Collette Bonnington is a US astronomer hired by the Pentagon to head investigations into a sudden increase in extraterrestrial activity on Earth. Her investigations lead her all over the globe and climax at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem where the extraterrestrials reveal their presence in the form of a grand aerial display set against the backdrop of the eerie northern lights. Threaded through the narrative is a series of stand-alone chapters which detail the activity of the extraterrestrials. In these episodes, an orbital telescope is disabled and made fall to Earth, a US mercenary is abducted in Africa, a Chilean cargo ship is buzzed in the Atlantic (some cargo is removed and the ship's cat abducted), a convoy of fleeing refugees is saved from being gunned down in an ambush staged by some Chinese Red Army soldiers and the rioting inmates in a US prison facility have their memories wiped. Then there is English teenager Holly Foster who is receiving texts on her mobile from someone identifying themselves as "Observer 6" . . .
