ABC airs the third episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, based on Jeff Rice’s novel and the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin. Dick Van Patten guest stars. 
Unusual animal deaths at the Lincoln Park Zoo are the first sign that Chicago has a new resident. The killings spread to humans, with each of the victims having been drained of bone marrow. Kolchak and the police are witness to a strange invisible force that escapes with 10 tons of lead ingots, and leaves piles of black goo in its wake. The goo is composed of bone marrow and digestive acids. Combining this information with the widespread theft of electronic appliances, Kolchak comes to believe that an alien electromagnetic creature is on the loose. Using a compass, he tracks the being to a planetarium, where it is consulting star maps in an attempt to locate its position. Kolchak manages to drive the creature off with the high-pitched noise of his camera flash-recharger, and follows it to its spacecraft for a final confrontation.
written by Rudolph Borchert
from a story by Dennis Clark
directed by Allen Baron
music by Gil MilleCast: Darren McGavin (Carl Kolchak), Simon Oakland (Tony Vincenzo), James Gregory (Captain Quill), Mary Wickes (Dr. Bess Winestock), Maureen Arthur (Woman Speaker), Dick Van Patten (Alfred Bindle), Jack Grinnage (Ron Updyke), Carole Anne Susi (Monique Marmelstein), John Fiedler (Gordan “Gordy the Ghoul” Spangler), Rudy Challenger (Stanley Wedemyer), Phil Leeds (Howard Gough), Len Lesser (Crowley), Fritz Feld (Waiter), Tony Rizzo (Leon Van Heusen), Dennis McCarthy (Guard)
Notes: X-Files creator Chris Carter has often credited The Night Stalker as his inspiration for his own series. This episode, with its presence of mysterious government agents and organized coverup, is very similar to several early X-Files/UFO episodes. The alien(s)’ invisible presence is effectively conveyed by first-person camera work, a blowing wind, and strange sound effects.
LogBook entry by Steve Crowe