NOTES FROM THE UFO CHRONOLGOY
I've placed this story after the end of the TV series since it
reveals there is a spaceport in London and at the time of the TV
episode "Close-Up", SHADO had to use an American NASA
rocket facility to launch its modified B142 space probe.
DIDJA KNOW?
This is a 6-page, self-contained story in
Countdown #55, March 4, 1972.
DIDJA NOTICE?
On page 1 of the story, a UFO touches down in the Surrey
countryside. Surrey is a county in southern England.
This story reveals the aliens seemingly have the
ability to place virtually any human under their control as
they do with the two ambulance drivers in apparently quick
order.
The moon ferry on the launchpad at the London spaceport
looks like a fairly standard rocket (similar to a Saturn V
launch vehicle). This may indicate it is a civilian or
standard government launch since SHADO is known to use the
so-called "lunar module" for their trips to the Moon, as
seen in various episodes.
It's not really explained at the end of the story, but
apparently the aliens chose to blow themselves up rather
than allow themselves to be captured by SHADO.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Why did the aliens need a human heart surgeon? It's been established since
"Identified" that they have superior organ transplant capability
already. This is similar to the aliens' attempt to kidnap a heart
specialist in
"The Alien Heart Attack".
Notice that the aliens also steal some supplies and/or equipment
from the hospital in addition to kidnapping Dr. Isaacs; perhaps the
natural human heart tends to run down in an abnormally short time in
an alien body and they hope to lengthen life by mastering mechanical
hearts instead.
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