Moonfall

BBC WORLDNET 11:55 P.M.

Dr. Alice Finizio at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Interviewed by Connie Hasting Finizio: (Finizio and Hasting stand in front of a map of the United States.) We're projecting ground zero right about here, Connie, near Interstate 35 in Chase County, roughly midway between Wichita and Topeka. (A circle appears in the center of the map, in Kansas. It expands until it touches Canada and Mexico, extending roughly from eastern Utah in the west to Columbus, Ohio.) This is the primary blast zone. We would expect very few survivors in this area. Hasting: (Breathless) It includes Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas… Finizio:… Minneapolis, Lansing, Fort Wayne. The entire heartland, I'm afraid. I wish we could be more optimistic. (A second, shaded circle rolls out from the first through large sections of Canada and Mexico, absorbing the entire United States, with the exceptions of Oregon, Washington and northern California in the west, and Florida and northern New England in the east.) This represents a heavy-to-mod-erate destruction zone. People living in this section, if they take precautions, should survive the immediate impact. Hasting: Immediate? Finizio: The long range prognosis is not good. The blast will throw up a cloud of dust that will spread around the globe. The skies will be dark for decades. It's going to get cold, and it's going to stay cold, Connie-(Picture flutters and vanishes. A BBC anchorwoman appears.) Anchor: We are having technical difficulties at the source. We'll return to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as soon as we are able. Meantime, we have a report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on how to prepare for the impact…