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In the first scene we see with Perry, he mentions a past experience to Maj. Reynolds on “Ulithi.” Reynolds replies about “raiding a bar on Mogmog.” Ulithi Atoll was an important US Naval base during WW2; it was occupied by US forces in late 1944 and served as an important staging area. Mogmog was one of the larger islands, and it did have a bar where sailors could purchase (with special tickets) room-temperature beer. Posted by Kenmore, 12/13/2009.
Med Flory - Captain McVey in this episode - plays police Sgt McVey in The Case of the Crying Comedian.
Captain Caldwell is out of uniform - no name badge. And Perry wears a striped shirt - never seen that before. DOD 10/29/20
William Schallert has a small role in that great 1954 sci-fi movie “Them!” Among his fellow actors - our favorite PM judge Willis Bouchey; future Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy; future Matt Dillon, James Arness; future Daniel Boone, Fess Parker; and Richard Deacon of “Leave it to Beaver” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. DOD 10/16/19
When we see the first rocket being launched, there is an odd lopsided appearance to the exhaust flame. Perhaps this was due to a malfunctioning rocket motor and led to the failure of the launch. The second (allegedly successfull)rocket shows the same anomaly. Indeed, as far as I can tell, it is the same footage as the first launch, only stopped before the failure. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 9/30/2013.
+That is a classic Atlas rocket. The lopsided part of the plume is the exhaust from the turbopump. Modern rockets feed the pump exhaust into the combustion chamber, so their exhaust is not lopsided. Submitted by vgy7ujm, 10/16/2014.
++The 2 Sub-Orbital Mercury flights used Redstones; the 4 Orbitals used Atlases [pao.ksc.nasa.gov/...mercury/flight]. Mike Bedard 3.15.15.
It seems odd that the range safety crew that found the body didn't have radios with which to alert launch control in time to stop the launch. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 9/30/2013.
I also find it hard to believe a husky guy like Caldwell could be killed with a flashlight. DOD 10/15/19
+ There was also a large rock involved. vgy7ujm 09/17/20
Is this the only Perry Mason episode without Burger, Tragg, and Della? Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 10/1/2013.
+ Well wouldn't you know it? I just saw episode 163--TCOT Lurid Letter--and there was no Burger, Tragg, or Della in that one either! And Robert Rockwell was in both episodes! Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 10/1/2013.
It looks like Captain McVeigh never gave Paul and Perry their ID badges. Submitted by vgy7ujm, 10/16/2014.
Miss/Ms.: Again, the closed-captioning translates Miss into Ms. twice when Capt. Caldwell addresses Helen Rand and once when Huxley calls her "Miss Arrange-It-All." Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 10/18/14.
Where are the women?: Helen Rand was the only female character in the story (unless you count the extras in the bar scene). Submitted by H. Mason 11/10/14
The 1st of the Space-oriented Perrys, Misguided Missile aired 1 day after the 1st Mercury mission on May 5, 1961, when Alan Shepard made a Sub-Orbital flight in Freedom 7. Five others followed in Liberty Bell 7, Friendship 7, Aurora 7, Sigma 7 & Faith 7 which coincided with the May 16, 1963 airing of TCOT Witless Witness [pao.ksc.nasa.gov...mercury/flight]. Mike Bedard 3.14.15.
A book entitled 'The Rocket Men' gives great detail into the difficulties the US went through to get rockets to fly .. as Mr. Spock would say of it, "Fascinating." As a side note, seeing William Schallert's character pull a bottle out for a quick nip, without much more than a stare from another character, reminds me how times have changed ... anyone doing that would be on their way to some sort of rehab, at a minimum, these days. I'd say that was one thing that IS better about now, as I've seen men drink themselves out of jobs, into bad injuries and even, literally, to death because they couldn't control their drinking .. Submitted by MikeReese, 12/11/2015
The cigarette butts in the ashtray in George Huxley's hotel room are Parliament cigarettes. Otto Gervaert, 11/15/2021