s science fiction story written first published in 1940. It provided the basis of the noted 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Cliff Sutherland, a free-lance picture reporter, who is present when a mysterious "curving ovoid" ship instantaneously appears in the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Two days later, "visitors from the Unknown" emerge: a "god-like" person in human form and an 8-foot tall robot made of green metal.