Seventeen-year-old Deirdre Clark has been living with her grandmother, Grace Clark, ever since her parents were killed in a car crash a year ago. Deirdre loves her grandmother, but is bored in her rural North Carolina farmhouse. One night during a thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning seems to hit the ground and blue light emanates into the house. Deirdre and Grace barricade themselves in an upstairs bedroom, but are captured by albino-skinned aliens. Meanwhile, teenager Jerry Burdett and his father, Vern Burdett, stop by to deliver freshly caught fish. Seeing the glowing blue light, Jerry investigates with a pistol, but aliens blast him with their ray guns. Jerry returns fire and hits the alien queen. As the creature dies, three deputies arrive. Officer Frank Miller orders policemen Roberts and Sweeney to go to the back of the house while he distracts the aliens from the front yard. Sweeney finds the creatures holding Grace and Deirdre hostage, and one of the aliens shoots Sweeney, killing him. At the same time, wounded Jerry Burdett dies and his father, Vern, shoots the house, vowing revenge. When Sheriff Hollis McMann arrives, he declares a hostage situation, orders the perimeter secured, and calls to the aliens with a bullhorn, insisting they surrender. Grace shouts to McMann from a window that they are unharmed. The women are unafraid as the alien known as “Prince” uses a light-emitting crystal orb to share memories of his extraterrestrial homeland. The aliens’ world was destroyed by warfare, and an assassin of a different species was trying to kill them, so they escaped to Earth in the orb’s energy field. Grace invites Sheriff McMann inside to prove the aliens are friendly, but he remains cautious. Later, Vern Burdett and friends return to the farmhouse, determined to avenge his son’s death. Helen Anderson from the U.S. Department of Defense declares a “containment extraction team” will arrive at 8 a.m. She refutes the hostage situation, and argues that different procedures apply, but McMann reminds her that Grace and Deirdre are still being held captive. Anderson replies that containing the aliens is their priority. Despite her objections, McMann calls in a Special Weapons and Tactical (SWAT) team, but they are busy with a prison crisis and are unable to come. McMann appeals to the aliens to go to the sheriff’s station, where he can place them in protective custody. The aliens use the crystal orb to share memories of their planet with the sheriff, and Deirdre asks McMann to help the aliens get away. When Helen Anderson and the deputies see the orb, they assume McMann is being subjected to mind control. Anderson orders Officer Miller to take command. As McMann leaves the house, Vern Burdett shoots him in the arm. The sheriff rushes back inside, where Grace tends to his wound. Vern shoots and wounds an alien named “Jester,” prompting “Warrior” to return fire. Hitting Vern in the abdomen, Warrior goes outside, but is shot and killed by Helen Anderson. She enters the house and kills the wounded Jester with the ray gun. Deirdre and Prince run outside to a clearing, where the alien uses the orb to create an energy field for transport. As they say their goodbyes, McMann arrives and begs Prince not to leave since he is proof that aliens exist. Suddenly, Anderson shoots McMann with the ray gun, as Deirdre and Prince run away. Anderson takes aim, but Grace shoots her in the back. Falling dead to the ground, Anderson’s human disguise disintegrates to reveal she is a rival alien, who is on Earth to assassinate the other extraterrestrials. An alien named “Sir” comes to the clearing, and he and Prince are transported home. The next morning, reporters interview Grace and Deirdre, but they avoid their questions.