Act I

Visit to a Small Planet opens with a view of television news commentator Roger Spelding's comfortably middle-class home near Manassas, Virginia. General Tom Powers, a friend of Roger's, is explaining to him that an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) has, for the last twelve hours, been spotted hovering over the Spelding's home. When Roger dismisses the idea, Powers convinces him to look outside which he does, seeing the craft. Roger, who was planning to announce to a television audience that UFOs do not exist, panics and asks Powers for permission to break the story. The general refuses, stating that this information is "classified."

Ellen, Roger's nineteen year-old daughter, then appears on the terrace with her boyfriend Conrad Mayberry, whom Roger dismisses as "the boy farmer." She and Conrad discuss their plans for the future; these plans are interrupted, however, when the UFO lands outside the house. The...