"How Did Doomsday Come? Well, It's the Story of a Banquet . . ."

"From Outer Space."

By Robert Zacks (1915-95; ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Startling Stories, May 1952.

Illustration by Alex Schomburg (1905-98; ISFDb HERE).

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at Project Gutenberg (HERE).

   ". . . maybe in fifty years they'll feel we're advanced enough for freedom."

HERE we have yet further confirmation of how true that old saying is about not judging books by their covers . . .

Principal characters:

~ The old space veteran, the young men, Professor Kennicot, Professor Johnson, and the aliens.

References:

- "Doomsday" (Wikipedia HERE and HERE)

- "the heaviside layer" (Wikipedia HERE)

- "a non-electrical society" (Wikipedia HERE).

Resources:

- A benevolent alien paralyzed the electrical system of the whole Earth in a '50s sci-fi classic film (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE).

- Another sci-fi production, this one from television, depicted aliens doing the same thing to an unlucky astronaut that happens to Earth in our story (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE).

- Our only other meeting with Robert Zacks was his crime fictional "Account Settled" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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