Sci-Fi Film Fiesta, The Swingin' 60s - Volume 7: They're Damned, Man....DAMNED! by Chris Christopoulos - HTML preview

Part 3:

“The extraordinary power these children and the sinister way

they use it.”

The unusual physical characteristics and attributes of the children of the “Time-out” period were not the only disturbing things to be noted. Incidents began to occur that seemed to suggest that these children could in some way affect the behaviour of those around them. For instance, there was a report of a mother plunging her hand in a pot of boiling water, burning it badly seemingly because she had forgotten to test her child's milk which was too hot for him.

After just a year Zellaby’s own son, David could spell out his name using blocks. He was even able to work out a Chinese box puzzle in no time at all. This test was repeated with other children of the same cohort and they too could open the device without hesitation, suggesting the existence of a group consciousness whereby when one child learns something the new information is instantly passed on to the rest of the group.

One of the blonde-haired children who was tested with the chinese-puzzle box had the devise snatched out of his hand by his older brother. That older brother is the man who is now well into his seventies that Denis told you about at the start of the program. A great deal of the information we have has come from him during two interviews. His name is Keith Harrington and he has been a patient at a psychiatric facility in another part of the United kingdom for most of the last six decades. He recalled those days with dread, particularly the incident when he snatched his little brother’s puzzle box. He remembers his brother's eyes being illuminated with a strange glow, and of himself drifting into a trance-like state and unaccountably feeling impelled to return the stolen puzzle-box. It seems that psychiatric treatment could not rid Keith of what must have seemed to others as mere delusions. Sadly, he is now in a nursing home and suffers from a terminal illness. Keith declined to appear on camera or have his voice recorded for this program.

In the second interview, Keith informed us that the “Time-out” children’s abilities to both read minds and control the actions of others began to manifest themselves in various ways and on other occasions. He remembers how they appeared to be inseparable and set themselves apart from the other children who often tried to taunt and bully them. The non-”Time-out” children of the village soon learned to desist from such behaviour though after a few demonstrations of the mystery children’s uncanny powers.

Image generated by Chatgpt So what have we learned about this most unusual group of children all of whom were apparently mysteriously conceived on the same day and all born at roughly the same time. If we are to believe the reports and the available evidence, they all;

➢ dressed impeccably and had perfect manners

➢ always walked about as a group

➢ communicated in an adult manner

➢ behaved maturely, far above their years

➢ displayed a lack conscience and emotions such as love

➢ were cold and impersonal in their dealings with others, even their parents

➢ possessed a telepathic bond with one another

➢ communicated with each other over great distances

➢ possessed a group mind allowing all to learn what one had learned

➢ engendered feelings of fear and unease in those around them.

Professor Gordon Zellaby was later summoned to London for a special conference to discuss the matter of the “Time-out” children.

At the London meeting the minutes reveal that other parts of the world had experienced the same phenomenon as Midwitch. “In Northern Australia 30 infants were born in one day, but apparently something went wrong. All the children died within 10 hours of birth.” In both Greenland and Mongolia, the children were killed at birth by frightened members of the community. However, in the former Soviet Union, one group of children were thriving and received “education on the highest level.” Were they being somehow conditioned to be weaponized and to provide the Soviets with a definite tangible and strategic advantage over their Western adversaries? Of partricular importance was the fact that “all these time-outs happened on the same day as the one at Midwich.”

This last point necessarily leads us to the HOW? and WHY? of the presence of these most unusual children. How on earth were they conceived and for what purpose? If we discount the occurrence of a mass biblical-style incidence of immaculate conception, then what are we left with?

At the London meeting it was suggested that “once in a great many thousand years, an abrupt jump may take place in animal or in vegetable life. A new variation suddenly occurs for no apparent reason.” However, this evolutionary mutation jump theory does not explain “why groups of people were cut off for several hours.”

Another possible explanation, more extra-terrestrial in nature, was proffered at the meeting involving energy impulses being directed towards the Earth from outer space.

Whether or not these children were a product of a natural process or of extra-terrestrial intelligent intervention, the question as to the kind of danger they posed had to be considered. At least one death, that of a child drowning in Midwich could be blamed on the “Time-out” children.

At the London meeting two opposing propositions were put forward as to how to proceed. One suggestion was that considering the risk of being destroyed, it was proposed that the children be shut away in prison for the safety of the wider community. The other as favoured by Zellaby was to grasp the opportunity to provide science with the chance to study the nature of their power and their “mass mind.” If humanity could control that, it could conceivably advance intelligence by a factor of 12 and “we could leap forward in science 100 years.”

A giant leap forward into the unknown of “an entirely new development” or to succumb to the “age-old fear of the unknown?” Could a compromise be found between the opposing courses of action? That is what Zellaby proposed: That the children be kept together at one location at Midwich's school. He would assume responsibility for running the project and continue studying them for a further 12 months while the government decided on the best course of action to take. Zellaby banked his hopes on the truth of his firm conviction that the children were not intrinsically evil or bad, but just needed to have a sense of morality instilled in them.