creative, peculiar, and intellectually stimulating concepts. Even if some of these may seem somewhat absurd and dated in hindsight, they certainly provide fascinating snippets of trivia regarding the sources of inspiration drawn by writers and creators during the earlier stages of television. The 15th episode of Season 2, “The Invaders,” exemplifies this.
Directed by Douglas Heyes and scripted by Richard Matheson (who also authored the episode that inspired a real-life airplane feature), the narrative revolves around a woman (portrayed by Agnes Moorehead) residing alone in a remote farmhouse devoid of modern conveniences, as she is confronted by unsettling, diminutive figures clad in peculiar, bulky spacesuits. While it is presumed they could be extraterrestrials, the conclusion of the episode reveals that they are, in fact, humans dispatched to another planet by the U.S. Air Force.
As noted by Heyes in Steven Jay Rubin’s 2017 non-fiction work, “The Twilight Zone Encyclopedia,” the rounded attire worn by the astronauts was inspired by the iconic Michelin Man mascot (via Syfy). “The entire concept was to create spacesuits that were grotesque enough to mask their humanity, yet still allow us to claim later, ‘Well, they were human.’ I had to design them so they appeared as if we didn’t recognize them as earthlings, so I proposed, ‘Let’s give them a shapeless kind of appearance.’ This led to the concept of the inflated spacesuit. The inspiration came from the little Michelin Tire Man.” At the conclusion of the episode, we discover that the earthmen encountered a woman who was a giant, indigenous to another planet.