Okay, maybe you don't get the Eagles reference. But the person who kindly donated this early TV gem from the series Lights Out swore this was the scariest thing a kid could see back in the early 50s. I concur. Take a half hour to enjoy Martian Eyes. It may make you chuckle, but it's well-acted by Burgess Meredith. What an amazing performer, always right there with the perfect touch, be it straight drama or science fiction, of which he did quite a lot. Who could forget him as the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust in Twilight Zone?

I don't know what it is about the third eye that strikes us as so uncanny. But it's a pleasing effect. As the host on archive.org pointed out, seeing that reveal, and then experiencing a power outage – in the middle of the Cold War, remember – would definitely make an impression.

If you're not tired yet, you might want to listen to Burgess Meredith read a Ray Bradbury story. You can do it while you work. Just click on There Will Come Soft Rain. It's only 17 minutes, and it's a pretty good tale. Mind, the editor in me complains that the story could have been tightened up: Bradbury's too self-indulgent for my taste. But quibbles aside, think about it: nobody had a smartphone, or a smarthouse, or a talking toaster back then, so the story's really science fiction.

Now, if your smartphone can only figure out how to detect Martians…