A mysterious, unknown species of Venusian creature was discovered by astronaut Jeff Barton, who became the first man to successfully orbit Venus and return to Earth.
Biology
This Venusian is a bizarre, quasi-humanoid figure, with a thin body covered in small reptilian scales, and very long strings of hair draping down from its head. It has humanoid arms and hands, with five curved fingers. Its face is flat, and has a pair of blank eyes and a small mouth. The alien inhabits a foggy environment and seems to float freely in the Venusian atmosphere, like a spectral figure, producing a strange sound.
This sound had a profound effect on Jeff Barton, who encountered the Venusian as the latter approached the window of Barton's spaceship inside Venus' atmosphere. It appears that the sound modified Barton's body chemistry. After he came back to Earth, having forgotten all about the mysterious encounter, the astronaut started to exhibit radical changes in his physiology as well as his behaviour. He craved increasingly for heat, considered room temperature frigid, and drank scalding coffee as if it was nothing. After a webbed membrane grew between his fingers, medical exams confirmed that he was no longer Human.
Presumably, Barton would have transformed into a Venusian fully, had his condition not reversed thanks to the efforts of both the medical personnel and Barton's wife, who helped him mentally fight off the transformation.
Appearances
- The Outer Limits, s02e02, "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" (1964)