Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"
The Twilight Zone episode
Screen test of episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 3
Directed by	Richard Donner
Written by	Richard Matheson
Based on	"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" by Richard Matheson
Featured music	Stock from "King Nine Will Not Return" and "The Rip Van Winkle Caper"
Production code	2605
Original air date	October 11, 1963 (1963-10-11)
Running time	25 minutes (without commercials)
Guest appearances
William Shatner Christine White Edward Kemmer Asa Maynor Nick Cravat
Episode chronology
← Previous "Steel" Next → "A Kind of a Stopwatch"
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 5)
List of episodes

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is the third episode of the fifth season American television anthology series The Twilight Zone, based on the short story of the same name by Richard Matheson, first published in the short story anthology Alone by Night (1961). It originally aired on October 11, 1963, and is one of the most well-known and frequently referenced episodes of the series. The story follows a passenger on an airline flight, played by William Shatner, who notices a hideous creature trying to sabotage the aircraft during flight.

In 2019, Keith Phipps of Vulture stated that the episode "doubles as such an effective shorthand for a fear of flying", making it endure in popular culture.^[1] This is the first of six episodes to be directed by Richard Donner.