 Adventures in time and space, transcribed in future, can you predict what will come in 100 years or in 10 or in the next minute? Can you see beyond the known dimensions of time and space into the unknown dimension X? Today we tell you a story of America's largest city, a story that began in the bustling city of the New York Metropolitan Bay. Sit in there, Sweeney. Sweeney, give me a rewrite quick. I'll take it. Okay, no. There's what? Listen Sweeney, get yourself to a Turkish bath. Sober up. Just a minute. Albert, what's up Pop? Call the Honda's detective precinct. Find out if anything's been reported missing. Like what? Like grand tombs. Okay Pop. All right Sweeney, now give it to me slow. This better not be a gag. Good Sweeney. Well Albert? I don't get it. They say that. That's grand tombs, God. Okay, call Composite. Call them to hold everything for an extra. They're out page one. Set going. Okay Sweeney now. The heck with the words, give me the garbage. What happened? Nobody knows. I'm going to Columbia University on the phone. Get a statement. Right. Research. Yes sir. Revenue encyclopedia. See if anything like this ever happened before. Hey Walden. Yeah Pop. Call the Army. Find out about secret weapons. All right. Hello Composite. This is Pop Atterby on the city desk. Start setting up an extra. I want to hit the street in 20 minutes. Second extra in an hour with pictures. Okay. What are you waiting for? Get them rolling. Yes sir. Pop. Mr. Calborn wants to see you. Toronto. Tell him I'm busy. Well he says to come now. Of all the flat headed publishers to saddle and use paper with. Okay. Sweeney calls, switch it to Colburn's office. Okay Pop. Listen Mr. Colburn, I'm very busy. Now there's an extra on the rollers. I know. I just called Composite and ordered them to stop it. To stop it. Atterby. You've been on the city desk of the Herald for 25 years now. Since when do you waste thousands of dollars on an April Fool issue? April Fool. Listen, Grant's too miss missing. Is that a story or am I dead from the neck up? Did you check it? Yes and Sweeney. How do you know it's true? Well if you... What do you mean spreading cold terror all over town? But Sweeney. The devil with Sweeney. How do you know it isn't just a hallucination? Mass hypnotism, something like that. What is? Atterby. If this is a farce, we'll be in Dutch but good. Civil suits, criminal action. We're the only paper in town on the streets with an extra. The other editors don't believe this story for one instance. This takes guts to run a paper. Well if that's what it takes, you've got too many. You took the authority for this without even trying to find me and get it okay. Your father-in-law knew a story has to run while it's hot. All right. You ran this while it was so hot, our first ten papers drove the city into a panic. How do we know this whole thing isn't a big thing? Hello. Now this is Corborne. Yes, he's here. It what? Oh well, that's fine. That's fine and dandy. You're fired. It's your star reporter, Mr. Sweeney. Formerly of the Herald. Formerly? That's a phone. Hello, Sweeney. Did you get the pictures? How are things up there? Pop, pop, pop. I need more witnesses. Pop. What? It's back. Fine, fine. What did you say? It's back. I'm sorry. You're sorry. All right, Golden Boy. Now give it to me slow. Make it sound intelligent. It just reappeared, that's all. What about the people who were inside? All back door. We got an extra on the streets with 28 type screaming that Grant's tomb has vanished and you calmly call me up to tell me that it's back. Pop, pop, pop. Sweeney. Do me a favor, will you? Yeah, what? Drop dead. Well, that'll be. Just rerun a retraction. Just doesn't make sense. 12 police cars sought. We've got statement from witnesses. I told you it was hysteria. Look at the man from Mars broadcast that Orson Welles did. A thousand people will swear they saw the monsters. Oh, I don't know. I'm all confused. Well, let's look at it this way, Abbey. Maybe you've had enough. No force. You've been on the city desk 25 years now. That makes you, uh, let me see, 55? 54. What are you driving at, Mr. Colby? I mean maybe you ought to retire. Retire? We need new people, new ideas. I'm thinking about it for some time now. With, uh, social security, you'd get... About 20 bucks. Fine. Now you'll listen. I brought this paper into the world and it's gonna take me out. I was on that city desk before you ever heard of a sticker type. Then you come along and marry a publisher's daughter. That's enough. I made a mistake, okay. Anybody can make a mistake. I still think there's something in this story. Sweeney's been around too long to blow one like this. Even when he's drunk, he's a better newspaper man than most... I'm sorry. Effective today, you're a relieved city editor. Sanford will take over. Sanford? Why is Greeners Christ? If you want to stay on in some minor jobs... Such as? Or how about science editor? Science editor. You could have the office right next to mine. It'll pay the rent. Oh, I don't know. I don't know what I'll do. I've been on the city desk so long. Maybe it's too much excitement for a man your age. Stop writing me off, will you? I'm sick. I'm 54. And a man at 54... Is no longer a boy. Oh, I don't know. Maybe I am losing a grip. Gotta go somewhere and think it over. All right, Adamine. Take your time. I'll be across the street at Burley's bar if you need me. I'll let you know before the bulldog hits the streets. Had enough, Pop? This is a solemn occasion, Burley. For the hemlock. What's the occasion, Pop? I am now a husband. No. Reduce. Millions. You, Pop? Never. Meet the new science editor of the Sunday supplement, me. Knows much about science. J.P. Morgan knows about sharecropping. What happened? Who did it? You familiar with a reporter named Aloysius John Sweeney? Huh? Former friend and drinking companion of mine? Sweeney got you busted? The same. Well, if that gentleman should ever buy some miss-forgotten chance, first he's headin' to this bar? Burley, my friend, I personally with these two bare hands. Pop, Pop, it's me. I shall control my homicidal instincts. Listen, Pop, I just came down from Riverside Drive. Burley's daring move, Sweeney. I brought a guy with me. It won't help, Sweeney. Pop, you don't understand. I found a little guy in a swallowtail coat who watched this whole thing happen. Pop. Burley! Burley! Quiet! Quiet, everybody! Quiet. Quiet. Well, yes. How do you do? Gentlemen, I can assure you my small stature belies the magnitude of my abilities. What did you bring him for, Sweeney? He's a genius, Pop, a full-time genius. You betrayed me once, Sweeney. Isn't that enough? Take your little man away and don't bother me. Your friend isn't very polite, Mr. Sweeney. Perhaps one day he will learn that even the most insignificant man has a sense of dignity and personal worth. I apologize, Professor. I'm not sorry at you. It's your tomato-headed friend there. Sweeney, I ought to kill you. I ought to strangle you with my bare hands. I ought to have you run through a road to repress at low speed. Those things are too good for you. Pop, I'm trying to tell you. The story ain't phony. It happened. Mr. Perk, we... Hannibal, tell him about it. Gladly, my contribution has been awaiting worldwide recognition for many years now. Unfortunately, there are some who insist I am insane. I see that. Being small of stature, as you can see, I chose to nurse my resentment rather than to take positive measures. However, I feel now the world is ready to come to terms with Hannibal Perk week. Can you or can you not explain this Grant's tomb business? Naturally. It can all be explained quite simply in terms of the Pertwee system of infinite acceleration and transportational facilitation as applied to freightage. I've been trying to sell it to the railroads for 10 years. Didn't I tell you it was a genius, Pop? Oh, now wait a minute, Pop. Give him a chance. Show him the trains, Hannibal. Ah, yes, the trains. If you gentlemen will gather around the suitcase... Come on, I want you to say that. Come on. As you can see, in the suitcase a complete model railroad reduced to the size of a cigar box. Observe. Enough, I think. They run! Just like real trains! We need not content with ruining my life, losing me my job, driving me to alcohol. They're now trying to drive me out of my mind with an obvious madman who builds model railroads. Here's the money, Burley. Keep the change. Good bye, gentlemen. Pop, you're not even giving them a chance. Listen, Pop, please. It's always the same. They won't listen to me. Oh, I guess Pop is losing his grip. I hate them. No, don't take it so hard, Hannibal. Maybe it was all hallucination. The Pertwee theory is not an hallucination. Sure, sure, sure. Well, it was a good try anyway. I guess I'll go back to the office and pick up my stuff. But I'll show them some day they'll listen. Sure, sure. You'll show them, Hannibal. Hey, Burley! Fixed Professor Pertwee here with a double scotch. Go ahead, make it a triple. The isotope will enable medical experts to trace with accuracy the growth of carbon dioxide. Oh, nuts. Maybe it's better to be unemployed. Science editor speaking. Pop? Yeah? Sweetie. And carbon canju. Does DiMaggio know Yankee Stadium? What about Burley's bar? It's gone. Oh, sweetie. All my life, look at the window. Sweeney, I won't... Sweeney, hang on. Albert? Pop? Do me a favor. Stick your head out of that window and tell me if anything unusual is going on at Burley's corner. Where's Colburn? He went to a polo match out on Long Island. Who's on the city desk? Young Stan? Come on. Just a second. City desk? What? Are you nuts? Listen to this, will you? It's Martinsons down on 34th Street. He says the Empire State Building has disappeared. Can you feature that? What are you going to do about it? Do. Am I supposed to do something? He's gone nuts. Give me that phone. Hey, let's go. Give me that phone. Hello, Marty. This is Pop. I'm mine. What happened? You'll take over, won't you? I'm kind of shaking. Will I? I'll show you fledglings how to run a newspaper together. Will it? Put that camera down to the Empire State Building. What? What a story. What do you intend to do? Check, check. Where's the research department? I hear search. No. Now dress it up and shoot it down. Yes, sir. Research? Wait a minute. Yes, sir. Find out how many people are usually in the Empire State. Yes, sir. No, don't try to call the Empire State to find out. No. My boy, talk. There was a rumble. Any statement? No, but, Jonathan, the United States Post Office just went, the hold on city is going piece by piece. Don't lose your head, Albert. We've just lost Penn Station and the Post Office. Get out a new banner head. New York City vanishing. What about cops? You don't need copy for a story like this. Tell that line of type operator to use imagination. Albert! Pop. Anything else missing? Price of building, maybe? Nothing yet, Pop. Oh. Anything reappeared yet? No word on anything. Maybe things are stabilizing. Crawl composing. Tell them to stop rolling. Right, Pop. And find Sweeney. Tell the phone from downstairs a while ago. I forgot all about him. Tell them he's fired again. I have print on this statement. It isn't him all. Uh-oh, Pop. Here comes Mr. Trouble. Anabee! Oh, now take it easy, Colburn. Anabee, what are you doing at the city desk? We're Sanborn. What's going on here anyway? Has everyone gone out of his mind? Listen, the Empire State to Penn Station and the Post Office have all been missing for almost five minutes. Get away from that desk. You'll drop that telephone. Listen! I don't care if Washington, D.C. has been bombed by the Martians. I want you out of this office in two minutes. Albert, cast those extras. Pop, you get out your fire. Oh, you're not being raised. I'm not interested in the other papers. Just get out of here before I go... Where have you been? I've been trying to make up my mind whether to come up or not. When you left me hanging the phone, I thought you was insulting me. How come you aren't on the desk? Oh, I'm canned. Are you kidding me? Oh, it's been coming. It really has a place jumping. You didn't see me screaming. It was like the San Francisco earthquake. Oh, I need a drink. How about... Keep forgetting. Isn't there any burleys anymore? No. Just a big hole in the ground. Let's walk over. I want to browse around. Oh, Pop, there's nothing to see. Well, let's take a snoop anyway. Just for old times' sake. Well, okay, Pop, let's cross. We got the light. Who'd ever thought that less than ten minutes ago, there was a building here? Yeah. Let's climb down and have a look, Sweeney. Well, um... What for, Pop? It's getting dark. You know, we'll break our necks. Sweeney, where's your older part of spirit? Come on. Okay, but I don't see what you expect. Oh! Let's walk around a bit. See anything? Nah, just the foundation. You look at this. So small, I almost missed it. And I'll be a son of a... a perfect scale model of Burleys. Less than four inches tall. What are you supposed this is doing here? I don't know. Can I help you, gentlemen? Great way. What are you doing down here? I'm looking for my model. Thank you for finding it. Oh, this is yours, is it? Certainly. Now, if you'll be kind enough to hand it to me, I'll just put it back in my suitcase. You better give it to him, Pop. All right. Thank you. There we are. Thank you, gentlemen. I thought you just went in for model train. I have always been preoccupied with tiny things, but lately I've been branching out. Well, I really must be going. Thank you very much. He's as loony as a bat. Ah, the geniuses are all crazy. I read it in the book. Sweeney, you get a look in that suitcase. Well, sure. I've seen it when he opened it in the bar this morning. I mean just now. Oh, why? The morning when he opened his suitcase, he had a little round tube and a set of model trains in it. Nothing else. So, this time he had three other models. So what? Nothing. Except there happened to be models of the Empire State, Penn Station, and the United States Post Office. There he goes down the block, Pop. Wait for me. Wait for me. Come back here. He's starting to run. Here, here's a cab. Come on. What the hell, Mike? He's running down on the block. Make it fast. Okay, Mike. Hold it, cabby. Hold it. Come on, Sweeney. Come on. Stop. I warn you. Hey, Pop. He's got that little tube out of his suitcase. He's pointing it. Grab him, Sweeney. All right, give me that thing. Let go of my arm. Give it to me. Ah, there. I warn you. Never mind the warnings. Just you come along with us. We're going to have a little talk. Take him up to the office, Sweeney. Sure. Pop. What? What's a taxi? What? When you get to the curb, you'll find your taxi. Jumping saints. Pop, look at it. Now, gentlemen, perhaps the world will believe in the validity of the Pertwee system of infinite acceleration. Now you start talking. I won't hold his hand, Sweeney. That's a pleasure. Well, Hannibal? Let me out of this office. Talk. Never. Sweeney, where's the tube? Right here, Pop. Now, Hannibal, I give you five seconds to talk. After which, I'm chaining this tube on you for a taste of your own medicine. Now, think it over. One, two, three. I hate them. Why should I save them? Four. All right. Put it away, please. That's better. Now, how did you do it? Many years ago, Einstein posed the theory that if an object were sufficiently accelerated, it would gradually flatten out and eventually disappear altogether. Working on this approach, I evolved a method of accelerating the atoms within the molecules, setting an object spinning in four rather than three dimensions. For many years, I tried to sell my idea to the railroad for condensing freight and storage. And you thought start the thing spinning with this little tube? The tube sends out a whirling ring of electrons which engulf the object. Why did you turn it on those buildings? I was driven to it. Only something dramatic could shock the world into realizing my greatness. But you'll restore them. You brought back Grant's tomb? I can restore them. Yes. Not can, Hannibal. Will. On one condition. Well? That your paper give me full credit for my scientific achievement. Front page, pictures, a complete story. It's a deal. Wait a minute, Pop. We don't even work for this paper anymore, remember? We'll take care of that little man, Sweeney. Mr. Coleman, this is Pop Atterby. You've just rehired me. Now, if you'd care to step down the hall into my new office, I think I can show you something to make your hair stand on end. I have three missing buildings in my desk drawer. Well? He's on fire. Says he's coming down here to have me committed to an institution. Fine. All right, Atterby. All right, what's going on here? I fired you. I ordered you off these premises. So this is a joke. All right. Mr. Coleman, you see these models? What about them? What would you say if I were to tell you that these five-inch models are actually the Empire State, Penn Station, the United States Post Office, and Burley's Bar, and a taxicab? All compressed 500 times. If there are people in them so tiny, they can't see them. That even time is so compressed inside these buildings that movement is impossible. This is insanity. Who is this man? I don't... Sit down, Coleman. The show hasn't even started yet. Sweeney. Hmm? Put the taxicab out in the middle of the floor. Okay, Pop. Now, stand back. Hannibal, here's the tube. Now, do your stuff. Stand back. Now. Good Lord. I don't believe it. It's getting bigger. I reverse the polarity of the spin very gradually. Frabby, you lousy bum! Hey! Where am I? Hey, what happened? How did my cab get in this office? Take it easy, George. What is this? Who are you? Hey, ain't you the fat that skipped out on me? What is this, a bughouse? Well, Mr. Coleman, I... I don't understand it. But you do believe. Well, yes, yes, I saw it right before my eyes. Okay, well then, here's the deal. You give our boy Hannibal a front-page spread with pictures. He'll take these other buildings back to the original sites and restore them just like they were, with our cameras getting exclusive shots. Now, is it a bargain? Is it a bargain? I may not be the best newspaper man in the world, but this is the biggest thing since Noah's Ark. You're rehired as city editor at your old salary. My old salary? All right, all right, plus a 500 bonus. Ah, this is a deal. Sweeney, call composing. Tell them to double the size of the front page. Have them hold it for a red banner full page headline. Got that? Right. Hello, Albert. This is Pop. Listen, I want all photographers up in my office right away. Call the search. Tell that girl to have Columbia send a battery big shot over to the former site of Penn Station. Crap, big cop. Hey, Mike. Crap, big boy. Hey, Mike. I'm busy, George. Sweeney, what's the word? My step. All right. All right. What is it? All I want to know is, how do I get my hat out of this office? Another adventure in time, space, and the unknown world of the future. The world of... How would you like to leave your home and friends for a trip that might last for 10 years or forever? You'll hear all about it on Dimension X next week when we present Shanghai. This is presented, The Professor Was A Thief, an adaptation by George Lepperts of a story by L. Ron Hubbard. Featured in the cast were Arthur Maitland as Pop, John Larkin as Sweeney, and John Gibson as the professor. Your host was Norman Rose, music by Bert Berman, and to near Bill Chambers. Dimension X is produced by William Welch and directed by Edward King. Three times mean good times on NBC. Tonight is the time for the premiere of NBC's Gigantic Sunday Night broadcast, The Big Show. Every Sunday evening, starting tonight, you'll hear an hour and a half of the greatest stars in radio, performers like Fred Allen, Jimmy Duranty, Ethel Merman, Frankie Lane, Meredith Wilson, and many, many more. And your emcee will be the lady who invented this snappy retort, Tallulah Backhead. It's The Big Show. Here's The Big Show later today on NBC.