The Cyclopean Aliens are a diminutive alien species who attempted to frighten humans with various tricks meant to fool the humans into thinking that the aliens were giants, serving as the antagonists of "The Fear", the 35th episode of Season 5 in The Twilight Zone, which aired in 1964. In reality, the cyclopean aliens are tiny, only about the size of a human thumb, and ironically appear frightened of beings larger than themselves, at least those who do not fall for their tricks. Physically, they are humanoids with no facial features aside from a large, unblinking eye, and yet are still able to speak with audible high-pitched voices.
Only two members of this species are seen on-screen, speaking to an unidentified leader. The actors for the cyclopean aliens are uncredited. Based on the ending narration, the cyclopean aliens are a way of illustrating how fear is relative, changing with perspective and situation.
History[]
In the 1960s, this species dispatched a ship carrying at least two crewmen to Earth, seeking to frighten humans into presumably surrendering the planet. The cyclopean aliens decided to test their scare tactics on two humans isolated in a cabin in the woods, consisting of a highway patrol officer named Robert Franklin and a magazine editor named Charlotte Scott. They had flown by the cabin the previous day, which had gotten Robert's attention, as he had gone to the cabin to investigate a report of the occurrence. The aliens began by flying by the cabin, creating bright flashes of light around it, creating strange craters in the ground, and then using magnets to move Robert's car to a ditch and turn it on its side, breaking its radio. After investigating the overturned car, Robert and Charlotte returned to the cabin to call for help, but the aliens cut the phone lines, and then move Robert's car back into an upright position, spray-painting giant fingerprints on it to give the illusion that a giant had moved it. With no choice, the humans nervously went to sleep.
The next morning, increasingly frightened, the humans searched the woods for the "giant", finding a giant footprint the aliens carved into the ground, prompting Charlotte to make a run for the nearest town, followed by Robert, who tried to tell her that running was no use from a giant enemy. The aliens then blocked Charlotte's path with a giant inflatable figure, modeled after themselves, making Charlotte scream and fall, allowing Robert to catch up with her. Confronted with the giant figure, Robert and Charlotte decided not to run from it, with Robert defiantly firing several rounds from his revolver at the alien.
The true size of the aliens
Of course, being nothing more than an inflatable, the figure deflated and fell on the humans, who quickly got themselves out, realizing it was all a trick, before noticing the actual alien craft grounded nearby, walking over to it and peering in, seeing the true size of the aliens. Seeing that the humans were no longer scared, the cyclopean aliens reported their failure to their leader, and begged their leader to leave Earth at once, before the humans could crush them. Getting their permission, the cyclopean aliens quickly took off.
