Slightly Foxed > An Index to Slightly Foxed > Kneale, Nigel

Kneale, Nigel

Browse articles

20260302140242 89

Terror from Outer Space

Alastair Glegg on Nigel Kneale The Quatermass Experiment

I was 6,500 feet above sea level in the mountains of Inyanga in what was then known as Southern Rhodesia, lying on my back on the grass and looking up at the stars. They were always unbelievably clear and bright up there, and the first rains of the season had rinsed the dust and the smoke of bush fires from the sky. As always the Southern Cross and Orion’s shimmering sword belt dominated the heavens, but tonight I was looking for something else – something no one had ever seen before. Eventually I saw it – a tiny speck of light, smaller than many of the stars, travelling across the midnight sky. It was October 1957, and the Russians had just successfully launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite.

Sign up to our e-newsletter

Sign up for dispatches about new issues, books and podcast episodes, highlights from the archive, events, special offers and giveaways.