien out and take it to a cave along the beach. Dave hurries to the base to warn the authorities about the possible threat from the alien. When he meets with Dr. Wahrman and Colonel Manley, Dave's voice is paralyzed, and he passes out after trying to write a message. During the next hours, the children perform tasks about the base while the alien mentally controls various people and objects such as sentries and locked gates to ensure that the mission is carried out. In the infirmary, a fully recovered Dave tells Wahrman about the alien. Wahrman realizes that he, too, will be prevented from speaking to others about the alien, so the two men drive out to its cave. The alien has grown even larger. Wahrman asks the alien about its intentions, but it remains silent. The men give up and rush back to the base just as the Thunderer is about to be launched, realizing the alien will stop them from trying to interfere. When the launch button is pressed, an explosion within the nose cone destroys the nuclear warhead, rendering the Thunderer useless. The children have succeeded in their sabotage. Wahrman orders the soldiers to follow him back to the cave, where they confront the children, who are blocking the entrance together. The alien glides out of the cave and ascends on another beam of light. Wahrman asks Bud why the Thunderer was destroyed. Bud says his group did what other children have done in several other countries; they sabotaged rockets that would have carried nuclear devices into space, making humankind's self-destruction easy if such weapons were ever used. The aliens were concerned about humankind's welfare and relied on teams of loyal children all over the world to prevent humankind from making a terrible mistake. ==Cast==