Probe 7, Over and Out

One Colonel Cook, a traveler in space. He's landed on a remote planet several million miles from his point of departure. He can make an inventory of his plight by just one 360-degree movement of head and eyes. Colonel Cook has been set adrift in an ocean of space in a metal lifeboat that has been scorched and destroyed and will never fly again. He survived the crash but his ordeal is yet to begin. Now he must give battle to loneliness. Now Colonel Cook must meet the unknown. It's a small planet set deep in space. But for Colonel Cook, it's the Twilight Zone.

Astronaut Colonel Adam Cook (Richard Basehart) crash-lands on a strange planet with gravity and atmospheric conditions similar to those of his home world. Most of his equipment is destroyed in the crash and cannot be repaired due to a broken right arm and lack of resources. He contacts his home base, but they have little encouragement for him; there is no replacement spacecraft to rescue him, and his home planet may be at war in a matter of hours. They promise to send instructions on how to repair his ship.

From base, General Larrabee (Harold Gould) reports that the enemy attacked and destroyed their entire coast in 12 minutes, after which they retaliated. Those at base will have to move soon, meaning Cook will not have anyone to contact.

Cook leaves his ship at night and finds drawn patterns in the dirt. While looking for the source, he is hit by a rock from an unseen source, and knocked unconscious. During this time, General Larrabee sends his last transmission to Cook reporting that the radiation from the attacks will kill any remaining survivors, so Cook can expect no rescue.

Upon regaining consciousness, Cook returns to his ship and is startled by a noise coming from a closet. Cook leaves the ship as a gesture showing that he means the alien no harm. A human-like female (Antoinette Bower) emerges from his ship. Not knowing each other's languages, they communicate through sketches in the sand and pantomime. He learns that she is also stranded; her planet left its orbit and she is its sole survivor. Her name is Norda. As they ready to look for food, Cook picks up a stick, which Norda interprets as a threat. She scratches his face and runs.

Soon after, Norda returns and expresses remorse for her actions, which Cook happily forgives. They find a more fertile area, which Cook likens to a "garden." He fully introduces himself as "Adam Cook" and Norda gives her full name as "Eve Norda". Adam and Eve begin a new life on this planet she calls "Earth." At this point she offers him a "seppla" (an anagram of the word "apples", which are artistically depicted as the biblical forbidden fruit). As they venture further, Rod Serling narrates that he presumes the place they are heading to is Eden.

Do you know these people? Names familiar, are they? They lived a long time ago. Perhaps they're part fable, perhaps they're part fantasy. And perhaps the place they're walking to now is not really called 'Eden.' We offer it only as a presumption. This has been the Twilight Zone.

"Probe 7, Over and Out" was intended to air a week after the premiere of "Night Call," which was scheduled for Friday, November 22, 1963[1] — the previous episode, "Uncle Simon," having aired a week earlier on November 15. Hours before "Night Call" was to air though, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Thus it was rescheduled, as were all of the other network shows. As a result, "Probe 7, Over and Out" immediately follows "Uncle Simon" in original broadcast order. "Night Call" was eventually broadcast on February 7, 1964.

The radio adaptation of this episode starred Louis Gossett, Jr..

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0
• Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)

• "Probe 7, Over and Out" on IMDb
• "Probe 7, Over and Out" at TV.com