feel, which causes them to try to reach the surface in order to find food from radioactive sources. Two soldiers (Anthony Newley and Ian MacNaughton) have been left to guard the pit. One goes to investigate a mysterious glow in the pit. The other one hears his screams and goes to investigate. He shoots at something off-camera, but is killed. The next day, Royston's colleague Elliott (William Lucas) volunteers to be lowered into the crack, and on his way down sees the burned remains of one of the soldiers. Farther down, he sees the monster, still off-camera, and his compatriots race to get him back to the surface again before the monster can reach him. The army uses flamethrowers and explosives in an attempt to kill the creature, then seals the crack with concrete. Royston points out that the monster broke through miles of earth to get to the surface, so a few feet of concrete will be nowhere near enough to stop it. Meanwhile, he continues with his pet experiment, looking for a way to neutralize radiation using radio waves tuned to a certain frequency. The monster comes out again that night; it is shown to be an amorphous glowing mass. Some distance away, a car with four people in it is badly burned and all occupants are reported as having been melted. The thing travels to Lochmouth Atomic Energy Laboratory to get the cobalt being used there. The Lochmouth inhabitants hide in a chapel as the monster approaches them. The creature raids the nuclear facility before the authorities can remove the radioactive cobalt to a safe distance. As a result, the creature grows even larger. As it returns through the village of Lochmouth, it narrowly misses the chapel and a little girl who has accidentally been left outside. Royston and McGill hypothesize that the creature will move through the centre of the nearby city of Inverness, to reach another source of radioactive material. Royston has some success with his anti-radiation device, which neutralizes a small container of radioactive material, but causes it to explode violently in the process. With no time left for further experimentation or consideration of safety, they set up two large "scanners" on lorries, and use a canister of cobalt as bait to lure the monster from the crack where it is hidden. The idea works, but Elliott in the jeep carrying the bait barely