Clad in a radiation suit, Marty McFly is mistaken for a "space zombie" by the Peabody family.
- " The alien was nearly all the way out of the space vehicle now. It was a biped, with arms and general body lines that showed man's configurations. Sherman wondered what it looked like under the hood, whether it could utter sounds that were at all comprehensible. / "Hey," said the alien in perfect English. "Hello. Where am I?" / It took several steps towards them. Sherman, Martha and his mother slowly retreated before it. / "Excuse me," the creature said. "Who are you? Where am I? is this Hill Valley?" "
- — From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 73)
A space zombie was the main character in the Tales from Space comic book read by Sherman Peabody.
History[]
On November 5, 1955, Sherman and his family woke up to a crash in the yard of their ranch. As they investigated the barn, they saw what they believed to be a "space zombie" emerging from a spacecraft; Sherman had convinced them that it was an alien using his comic book as proof).
In truth, the "space zombie" was actually Marty McFly, clad in a radiation suit, in the DeLorean time machine, but Sherman's father, Otis believed the 'invader' to be intending to enslave them all — mainly his wife, Elsie — and repeatedly attempted to shoot the fleeing trespasser.
The "space zombie" theory is also what caused Mr. Peabody to be taken away to the County Asylum the following morning after telling the police about what he had seen.
Behind the scenes[]
- The space zombie is not to be confused with the alien featured in George McFly's 1985 novel A Match Made in Space or the movie of the same name.