In 1975, in the White Mountains of Snowflake, Arizona, logger Mike Rogers speeds through the night in his pickup truck. With him are crew members Allan Dallis, Greg Hayes, David Whitlock, and Bobby Cogdill. The men arrive at their regular bar looking dazed, and Mike orders the others to stick to their story. The men extend their support as Mike telephones police to report that fellow crew member, Travis Walton, has gone missing. Longtime neighbor, Sheriff Blake Davis, arrives to investigate, and is joined by out-of-towner, Lieutenant Frank Watters. Before Watters interviews the men, Sheriff Davis attests that local crew leader Mike Rogers is a “stand-up guy.” Mike tells Watters the events of the day, starting that morning when his best friend, Travis Walton, came to his house before work. Travis tells Mike his dream of their opening a motorcycle shop together called “MT Motors.” Travis then climbs the roof of Mike’s house to wake up his girl friend, Mike’s younger sister, Dana Rogers, who lives with Mike, his wife, Katie, and their children. Before leaving, Travis tells Dana they should get married. Afterward, Mike drives Travis and the four other crew members to their national forest worksite, and advises Travis that he is not ready for marriage. Frank Watters interrupts Mike’s story to ask about the night’s events, and Allan Dalis says he was the first to spot what looked like a fire in the distance. As they drive toward the red sky, the radio fails. They come upon a large glowing orb in the sky, and Mike stops the truck. Wanting a closer look, Travis Walton gets out, ignoring his friends’ shouts to return to the truck. Suddenly, a light shines down on Travis and he is lifted into the air, then dropped violently to the ground. The men believe Travis is dead, and fearing they will be attacked next, drive away, leaving Travis behind. Shortly down the road, Mike regrets his decision and leaves the others by the side of the road while he returns for Travis. Mike tells the officers that he searched for Travis’s body, but believes aliens took him, and Lt. Watters does not believe him. Later, Mike returns home, where his wife and sister wait up for him and tell him the radio has been airing the alien abduction story. Dana asks her brother how he could leave Travis behind, and Mike tells her a search party will look for him the next day. During the search, Travis’s brother, Dan Walton, threatens Mike, believing Travis was the victim of foul-play. That night, Katie tells Mike that he and his crew members have been released from their logging contract following Travis‘s disappearance. The couple argue about money, and when Katie implies Mike is lying about Travis, he leaves and checks into a motel. In the morning, news reporters descend on the mountain town, and badger the men. Mike and David Whitlock are approached by a man named Jarvis Powell, representing a group called A.F.A.R. (American Foundation for Ariel Research), who tells them he believes their story. The townsfolk treat the men like criminals, and Greg Hayes and Bobby Cogdill tell Mike and David that Watters offered them a deal if they confess. Watters’s suspicions are aroused when he learns that Travis Walton and Allan Dallis had a fistfight earlier in the day, and that Allan, a newcomer to town, has a criminal record. The loggers continue to assert their innocence, and Lt. Watters and Sheriff Davis suggest they submit to a polygraph test. Allan is reluctant, believing he will become the scapegoat because of his criminal past. At a town meeting, Sheriff Davis explains that there is no evidence of foul play. Mike’s reputation is attacked by a neighbor and he agrees to take the lie-detector test. When one of the men’s tests was inconclusive, Lt. Watters insists they all be retested. However, Mike and the others refuse. Later, test-administrator Cyrus Gilson reports that Allan Dallis’s test was questionable, but the others were telling the truth. Sometime later, Mike Rogers receives a collect telephone call from someone claiming to be Travis Walton. He accepts the charges and is stunned when he hears Travis’s voice on the other end of the line. In a barely audible voice, Travis asks for help, saying he is at an unknown gas station, and Mike sets out into the rainy night to find him, with Dana, David Whitlock, and Dan Walters in tow. After searching for hours, they find Travis huddled naked and afraid. He screams like an animal when his friends try to touch him. Mike tells Travis he has been missing for five days. Jarvis Powell from AMFAR, arrives at the gas station to interview Travis, after Mike notifies him of their whereabouts. Dana and Dan insist they need take Travis to the hospital, but Mike wants Jarvis to speak with him first. As Jarvis inquires about the abduction, Travis suffers disturbing flashbacks of his alien encounter. Travis is taken to the hospital where his terrifying visions continue. Later, Mike apologizes for leaving him, but Travis holds him responsible and will not forgive him. In time, Travis leaves the hospital with Dana, and is hounded by reporters and local residents requesting his autograph. Lt. Watters asks Travis where he was for five days, but the young man claims to have no memory. Travis is welcomed home with a party, but he barely speaks to anyone. Dana finds him hiding under a table as he remembers explicit details of being held captive and probed by aliens. Travis awakens sometime later in a doctor’s office, after being taken there by Dana and his brother, Dan. Dr. Carlyle tells Sheriff Davis she believes Travis is telling the truth about his experiences. However, Lt. Watters thinks Travis made up the story to get attention, and leaves town vowing to return when the men “slip up” and incriminate themselves. Two-and-a-half years later, Travis has recovered, married Dana, and has a son with her, with another on the way. Travis visits Mike Rogers, who lives like a hermit in a cabin in the woods, after divorcing his wife, Katie. Travis is finally ready to talk, and drives Mike to the clearing in the woods where he was abducted. Both men admit to being forever changed by the events. Travis tells Mike that he is an uncle, and that he named his son after him. Travis takes the blame for getting out of the truck that night, and acquits Mike of any wrongdoing. When Travis tells him not to worry about the aliens returning because the creatures did not seem to like him, Mike laughs.