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Rod Serling's popular television series "The Twilight Zone" held viewers spellbound for many years (and still does so in reruns) by putting the episodes’ heroes in obviously danger- ous circumstances—a fatal accident, a terminal illness, a trap- ping in a time warp—from which they miraculously emerged unharmed because of some incredible twist of fate, in most instances, the miracle was the handiwork of a person, seem- ingly ordinary, who proved to have extraordinary powers— n "angel," if you wish. But the fascination for the viewer was the Twilight Zone; for when all was said and done, the episode's hero—and with him or her the viewer—was uncertain of what had happened. Was the danger only imagined? Was it all just a dream—and thus the "miracle" that resolved the inevitable ending no miracle at all; the "angel" no angel at all; the time warp not another dimension, for none of them had really taken place ... In some episodes, however, the hero's and viewer's puzzle- ment was given a final twist that made the program worthy of its name. At the very end, as hero and viewer are almost certain that it was all imagined, a dream, a passing trick of the subconscious mind, a tale that has no foothold in the real world—a physical object comes into play. Sometime during the episode the hero picked up, or rather was given, a small object that he absentmindedly put in his/her pocket, or a ring put on the finger, or a talisman worn as a necklace. As all 402 185 VISIONS FROM THE TWILIGHT ZONE