The episode is based on an actual incident where a company of soldiers from the US Army claimed to have had an encounter with a UFO in 1951 during the Korean War. In May of that year, an infantry rifle company was providing security for an artillery battery that was bombarding a village said to be occupied by enemy troops. Moments after the artillery barrage had begun, what was said to look like a "floating jack-o'-lantern" came flying down over the mountain towards the bombardment. It was even said to be able to dodge the artillery shells. The object moved closer to the American soldiers' area of operations (AO). It was at this time the soldiers received orders from their company commander to open fire on the object. The soldiers complied with their orders even with armored piercing rounds. It was believed by the soldiers that they were hitting the object because they could even hear the metallic noise of their rounds ricochet off of the orb. The soldiers also believed that they must have damaged the object in some way because after a while of shooting the craft, the light of the orange orb started flickering on and off and even moving side to side over the company's perimeter. Afterwards, the craft readjusted and made an unbearable sound that was described as "several diesel locomotive trains starting up at once." It then began to flash an orange ray of light all around the company's area of operations, giving soldiers the feel of radiation. The company commander then ordered the soldiers to take shelter in the dugouts in the AO. Once all the Americans had taken shelter, the object then flew away "lightning fast" at a 45 degree angle. Once the object was gone, the company commander organized a meeting with his soldiers to not mention a word about the incident, including not to document it in the company report. Three days later, the entire company fell ill, some of the men being too weak to walk. They ended up being medically evacuated out of the area, with the Army having to make a makeshift road in order to do so. The character of Corporal Wells (
Jonathan Whitesell) is based off of Corporal Francis P. Wall who came forward about the incident.