Higherfield came into the news with a bang.

A mysterious object resembling a moon-surveying spacecraft is discovered on High Moor; then the community is invaded by a struggling mass of sightseers, all dreaming of having their pictures beamed back to Mars, and willing, in their innocence, to pay for the privilege.

While the local farmer, John Holmann, on whose land the object landed, reaps in a harvest of banknotes, Inspector Young revels in the opportunity for subtle public management; Henry Brown, the photographer, is given a splendid chance of winning his way to Fleet Street and fame; and Green, wrenched from the protective red tape and anonymity of Whitehall, becomes quite a new man.

Was the spacecraft real? What was its purpose? Was it a hoax? These questions take on a more sinister significance when one of the students who discovered the object is adjudged temporarily insane. Riot and arson break out all over the country, and even respectable people are panicked into wild speculation and hysteria. The consequences not only endanger the peace of the nation; they almost threaten the equanimity of a usually unflappable Prime Minister.