The scene opens on a 1950s classroom: Eager students hang on each word offered by the very knowledgeable "visiting professor." His lesson is far more riveting than Miss Thompson's typical fare.
"The Autronic-Eye is an automatic electronic device that contributes to the safety, comfort and convenience of night driving by accomplishing the following three functions without the possibility of human error."
The mesmerized young audience is oblivious to the subtle lifting of his left eyebrow and a well-concealed smirk as he intones that last phrase.
"First, it automatically shifts the headlamps from upper to lower beam whenever an oncoming car approaches. Second, it holds the beam on until the initial car and all other cars behind it have passed. Third, it automatically returns the headlamps to the upper beam as soon as all oncoming traffic has passed."
"But exactly how does it work?" asks Johnny, who--to the best recollection of his exasperated teacher observing from the sidelines--has never before posed a timely, pertinent question in class. Ever.
The professor explains, "The phototube unit, mounted on the top left side of the instrument panel, is an optical device which receives power from the Amplifier Unit by electrical cable. The lens of the Phototube Unit picks up light from an approaching car and focuses it through a filter and mask to the phototube. The phototube converts the light into an electrical signal which is conducted, by a cable, to the Amplifier Unit."
The professor hands a gleaming Horizon Blue, 1953 Chevrolet model car to Johnny to hold in front of the class.
"The Amplifier Unit is mounted under the hood on the left front fender skirt. It supplies voltage to both the Phototube Unit and the Power Relay. The Amplifier Unit operates the Power Relay in response to a signal from the Phototube Unit.
"The Power Relay is mounted under the hood near the Amplifier Unit. Upon receipt of a signal from the Phototube Unit through the Amplifier Unit, the Power Relay switches the headlamps between the upper and lower beams.
"Tomorrow, we'll discuss automobiles of the future. Class dismissed."
The children exit, with the exception of an unusually contemplative Johnny--typically first to the door each day.
"Tell me how the phototube converts light into an electrical signal. Please, sir?"
As the professor and Johnny walk along the tree-lined street, the visitor--"Smith. From Detroit," is his terse reply to all inquiries--patiently describes a phototube as a light-sensitive electronic device that creates an electrical current when exposed to light or electromagnetic radiation. Inside the tube, a negatively charged cathode is coated with a photo emissive surface which releases electrons when struck with light. Also within the phototube is a positively charged anode, which attracts electrons when they are emitted by the cathode; this creates the current.
"This 'photoelectric effect' has many valuable uses..." offers the professor, as they reach Johnny's front porch. Again, a glimmer in the visitor's eye goes unnoticed.
From his bed that night, Johnny watches the stars--his thoughts spinning--and awakes from fantastic dreams. He is early to school. "My, yet another first," smiles Miss Thompson.
Sadly, the professor breaks his promise to return and continue his lesson. His disappearance is as immediate and puzzling as his arrival a short time ago in the quiet rural community. Both events correspond with a flurry of reports of strange, colorful lights in the crystal-clear Iowa night sky.
A dejected Johnny scuffs his feet slowly home, only to discover the model car and a crisp, new 1953 Chevrolet Power Steering and Autronic-Eye Repair Manual atop his night stand. The manual falls open to page 23, where he finds a scrap of paper inscribed "from a friend." It marks the full text of the professor's lesson.
Are the professor and the author of the manual one in the same? Why go to the trouble of promoting the Autronic-Eye to supple young minds? Has "Smith" been sowing the seeds of curiosity to classrooms elsewhere?
Suddenly inspired, Johnny blossoms into a highly motivated engineering student. To this day the very same "John. From Decorah," remains active deep within the automotive industry.
GM offered the Autronic-Eye in 1952-'59 models (though dates varied by division), including a redesign in 1958. The 1960-'61 model years saw another redesign and a curious name change to Guide-Matic; Cadillac alone offered the option through its 1964 models. The option's availability proved to be an eerie corollary to an influx of UFO sightings and reports of extra-terrestrial activities.
The U.S. government's own Project Blue Book recorded over 12,000 UFO-related entries from 1952-'69. Vast stretches of rural America quickly transformed to brightly illuminated suburbia, much as a child's comforting nightlight helped to keep nighttime monsters at bay. Maybe all this was simply "a coincidence."
Ambient light confounded the Eye's sensors; reliability of the units faltered; sales diminished and the feature was discontinued: This may have been no less than the saving grace for planet Earth.
If the Autronic-Eye had become a standard component of every automobile, could it have somehow been turned against us by alien invaders already living among us? Utilizing hidden, advanced electronics, could the passive instrument have been transformed into an active laser/death ray in the hands of hostile extra-terrestrials? Might our own personal vehicles and interstate system have facilitated a master takeover plan?
Numerous contemporary books, movies and published reports offered broad hints to such real-life interplanetary dangers and the flukes of fate that spared us; even those proffered merely as "innocent fiction." The common cold thwarted Orson Welles's Martians in War of the Worlds; a single spoken command sent Gort peacefully home in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Perhaps below-projection sales of a $50 option saved us all. For a moment.
But the true intent of those deep within today's automotive industry who package cars with integrated cameras, pedestrian detection, satellite-linked GPS and self-driving modes should give cause to a new world of anxiety.
This article originally appeared in the December, 2013 issue of Hemmings Motor News.
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