- In 1960, a military test pilot is caught in a time warp that propels him to year 2024 where he finds a plague has sterilized the world's population.
- Experimental pilot testing a new rocket powered craft (actually a Convair F-102 interceptor) manages to fly into the future and land at the now deserted airbase he left. He ends up in a city with people who are suspicious he is a spy and who want to keep him to procreate with the rulers daughter because the majority of the inhabitants are sterile. He manages to escape and return to his own time but "with consequences".—Jamie Bone
- Major Bill Allison, a US Air Force test pilot, successfully flies the X-80 experimental aircraft into space, but loses radio contact mid-flight. When he returns to the air base, it looks abandoned, old and deserted. Mystified, he sees a futuristic city on the horizon and heads towards it before falling into unconsciousness and being captured. When Allison awakens, he finds himself in a dystopian underground city known as the Citadel. Unperturbed by his captors' refusal to speak to him, Allison reacts hostilely at first, but eventually calms down and is brought to their leader, the Supreme. The latter explains that he and his second-in-command, the Captain, are the only two residents of the Citadel able to speak and hear her. The rest of the inhabitants, including the Supreme's granddaughter Trirene, are deaf and dumb, and all but Trirene are sterile. A telepath, she reads Allison's thoughts and tells the Supreme that she doesn't believe him to be a spy, as the Captain suspects. The captain sends Allison to prison with a group of bald, violent mutants bent on killing everyone in the Citadel. As the mutants attack her, Allison overpowers one and demands answers. They claim to be survivors of a cosmic plague and blame the Citadel's inhabitants for their problems. The captain then releases Allison and explains that Trirene has convinced the supreme that he is not an enemy. Sensing his confusion, Trirene shows him historical photographs that help explain the Citadel's history and at his request leads him to two scientists and a Russian female officer. After deactivating the monitoring devices, the scientists explain that Allison has travelled back in time to 2024. Nuclear weapons testing damaged the Earth's atmosphere, releasing radioactive rays. Those who fled underground, to the Citadel, were affected, although not as severely as those who remained above ground. We also learn that for 20 years, there have been no new births. The scientists themselves are accidental time travelers, since the captain, a Russian officer named Markova, and general Kruse have arrived from colonies on other planets. Markova explains that the Supreme needs Allison to try and repopulate their society with Trirene's help. The scientists then warn Allison not to trust the Citadel, while the captain in turn warns Allison not to trust the scientists. As Trirene and Allison spend more time together, they eventually fall in love. Although initially reluctant, Allison joins the scientists in a plan to turn Trirene against his people so that he can return to the past and try to change history. For her part, Markova releases the mutants to attack the residents and demands to accompany Allison instead of Trirene. Kruss, accompanied by Bourman, arrives and shoots Markova for her betrayal. Then Bourman knocks Kruse out, explaining that Kruse was planning to hijack the plane. Bourman, however, also intends to use the X-80 to return to his own time. As Allison and Bourman struggle for Kruse's gun, a stray bullet kills Trirene before Allison can defeat Bourman. Allison then takes Trirene's body to the Supreme, who is distraught at both the death of his granddaughter and the loss of his people. The Supreme directs Allison to a secret passage, convinced that there is still hope. Back in his own time, Allison recounts his fantastic adventure in a recorded debriefing. As senior officials visit Allison in hospital, it is revealed that he has aged considerably and is now an elderly man. Allison frantically warns them of future events, and one of them says they have a lot to think about.
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By what name was Beyond the Time Barrier (1960) officially released in India in English?
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