The Monsters Are Due On Cherry Street

***Writer's note: I will only be working at KAKE-TV on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the summer. Make sure to check in on those days to see any news posts. Thanks!***

It was an average house. There was a satelite dish on the roof. There was a bicycle in the front yard. It was a white house on a busy, residential street in a cozy neighborhood.

Driving by, most people wouldn't think anything of it on any other day. Except, today, there was a police vehicle keeping watch in the driveway.

And, today, I got the chance to accompany a reporter-photographer team to McPherson for an update on a homicide story.

Like others, I believed that the crime had taken place where the victim's body had been found, but as we discovered, the scene of the crime was probably this average-looking white house.

We talked to several neighbors. Some of them were "too close" to the story and didn't want to talk to us or be seen on camera. As we drove a block over, I made a comment to the photographer: "Perhaps these people will be more willing to talk to us since they're more distanced from the story."

The man who did agree to be on-camera, as well as the other ones who didn't, was surprised by what had happened, and the fact that it had probably taken place in the next house over seemed strange and unexpected.

"It is a nice neighborhood... These types of things never happen here... They seemed like a nice family... I'm so surprised... I never thought this would happen..."

On the long drive back to the station, I began to think about it myself: "Really, how well do you know your neighbors?"

As we passed the Kansas wheatfields and other, slower vehicles, I remembered the episode of The Twilight Zone, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street."

In the episode, an alien spaceship (which the residents initally believe to be an asteroid) lands near the town and disrupts all of the electricity, radio, and any type of communication or transportation the residents of Maple Street have. Then, the residents all begin obsessing over each other's strange habits, which could indicate abnormality, and thus, an allegiance with the invading aliens.

As I thought about it, I realized that I don't know my neighbors that well. They aren't my family's best friends, but we see them -- see what goes on, who comes and goes -- at least during waking hours.

Of course, like us, our neighbors probably have strange habits (like the neighbors on Maple Street). But, when things go wrong, it could be an opportunity for our survival instincts to kick in and start pointing fingers at each other.

So, when things go wrong -- when there are crime scenes down the street or when the electricity goes out or when aliens start manipulating our technology -- neighbors should be the ones we look to and rely on.

But, then again, perhaps we shouldn't rely on them too much. I guess it all depends on how well you know your neighbors.

And, as far as I could see, for these McPherson people, the news about their neighbor came as quite a shock.

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Click here to see the package of our McPherson homicide story.