O.B.I.T. Overlord
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission.
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly, and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.
Foreword
Welcome to an enhanced and updated edition of my essay, O.B.I.T. Overlord, first published on January 17, 2021. Enjoy!
Executive Summary
Introduction: The Outer Limits is a black-and-white sci-fi TV show aired on ABC in the 1960s. It had 49 episodes in two seasons and focused on science fiction rather than fantasy. One of the most memorable episodes was The Zanti Misfits, which featured giant ants with human faces. It scared many viewers, including me and my grandmother. TV Guide ranked it as one of the best episodes ever.
Encore and More: This section compares the 1995 revival of The Outer Limits with other TV series remakes. Some of the monsters and effects from The Outer Limits were reused in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Outer Bank Individuated Teletracer: The episode O.B.I.T. features a device that can spy on anyone by tuning into their wavelengths. The device is controlled by an alien who plans to use it to subvert and invade humanity. Here, we can envision how the episode’s plot links to the current political situation.
O.B.I.T. Becomes Reality: The creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 impacted the privacy and security of the citizens. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and its director, John Poindexter, worked to develop a massive database and analysis system called Total Information Awareness (TIA). That program would collect and monitor various types of personal data. This section also features the logo and motto of TIA, which were later removed due to public criticism.
Back to the Future: In recent years, U.S. military and intelligence agencies have been purchasing location data from the tech company Babel Street, using a product called Locate X. This program allows the overlords to track the movements of devices with the app by drawing geofences around specific areas. This section also mentions government targeting of individuals based on their beliefs and activities, alluding to events related to the January 6th incident in Washington, D.C.
Introduction
The original The Outer Limits is a classic black-and-white science fiction TV series broadcast on ABC. It appeared at the 7:30 PM primetime slot; the first episode aired on September 16, 1963. The first season included 32 episodes, and the second season started on September 19, 1964, and encompassed 17 segments. The Twilight Zone is different from The Outer Limits. The Twilight Zone focused on fantasy and supernatural themes. The Outer Limits captivated its audience with science fiction.
To this day, your author has a vivid memory of the episode called The Zanti Misfits. On a cold December 30, 1963, my grandmother and I sat on the sofa to watch The Outer Limits in the “TV den.” As a nifty historical reference, Grandma (aka Mom-Mom) called the couch a “Davenport.” Watching the Zanti, we twitched about at the sight of the enormous ant-like creatures with human-like faces. It was tough that night to turn off the lights and go to bed. TV Guide ranked The Zanti Misfits as No. 98 on their Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.”
Encore and More
The Outer Limits had a revival in 1995 until its cancellation in 2002, and like most other TV series remakes, this revival never caught my fancy. My one exception to otherwise not-so-hot sequels is Star Trek: The Next Generation. There, Captain Picard showcased a great revival (IMHO). Speaking of Star Trek, some of The Outer Limits monsters (called “Bears” by the producers) and effects reappeared in Star Trek The Original Series later in the 1960s:
The moving microbe beast in The Probe found its way into the Star Trek episode “Horta” in The Devil in the Dark. Operated by Janos Prohaska in The Probe, he makes another appearance in The Outer Limits segment, The Architects Of Fear. He wore and manipulated the bulky and frightening costume that portrayed the re-engineered monster-like body of Robert Culp (great actor!) in The Architects Of Fear (see Fred’s essay). This episode is analogous to the media today regarding Covid-19-84!
The “ion storm” (a container with glitter in liquid suspension and a projector beam) in The Mutant became the transporter effect in Star Trek.
The Duplicate Man had a black mask that later found its way to use by the character Dr. Leighton in Stark Trek’s episode The Conscience of the King.
An Empyrean from Second Chance and the Megasoid from The Duplicate Man appeared in the Star Trek pilot The Cage.
Added episodes (and main actors) of The Outer Limits that your author has fond memories that include:
Please Stand By (the Pilot), aka The Galaxy Being, Cliff Robertson. Okay, non-WOKE folk, shall we start our radio station with high power to teleport an alien to Wokeland to give us a helping hand?
The Man With The Power, Donald Pleasance. As one of my favorite actors, Mr. Pleasance appears in several of my favorite motion pictures, including The Great Escape, You Only Live Twice (James Bond), and Escape From New York. The Man With The Power reminds me of the mind explosion when figuring out Wokeland.
A Feasibility Study, Sam Wanamaker. The plot seems to mirror our Coronadoom overlords.
The Sixth Finger, David McCallum. A preview of the post-modern man!
The Man Who Was Never Born, Martin Landau. The poor man is treated like a conservative (non-woke) in Wokeland.
Nightmare, Martin Sheen. Just like the Gastly Gaslighting of today.
Corpus Earthling, Robert Culp. The mind-body invading rock-like creatures in this episode are debased and woke-like.
It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork, Scott Marlowe. The crap projected by the TV by the alphabet broadcasters.
The Mice, Henry Silva. Woke-like creatures that consume resources!
The Children Of Spider County, Lee Kinsolving. Maybe these are the extraterrestrial aliens Qanon talks about!
The Mutant, Larry Pennell. The mind-reading capability of the fried egg eye man perhaps is a citizen of the post-woke world.
Second Chance, Don Gordon. A pretend spaceship is real (maybe this is the Qanon vehicle to the stars).
Fun And Games, Nick Adams and Laura Hanley. The Illuminati doing their thing.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart, William Shatner. A visit to Venus and a return to not love but woke-like horrors.
Soldier, Michael Ansara. The woke fighters with the hope that they could be changed.
The Invisible Enemy, Adam West. The invisible Coronavirus killing vs. the visible means to abortion.
Behold, Eck!, Peter Lind Hayes. A two-dimensional creature, like the woke, who lacks a dimension.
Keeper of the Purpure Twiglet, Warren Stephens, and Robert Webber. Fred Smith’s all-time favorite. The alien monsters look like ANTIFA fighters (but much smarter).
Cry Of Silence, Eddie Albert and Karen Thome. They are the ultimate woke monsters lurking about in the landscape.
I Robot, Howard Da Silva, and Leonard Nimoy. Maybe the robots that will feed us in Newtopia.
Outer Bank Individuated Teletracer
Opening narration:
In this room, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, security personnel at the Defense Department’s Cypress Hills Research Center keep constant watch on its scientists through O.B.I.T., a mysterious electronic device whose very existence was carefully kept from the public at large. And so it would have remained but for the facts you are about to witness…
The episode O.B.I.T. from The Outer Limits aired on November 4, 1963. It reminds us of current events. The episode is about a secret machine called the “Outer Bank Individuated Teletracer” at the fictitious Cypress Hills Research Center. The O.B.I.T. machine monitored the scientists at the center. This device picked up different wavelengths from the human body and displayed them on a TV-like device. Click here for the full episode.
An O.B.I.T. operator could see and hear a specific person far away by knowing a person’s wavelength or location. After claiming to see a monster on the O.B.I.T., they sent the director of the center to a mental institution. The mysterious machine took the life of one of the scientists who had labeled the director as crazy. As a result of the scientist’s death and letters written by the center’s employees to a U.S. senator, a formal investigation occurred. The center director did indeed see a monster — the scientist in charge of the O.B.I.T.
During the senator’s hearing, the climax happens when the inquiry panel tells the (unknown) alien to use the O.B.I.T. machine. This causes the scientist’s alien form to appear on the screen. With the alien’s identity now known to all the participants at the hearing, “it” proclaims that there are many O.B.I.T. machines worldwide. That enables widespread spying of the people, thereby conquering the human race “without a shot fired.” After that, the aliens would inhabit the earth. In the end, the alien sheds its human appearance and then disappears. What a plot! It seems like the caustic-woke-marxist program of today.
The Alien Monster says: The machines are everywhere! Oh, you’ll find them all; you’re a zealous people. And you’ll make a great show out of smashing a few of them, but for every one you destroy, hundreds of others will be built, and they’ll demoralize you, break your spirit, create such rifts and tensions in your society that no one will be able to repair them! You’re a savage, despairing planet. And when we come here to live, you friendless, demoralized flotsam will fall without even a single shot being fired. You’re all of the same dark persuasion. You demand, insist on knowing every private thought and hunger in everyone - your families, your neighbors, everyone but yourselves!
While the internet holds a decent amount of information about The Outer Limits, the book The Outer Limits, The Official Companion is a beautiful compendium. My copy was an invaluable resource to help write this essay. Today, an original paper copy sells for $169.00! The initial $12.25 price sticker is still on my printed copy from 1986.
O.B.I.T. Becomes Reality
Fast forward from the 1960s to 2003. We are familiar with the 2003 “Homeland Security” bill. It formed the United States Department of Homeland Security, a large federal agency. Indeed, we all feel much better as the government did a “splendid” job protecting all the cities from the ANTIFA/BLM cauldron. Secular Saint Floyd “marches” remained “mostly peaceful.” But arsonists burned many businesses, and perpetrators caused “fatalities.” The right-wingers supposedly did that.
The Homeland Security bill let the Department of Defense (DOD) pay for “better” security technology. The DOD uses modern technologies to watch citizens, such as analyzing phone calls, emails, and credit card purchases. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), led by John Poindexter, would have done this research. You might remember that Poindexter was a Navy Admiral and National Security Adviser. They blamed him for the Iran-Contra affair. DARPA wanted to create a Total Information Awareness (TIA) office.
Initially, the TIA’s logo (and motto — knowledge is power) was on the office’s website. A visit to the site in 2003 displayed the logo, as shown above. However, due to exposure by the alternate media, like a hot potato, the TIA dropped the emblem.
The TIA super database would hold information about our travel patterns, websites visited, banking records, credit card receipts, and much more. The above aside, should the government work to protect the citizens? Certainly. However, the more power in the hands of a few, or worse, a “one-party” system, the more likely abuse will occur. Just look up all the dirt found by Edward Snowden.
The TIA ran under this title from February to May 2003. Based on the concept of predictive policing, TIA was meant to develop and analyze information about people to predict and prevent incidents. The program supposedly worked to hunt for terrorists around the globe. Admiral John Poindexter called it a “Manhattan Project for counter-terrorism.”
Congress stopped funding the project in September 2003. This led to the closure of the Pentagon’s Information Awareness Office. The office was responsible for developing TIA. Yet, this action does not mean that other government data-mining projects like TIA ended. It seems that initiatives like “Novel Intelligence from Massive Data” continue. That occurs within the Intelligence Advanced Research and Development Activity (IARDA). The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration are working together on data-mining projects. These projects combine commercial databases, public data sources, and intelligence data. They have also held meetings with TIA developers.
Does the TIA and its reconstituted efforts remind you of O.B.I.T.? It sure does to me, and thus the fear of this program for use in nefarious purposes. With the woke trifecta post St. Floyd, be careful. The Leviathan partners, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Amazon, do a splendid job for the alphabet agencies. The system tilts against those who believe in the written word of the Constitution. Sad to say, the entire system favors the WOKE agenda. Despite an oath of office, most do not give a damn or even have a clue about the Constitution. Of course, exceptions hide in the shadows (I know at least one). The Pavlovian puppets follow along like lemmings going off a cliff. All under the auspices of the above O.B.I.T. image: Total Information Awareness.
Back to the Future
In an O.B.I.T.-like program, in recent years, U.S. military and intelligence agencies have bought location data. This practice raises big worries about the privacy and rights of millions of Americans. Meanwile, southern border invaders get a pass. It also raises questions about the legality and oversight of this surveillance.
Babel Street has a product called Locate X.1 It lets customers (Leviathan) draw a “geofence” around an area. Then, they can see where devices with the app are moving. The company claims to have access to data from over 500 million devices worldwide and to be able to track them in near real-time. The sources of the data are not disclosed. Babel Street (great name) also has an app that tracks social media. It seems there is a built-in filter to mask the collectivists.
The U.S. government should change how it uses Locate X for a few reasons. One reason is that it allows them to get location data from cell phone providers without a warrant or court order. Let’s face it: even with a court order, we face a totalitarian entity. The courts lean against those who follow the Constitution.
First, Locate X and all the other nefarious programs violate Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights. Second, cogent-minded people expect privacy in their movements and activities. Third, innocent individuals face the risk that others may target them based on their location patterns. Fourth, it undermines the trust and security of app users, who may not be aware that their data is being sold and exploited by third parties.
Our government targets people who pray the Rosary using “intelligence” (gag me with a spoon) resources from the sloppy SLPC. Parents who try to expose the cartoon pornography “sex education” books at school board meetings also feel the heat. The machine lies and says these people could be right-wing domestic terrorists. It is an infantile infatuation. The alphabet agencies admit they don’t know how many real terrorists crossed the southern border. But we, the cogent-thinking people, know the reason. It is all about the resources consumed by going after parents speaking up at board meetings, etc. That is adding insult to injury (see bonus below).
The above is the tip of the iceberg. People who care about the country face targeting as “persons of interest.” Unfortunately, the Woke Cancel Commission will confront or impose even more severe consequences on people not of the Borg. Resistance is futile. That is, those who hold conservative and traditional beliefs get linked to the events in January 2021. Let’s hope you were not in D.C. visiting a museum on January 6 by use of your Bank America (O.B.I.T.) card for admission or to purchase a treat for your toddlers. If you care about the U.S. Constitution, you might face gaslighting or cancellation for visiting a website like this.
As we see from above, O.B.I.T. takes on many new forms today. Collectivists and their partners in crime, the nasty neo-cons, get high on the mere thought of it. It is all about fiat money, with the machine making all the money it wants to out of thin air. This flotsam creates and multiplies all the unconstitutional programs, killing our nation. Like the “Inflation Reduction Act.” That is nothing more than adding fuel to the fire of such “programs.” This crapola gets underway by the use of fiat money, and that is the cause of inflation. This aligns with using racism to battle racism. The concept of two wrongs does not make a right take on new meanings.
All these dopey doings are akin to teaching sex to first-grade students to mitigate pregnancy. Thus, the necessity to promote unnatural sex to thwart conception. Fake sex is like counterfeit money. The puffy perverts are in charge, with Pavlovian puppets licking the crumbs.
But wait, there is more. Not satisfied with uncoupling sex from procreation, it is time to monkey with the flesh. The inane rage of the day includes “gender affirmation.” Here, primary school children can choose from a laundry list of “genders” or a combination of fiat whatever without parental involvement. The machine steps in to perform medical procedures to consummate the secular neutering sacrament.
Considering the above, there may be something to the UFO thing, after all.
Closing narration:
Agents of the Justice Department are rounding up the machines now. But these machines, these inventions of another planet, have been cunningly conceived to prey on our most mortal weakness. In the last analysis, dear friends, whether O.B.I.T. lives up to its name or not will depend on you.
Bonus
Adding Insult to Injury
Don’t make things worse for someone you’ve already wronged. Don’t add more pain or trouble to someone already suffering from your actions. The origin of this expression can be traced back to a play called The Foundling (1748) by Edward Moore (1712-57), an English writer and dramatist. It was first recorded in the public domain in the United States in Naval Documents (1775). The phrase to make things worse is often used as a metaphor.
We now return control of your television set to you, until next week at this same time, when the Control Voice will take you to... The Outer Limits. 📕
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For obvious reasons, there is no mention of Locate X on Babel Street’s website.
I loved The Outer Limits, of course, it goes without saying I really liked Twilight Zone.
Your list of favorite actors sure brought back memories of a simpler time, when the "Hundred Year March" was only half completed. Oh the memories!
I was definitely more of a Twilight Zone watcher, because even at a young age, the Outer Limits terrified me because I could envision that as a future reality. As an aside, the best feature (looking back) of both those series (besides being prescient), is watching the early roles of some of my very favorite actors and actresses.