When an old rock hound stumbles across what appears to be the wreckage of a mysterious capsule or cargo pod in Death Valley at the height of the Cold War, a dozen government agencies scramble to unravel its secrets. Is it from a Soviet spy operation or another bungled domestic test like the Roswell fiasco? Frank Sartori, an Atomic Energy Commission physicist, sets out to find out for himself. Guided by map coordinates found on a small metallic disk extracted from the pod, Sartori and an Army Corps of Engineers surveyor called Bobcat track down objects with astonishing magnetic properties that were apparently jettisoned from the capsule as it fell to earth, and they begin to suspect something - or someone - was ejected as well. Their journey across the American Southwest takes them to uncharted territory, to phenomena that defy explanation. Along the way, Sartori discovers a personal connection to the pod, causing him to question his own identity, as well as his sanity. The answer is only the beginning of an odyssey beyond his imagination.