 In a remote space observatory perched high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a needle frantically scratches erratic lines on a strip chart recorder confirming an extraterrestrial signal. Emmett Shaw (Stewart Bick), the powerful, charismatic billionaire who owns the observatory, rushes to the station, hungry to expose the discovery. This is the biggest moment in human history and he is the man responsible for it all. With the goal of immediately sharing the signal with the entire world, he brings along two leading journalists - Kara Walsh (Deborah Odell), an extremely attractive, top-notch investigative reporter who begrudgingly owes her career to Shaw, and Reverend Fletcher (Jefferson Mappin), a new age visionary with the hottest radio show in the country. Also accompanying Shaw is Jack Jones (Judd Nelson), a scruffy but brilliant computer technician whose pessimistic and often sarcastic attitude ruffles many feathers in the group - especially Smitty s (Michelle Nolden), the program director, who happens to be Jack s ex-girlfriend and the only Christian in the group. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Shaw, the military have intercepted the same intelligent signal through a covert military operation headed by the highly decorated Colonel Garrett (Louis Gossett Jr.). The discovery that the deep space signal intensifies human ESP powers prompts Garrett to head to the observatory with his top ESP candidate, Lieutenant Vasquez (Ramona Milano), and a squadron of soldiers in tow. Both Shaw s and Garrett s crew arrive on the verge of a violent storm only to find the observatory destroyed and both resident technicians mysteriously missing. Cut off from the rest of the world, the group continues to monitor the signal. With each new transmission, it becomes increasingly clear that the signal has a dark and ominous source that brings out the worst in all those who hear it. Before long, a trail of envy, lust, greed, and anger explodes into a sinister world of murder and betrayal. Will the struggle to harness the signal s power destroy them all? There is only one way out, but even if they can see it, will they believe it?