comes to life, twitching convulsively and creeps upstairs into Mrs. Hotchkiss' bed. In a suspenseful terror-fraught scene, the menacing arm finds its first victim! The struggle awakens Paul, who finds her body. Alone in the house, he immediately calls the sheriff (Alan Hale). Suspicious of Paul, the sheriff sends fingerprints to headquarters for identification. Paul frantically tries to find the arm. While searching, the crawling hand attacks him viciously, choking him into unconsciousness. Aroused by the siren of the ambulance, the arm slinks out of sight. Paul is taken away with the victim. Regaining consciousness, he finds himself next to the wide-eyed corpse and escapes.

In Washington, D.C., Steve and Doe hit upon a theory that rockets contain not only human life, but the elements needed for a new being - a terrifying mixture of earth and the unknown - a life which could literally ooze into a human. They learn it was Lockhardt's fingerprints on the victim and they rush to Calif., knowing their theory has horrifying substance.

Paul begins to bear the effects of a terrifying transformation for he is evidently possessed by the weird spacelife. His moments of sanity grow shorter.

When the scientists arrive, he tries frantically to seek their aid, to reveal his secret, when suddenly he becomes possessed again - a white-faced, death-eyed creature, and he tries to kill them. They escape to alert the sheriff. Regaining partial normalcy, Paul rushes to Marta's, trying to explain. He becomes possessed by the demonic lust to kill and begins to strangle her. In a moment of lucidity, he wrenches away, leaps through the window, leaving her screaming hysterically.

Once home, he is confronted with the arm. He traps it in the car trunk and races off, pursued by the sheriff. The arm claws through the trunk as he pulls into an eerie car dump. A violent fight ensues. Using his last ounce of strength, Paul hurls the hand from his neck. It is pounced upon by a pack of starving, half-wild cats. They savagely tear and devour the bleeding flesh. Paul is rescued in time and assured by Doe and Steve that the menace will not possess or torment him again. Unknown to them, however, curious guards, accompanying a locked box to Washington open it to discover its secret which the end of the movie reveals.