Local 58

A programming schedule broadcast at midnight is interrupted by an Emergency Alert System (EAS) message from the County Weather Service warning viewers of a meteorological event taking place, with the alert remaining in place until sunrise. It concludes the message by warning that citizens should not view the event with the naked eye. Normal programming briefly resumes with a second schedule before the broadcast is cut off by a second EAS broadcast, this time upgraded to a civil danger warning. The alert states that viewers should not look at the night sky. The station is then hijacked, with the hijacker claiming that the meteorological event is safe and that the warning has been lifted. They then directly demand viewers to go outside.

A struggle to gain control over the station takes place between the broadcaster and the hijacker. The first party issues warnings to the viewers to not look at the Moon, while the second attempts to cut off or modify these messages. The broadcaster is successful in communicating advice relating to the threat. Local 58 momentarily returns to normal programming before a final EAS message under the control of the hijacker airs. The EAS presents cryptic information that details how the hijacker was brainwashed by the Moon. After the last message - "IF YOU ARE AFRAID, WE WILL LOOK TOGETHER" - the feed cuts to a live view of the Moon while distant sounds of people screaming are heard.^[8]

Local 58 signs-off for the day and starts broadcasting SMPTE bars. The broadcast is then interrupted with an emergency alert from the fictional "Department for the Preservation of American Dignity" (DPAD) and a written message from President Lyndon B. Johnson set to "The Star-Spangled Banner". The message claims that the United States military been defeated by that of a foreign nation and that all Americans are "called upon to ACT" to "preserve the memory of the United States clear and bright… untarnished and uncompromised."

After the message concludes, a distorted rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" plays as the broadcast continues. Informing viewers that local law enforcement are to "ensure your compliance" and that it is "against the law to delay". The broadcast recommends suicide by gunshot, stating that it will repeat "until there are none to read it". The DPAD also suggest, if time allows, the "Victory Position", a ritualistic posture where at least one person lays flat on their back on their front lawn before shooting themselves.

After instructing viewers to euthanize their children and pets, referring to them as "the smallest patriots," then briefly flashing the statement that "THE 51ST STATE IS NOT A PLACE", the broadcast is halted. Local 58 airs a retraction claiming that the message was a hoax, and apologizes for the error. However, visible behind the message is a second slide instructing the station to claim the footage was a hoax in the event of an accidental broadcast, indicating that everything seen up to the hoax slide was a real contingency plan intended for use if such events were to ever take place.^[9]

A programming schedule shows the night's line-up, consisting of a midnight movie and paid programming, before the broadcast abruptly cuts to static and is replaced by footage from a dashcam recorded on 21 November 2014. Involving a driver following a GPS satnav. The drive mostly consists of the GPS's directions as it informs the driver that they are "on the fastest available route." After a while, the footage skips forward to the driver driving through the middle of a forest on an unpaved road, with the GPS's directions having become increasingly questionable. Instructing the driver to follow the no entry signs, to continue on an "unnamed road", and to park the car and turn off the headlights.

Having followed every direction without fail, the driver complies, bringing the car to a complete stop with its lights turned off. After waiting in darkness, a loud roar can be heard. The driver quickly turns the headlights back on to reveal a bipedal creature ahead on the road. The feed cuts to the person driving away from the creature, with the GPS repeatedly telling the driver to turn around, as the "destination" is behind them. The GPS rapidly counts down the distance in feet as the roars become louder, revealing the creature to be the destination itself. The feed cuts forward again to the car lying sideways with the windshield cracked. One last roar is heard as the feed glitches out. With the GPS finally announcing in a slow, distorted tone that the driver has arrived at their destination.^[10]

A programming schedule lists early morning broadcasts. A bumper saying "Local 58 Show for Children" appears, featuring a cartoon clown statue in an amusement park. A rubber hose animation cartoon titled "A Grave Mistake" begins, which features an anthropomorphic skeleton named Cadavre. The cartoon opens with Cadavre walking through a graveyard at night with the Moon smiling overhead. He comes across an open grave and wonders if his lover may be inside. Peeking into the grave, Cadavre finds a realistic-looking corpse, which frightens Cadavre and causes him to run away. He finds another grave and decides to look inside, only to be frightened again by a strange bird-like creature.

As the soundtrack completely cuts out, Cadavre, now visibly tense, continues through the graveyard while the Moon stares down at him. He looks into another grave and descends into it, entering a cave. After wandering through the cave for some time, he reaches another open grave. Exhausted and unable to climb out, Cadavre lies face up on the ground. From his perspective, a giant, realistic rendering of the Moon can be seen moving over the grave. The view turns back to Cadavre, who has seemingly died and turned into a lifeless, realistic-looking skeleton. The programming ends with the cartoon clown bumper, now with its mouth further outstretched.^[11][12]

A personalized VHS recording made by the Thought Research Initiative (TRI) is broadcast. The recording starts with a "myth or fact" game about sleeping, claiming that dreaming is not essential to mental health. It then displays a visual of monitored brainwaves called the "Kleitman Map," implying that the video was personally designed to prevent dreams by applying an inverse of the map. The video then cuts to a segment where four sequences are introduced in a manner similar to the flashed face distortion effect. Sequence one tells the viewer to look directly at the center of the screen as faces flash at the viewer. Sequence two has red and green colored faces slowly merge. Sequence three instructs the viewer to repeat the phrase "there are no faces" several times as distorted and grotesque faces flash on the screen. Sequence four flashes a number of ominous subliminal messages, while "there are no faces" repeats a final time, slowed down. The video concludes with the viewer being told that they have now completed the Real Sleep program, and to avoid seeing a doctor if they experience any problems.^[13]

Following a broadcast schedule, an episode of Skywatching begins, but is replaced by amateur footage of a man recording the night sky through his camera. The man aims the camera at Orion's Belt and the Pleiades, then after changing his camera's lens, begins filming the Moon, referred to as "HIS THRONE" by onscreen text. The cameraman then shows close ups of the Moon's surface with moving clouds, organic formations, and artificial structures. Including buildings constructed inside a crater and a giant arrow carved into the lunar regolith. The Moon then fades away. As the cameraman changes the lens again, a loud noise can be heard as the Moon reappears, now far larger in size. A Federal Signal Thunderbolt tornado siren begins to sound, and the cameraman adjusts the brightness of the camera pointing at the Moon, showing its southern hemisphere cracked open and revealing the body of a gigantic skeletal organism inside. The cameraman places the camera down and walks towards the Moon with his hands raised as the siren abruptly stops. Onscreen text reads "REJOICE" as the footage ends.^[14]

Local 58 airs a 1977 documentary titled Night Walk, detailing supernatural sightings in Mason County, West Virginia. The film introduces the urban legend of "The Woman in Profile", a shadowy figure described by observers as resembling a woman in profile view staring intently into the sky, who disappears when approached. It further states that there have been over two dozen sightings, all occurring around twilight, and that the Ichor Falls police department sought the Woman as a potential witness to the murder of a student at the local university. The broadcast then cuts to a video recording of the Woman, dated from 1996, in which a brief flash of light reveals the Woman to be a creature with two faces and a conjoined, multi-limbed body. The cameraman attempts to talk to the Woman, only for its eyes to begin glowing as the man lowers his camera and moves away. The footage ends on a freeze frame of the fully illuminated Woman with its eyes glowing, as on-screen text reads "A PREDATOR CANNOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN PREY AND ACCOMPLICE / SAFETY IN NUMBERS".

The Thought Research Initiative (introduced in "Real Sleep") airs a commercial disparaging generative AI, and pitching their product 'Qualiaform Intuition', or QI, as an alternative. The broadcast then cuts to footage of a CRT monitor display belonging to the Initiative, which displays an operating system developed between 1983 and 1984 called 'CBRM-OS'. The operating system loads a QI module into a "cerebrant environment", producing an ASCII rendering of a face voiced by text-to-speech. The user types "Describe where you are", causing the module to panic, hyperventilate, scream and crash as the message "RUNAWAY" displays repeatedly, forcing the user to terminate it. Reloading the module with different parameters, the user again asks it to describe its surroundings, but it replies "I CAN'T", saying it is "AFRAID" and "COLD". The user then codes a 'narrative' into the module, causing it to believe that it is an angel in Heaven, helping others after having lived a virtuous life, though it also remarks that it is afraid of God. The QI module then asks if the user is God; the user starts to code in another 'narrative', but reconsiders and instead replies affirmatively. The module's face begins to distort, before the display cuts out.

NOTE: This episode was first released in two separate halves. The first portion was published to the Thought Research Initiative YouTube channel as "TV Ad (2026)" on 4 April 2026. The second section was released as "TRI a (1983)" as an unlisted video on the LOCAL58TV YouTube channel on 22 April 2026.

Serving as the channel's trailer, the video consists of a series of cryptic messages, which read the following:^[15]

ANALOG HORROR AT 476 MHz

WE BEGIN OUR BROADCAST DAY

LOOK AWAY

IT DOES NOT MATTER

THERE ARE OTHER RECEIVERS

SAFETY IN NUMBERS

A compilation of the history of Local 58, shuffling through the channel's various past logos in chronological order, gets hijacked, and messages begin to flash on the screen similar to those shown in "Station ID". The broadcast then becomes a montage of short clips from previous episodes of the series, intercut with glitched footage of normal television broadcasts. After a few more messages are shown, the station's broadcasting returns to normal.^[16]

On July 13, 2021, Local 58 is preparing to undergo a digital switchover at midnight. Following the conclusion of a normal airing of an episode of One Step Beyond, the channel airs a tribute bumper depicting numerous eras of the station’s 82-year history (1939–present) and its broadcasts. The end of the bumper shows Local 58's new logo, with an extended tagline "Community Digital Television." The switchover takes place, but as the clock passes midnight, the broadcast becomes corrupted, and the analog signal persists, visible behind that of the digital signal output, insisting that the digital switchover has been postponed. A poem entitled "BETRAYAL" appears behind the digital signal notice, followed by an Emergency Alert System message (as seen in "Weather Service").

Another set of cryptic messages is clearly displayed. The intruder writes about speaking on behalf of another being, and that there are "no stars above... only eyes waiting to open". A distorted face appears and deteriorates and is replaced with a legal warning from the FBI, DHS, HHS and the FCG (a fictional version of the FCC) about "unauthorized analog reception".^[17]

A special presentation featuring a livestream from the C.L.O.S.E. Mission (Cometary Lander Orbiter Survey Expedition) conducted by SARO (Space & Aeronautics Regulatory Oversight), a fictionalized version of NASA, begins with footage from a space probe approaching the rapidly-rotating asteroid 57838 Eidolon (1P/2006 Telesky), approximately 25 minutes away from landing. The object is nicknamed the "Face in Space" and "Comet Skull" due to its resemblance to a skull in instances of its rotation. As the satellite approaches the comet, the video and audio become increasingly distorted, but the asteroid's facial resemblance decreases, confirming the supposition that shadows caused the illusion.

As the lander approaches Eidolon's largest crater, a structure resembling a door becomes visible. When it is within seconds of touchdown, otherworldly noises can be heard, and the lander loses connection with mission control shortly after it lands. After a few moments of a black screen, seemingly-recovered footage from the lander's cameras is shown. The lander observes Eidolon's door, which opens, revealing an unusual texture on the walls of the comet's interior. The footage then ends as an unseen force ejects the lander off Eidolon at great speed.^[18]

Heavy and colorful static is accompanied by a loud, unintelligible voice. Glimpses of a red face are seen. The former Local 58 logo is obscured within the static. The distorted face appears again followed by illegible text.^[19]

Presented in the Youtube Shorts format. A video from the US Department of the Preservation of American Dignity (seen on "Contingency") labeled "LOCATOR 628-M-42R" is played. The footage consists of a unidentified person with a camera recording a dark woodland area. The camera operator discovers a monster with a TV for a head and screens melded to its body.^[20]

The previous Local 58 logo is displayed alongside the station's theme music. The logo is heavily obscured by static. A line of numbers reading "1793420242" appears. The text string becomes illegible and a loud tone is heard.^[21]

A passenger on board a red-eye AeroLux Airlines Flight AX113 from LAX to Melbourne Airport interacts with their in-flight entertainment system. The passenger has access to view a "Tail Cam" that shows a live camera feed of the exterior of the plane. The passenger selects this option and watches the plane take off from the runway and reach altitude. The passenger exits the Tail Cam and selects the options "Watch" and "Listen"; both are unavailable so the passenger continues to watch the Tail Cam.

The plane approaches a heavy thunderstorm and experiences turbulence. Frightened passengers scream as the pilot instructs over intercom to fasten seatbelts. The sky darkens as lightning strikes. The pilot describes the turbulence as "moderate" and will attempt to manoeuvre the plane above the storm. The screaming from the passengers distorts with the sound of the jet engine and the thunderstorm; the thick clouds become brighter. An object, similar in appearance to a thin human hand, descends from above the plane.

The feed from the Tail Cam momentarily cuts out. When the camera is operational again, it shows the plane outside of Earth's atmosphere and headed directly for the Moon. The Tail Cam cuts out again before showing the wreckage of the plane upon the surface of the Moon.^[22]

A broadcast of Local 58's own News at Nine begins. The camera moves around the newsroom, however, the studio is completely empty and appears hastily abandoned. The camera focuses on the places where news presenters should be stationed and their names are displayed on screen. Despite the absence of people, the program continues to operate routinely.

During the Sports segment of News at Nine, footage of a football match is accidentally chroma keyed against the dark red portions of the set. Revealing a handprint on the wall and stains on the desk; implied to be blood. In the Weather segment, the overlay reveals dark red streaks along the green screen and pools of blood on the floor.

The cameras and studio lights break as blood moves vertically upwards upon the back wall of the newsroom. The dark red color of the blood causes a card that reads "Technical Difficulties" to be improperly displayed. The footage cuts out before a clear version of the "Technical Difficulties" card is shown, as well as a second card that reads "We'll be right back".

NOTE: This episode was broadcast during The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs Halloween special.

A 1970s film titled Blood of the Living Dawn (As seen in "Weather Service") is broadcast live through a streaming service. Footage from Blood of the Living Dawn is taken from the 1974 film People Toys. The plot summary of the film originally states "A group of parents and their children encounter a strange entity during a ski lodge retreat.", but becomes less coherent throughout the episode.

The broadcast is buffering and suffering from poor image quality. The film begins with a sequence of a woman walking down a staircase intertwined with a shot of a hallway and a door opening. Problems with the image and sound occur, causing the woman's face to appear featureless. A scene with the woman and two others (a man and a second woman) ends with the first woman vanishing and a freeze frame on the second woman's distorted face.

The stream picks up again at a scene where a woman ask a girl about her parents. The girl states she "doesn't have any". A third voice says "Our mothers are watching us" before the broadcast struggles again. The film abruptly cuts to a scene of two men conversing in cryptic phrases. One of the men runs outside and shouts incoherently. He opens a door to see an elongated, black hand reaching from the ground. The man flees but the hand has disappeared. Credits consisting of seemingly gibberish scroll across the screen before the stream crashes and displays an error code stating that "the requested media does not exist."

A guest in Room 112 at the Maple Grove Hotel watches their rooms' hotel television system. The channel airs it's programming schedule and their "Hospitality and Events Guide", which describes a "special event" set to take place from 3 AM to 5 AM.

The special event begins and the television system broadcasts footage from a guests' room where they see a dark humanoid figure standing in the doorway. The footage switches to another room where a guest is sleeping in bed. Disturbing messages in the programming schedule counts down the number of guests. The television system announces that an "elite member" is the guest in Room 112, and to hide.