This is a fantastic episode--5 stars. The most amazing thing about \"The Sighting\" is that it was decades before its time. Stories about UFOs, aliens and implants were decades away. And yet, this episode dealt with these fascinating subjects. The X-Files has nothing on Mystery Theater!

Um... decades away? This was 1974. There had been plenty of movies, books, radio dramas and tv shows dealing with UFOs and aliens since way before 1974.

J...not compared to today, man.

Agreed. Point well taken.

You need to read 1940s and 1950s pulps!

When a respectable couple believes they have seen a flying saucer, they agree to keep it quiet, though when she speaks with her neighbour wife, she learns that they saw it too. While she doesn’t let on, she talks more to her husband about it. He is adamant that nothing happened and goes about his business. A short time later she is befriended by an alien who enlists her cooperation eventually implanting a mind-control chip in her…What can save her, and the human race from certain obliteration? You have to love the voice of the alien.

I am teaching a course to a class of 7th graders--mostly a review course for academic classes. I played this episode for them and they--LOVED IT! I taught them what life was like before cell phones, internet, satallite television, on my i-5 powered, cordless laptop. Ironic.

Yes, this episode was similar to the X-Files where Scully got an implant at the base of her neck as well. However, this story was years before that plot was introduced to that show. There was also that worm they used in The Wrath of Kahn, which is similar. A good listen. I liked how she was the only one who believed about the aliens until her next door neighbor convinced her own husband and the main character's husband.

What an awful Alien voice. sounds like the alien has a speech problem & is a little slow. He sounds like he"s reading a book at 3rd grade level. This episode could have been better with better actors.who had a sense of fun & hum our about

I agree with Jason. Overall the episode was entertaining and fun. Extremely corny, but that is to be expected. If I didn't know this came out in 1974 I would of guessed twenty years earlier. They really do make it sound like old time radio. My biggest gripe was that damn alien. His voice we so bad. He sounded like a Robot with down syndrome; or a retarded child with a stutter. It isn't even so much the voice itself, but all the pauses. It really does sound like a monotone child who barely knows how to read. They could of done better with that

This is a pretty decent episode, but they lost me with that "love conquers all" bit. It's been done to death! An X-Files episode would never end like this. BTW, the 70's were full of talk about aliens and UFO's. There were a plethora of "actual" saucer photo's on TV. Remember Nimoy's show called "In Search of..."? The only reason there might be more now is because there's about a billion more channels now.

And another thing about the 70's - Erich von Daniken! Remember him? Chariots of Fire was all over the place! You couldn't get away from aliens. They were everywhere, abducting people and putting probes into them. I think even cornball shows like Mike Douglas had guests that claimed to have been abducted by aliens. The Sighting is very consistent with what was going on back in the mid-70's. Anyone who disagrees must be young and wasn't aware during that era.

I rate this episode ★★★☆☆ for AVERAGE. This Sci-fi-tale, written by Fielden Farrington, was good in the first half, but then it kind of went down in the second half. I enjoy the Fantasy-Mysteries that CBSRMT has created and this particular one is what I consider, so-so. In the beginning of it, it reminded me of Mulder & Scully from THE X-Files because one is a believer of the extraterrestrial and the other is a skeptic. As the story moved forward, it went in a different direction; no silly happy ending, nor a cautionary tale about the unknown. The Title of it was suitable; but they could’ve titled it as “The Proposition” because that’s what the Alien is offering to the humans. Or “Why Sarah Hughes?” because this character was the Chosen One to encounter the Alien face-to-face. Or even “A New Factor” because that will be the new aspect the Alien and his race would learn on their planet. The music was good; had a lot of themes to express suspicion and curiosity. The sound effects, however, needed more. ACT-1 had crickets, the flying saucer whooshing in the air, doors, cups clinking, newspapers, and the doorbell. ACT-2 had game cards, the light switch, car engine and parking, birds chirping, and Sarah’s body thud. All that ACT-3 had was the sound of picking up the telephone. Now, for our cast: Kim Hunter (as Sarah Hughes), Nat Polen (as David Hughes), Ralph Bell (as J.D. and Dr. Carter), Joe Silver (as Allen the Alien), Robert Dryden (as Harry Vincent and Dr. Froehling), and Joen Arliss (as Bea Vincent). Both Ralph Bell & Robert Dryden are always a delight to hear on the CBSRMT series. Nat Polen sounds like a young Norman Rose. Joen Arliss is likeable in this one. Joe Silver is good in Drama-Mysteries, but as the Alien, he sounded too robotic. As for Kim Hunter, she stole the show; terrifically talented from the same actress who played Zira from PLANET OF THE APES (1968). In our Host’s Prologue, E.G. Marshall invites us into “A journey into the bizarre, into the very, very strange” (nice intro). In ACT-1, he talks about UFO sightings and how people see them as. In ACT-2, after listening in to what our characters have dealt with, our Host points out that the man from outer space is real and not friendly. In ACT-3, he discusses the willingness of the open mind. In the end, the “new factor” is Love. In his Epilogue, it was nice to hear the Resolution of our main characters, but E.G. Marshall forgot to mention Joen Arliss’s name in the credits. Her name is written in the CBSRMT Episode Guide Book, but she wasn’t properly introduced in this. Her name is not even on the CBSRMT web page for this episode!?! You can hear Himan Brown’s voice in many episodes and he doesn’t get listed into the casting credits. They can leave Himan Brown out, but they left out Joen Arliss in this? Why, oh why? This is a mystery CBSRMT fans have to solve. If you like Fantasy Mysteries involving aliens & UFOs, check this one out. But if you want to listen to a BETTER Sci-Fi tale, I recommend #0790-A MESSAGE FROM SPACE. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0]

I liked this one but I must agree with Russell in an overall rating of so so. I liked the idea of love being a foreign concept to what is suppose to be an advanced people or beings! This logic or concept seems to be a part of many sci-fi stories with "aliens". They are always the advanced culture and many time they seemingly in that advancement have done away with love and those other human traits that get in the way of being "progressive". The story then reveals that those costs perhaps are indeed to high! I suppose the star trek series had a hint of the reverse - being that we were the advanced beings going to other primitive planets and beings etc... So the concept of the human condition is presented and love reigns supreme I suppose. Was is life without those things that make us human? I propose not much worth living.

It was a really good episode but I feel like it could have been so much more. It had a very abrupt stop at the end with just the reason of "love". I think that with another hour and if they lost the whole love bit it could have been a fantastic show.

"Mystery Theater's The Sighting was decades ahead of its time?" The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Earth Versus the Flying Saucers (1956). Forbidden Planet (1956). Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959). 2001 a Space Odyssey (1968). Invaders From Mars (1953). Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). On television, Lost in Space (1965). Star Trek (1966). The Invaders (1967). UFO (British Series 1970). Numerous Twilight Zone episodes including To Serve Man 1961) The Outer Limits (numerous invader episodes including The Galaxy Being and the Zanti misfits 1965). Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ( several alien episodes 1`965). Thunderbirds and Stingray (1965). J. Allen Hynek writes 'The UFO Experience, coining Close Encounters of the First, Second and Third Kind 1971).

"The willingness of the open mind to accept the new, and seemingly miraculous (at least as a hypothesis), has always faced opposition from the less flexible mind, which finds the status quo easier to live with."

This is the one episode that I have remembered all these years. It may be the first one i stumbled upon as a kid... and yes, I was actually one of those kids that snuck a radio into bed under the pillow and listened to this while going to sleep lol. Thanks for putting all of these in an easy to access site format!

It you just want corny and fun, this is it! Although Kim Hunter was excellent in this one as usual. It was great to listen to before bed. I truly enjoyed the commercials and the news and so glad they kept them in this. Until next time!

If you are like me and fall asleep listening to these episodes, I suggest skipping this one. Kim Hunter screaming “No! No! Stop!” is not an ideal way to be woken up.

Sounding like an 'radio version' from the FOX T.V. Series ' The X Files'. Enjoy it.