five o'clock
Anyone but Lockley behind a cloud of ions would have been reduced to shivering hysteria . Then , suddenly , the beamings stopped . But Lockley left his device in operation . Half an hour later still -- close to five o'clock -- it appeared that the invaders assumed that any enemy should have been softened up for capture . They sent an expedition to find out what had happened to their trucks and cars . Lockley saw four cars and a light truck in close formation moving toward him from the Lake . They were close , as if for mutual protection .