A man who is not of this earth (Paul Birch (actor)) has adopted the name "Mr. Johnson" for moving among the populace of Los Angeles. This alien has a sensitivity to high-decibel sounds and is conspicuous only for his stilted and formal syntax and his sunglasses, which he wears even in the dark. The sunglasses hide his blank, white-eyed stare which kills his victims by burning through their eyes and into their brains. He removes the blood of his first victim - a teenage girl who has just been dropped off by her boyfriend - using a system of tubes and canisters that he keeps in an Zero Halliburton.