What happens
Pete, a teenage boy, wakes to a newspaper headline announcing that the world will end today. Through the morning he and his friends Paul and Howie move between ordinary chores and nervous talk about the approaching moment, while adults hold prayer meetings and a carnival stays open. As the time draws near, the boys gather with the town to watch the sky. This episode of X Minus One, broadcast by NBC on August 1, 1957 and adapted from a Galaxy Science Fiction story by F. L. Wallace, is told from Pete's point of view.
A small American town on a Saturday, with Pete's home, Grover's, the church, Main Street and the town square
Characters: Pete, Paul, Howie, Pete's mother, Judy Wegselberg
Listen for: The town's reaction as the appointed moment approaches, and the sudden flash across the sky
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.