Question: what are the aliens in war of the worlds

title: War of the Worlds (2005 film)
text: Ray joins the crowd at the scene of the lightning strikes , where a massive `` Tripod '' war machine emerges from the ground and uses powerful weaponry to destroy the area , disintegrating most of the witnesses into a grey dust and leaving only their empty clothes behind . Ray collects his children , steals a car that had just been repaired , and drives to Mary Ann 's empty home in suburban New Jersey to take refuge . The next morning , he finds that a Boeing 747 has crashed in the street . A news team scavenging for food and surveying the wreckage explain that there are multiple Tripods that have attacked major cities including New York City , Paris , Washington , D.C. , and London , and have force shields to protect them from human weapons . They also explain the Tripods ' pilots traveled to Earth within the lightning as a way to enter their war machines , which had been buried here millions of years prior . Ray decides to take the kids to Boston to be with their mother . The three are forced to abandon their car after a mob sees that it 's working and swarms the vehicle . They later survive a Tripod attack which causes a Hudson River ferry to sink . During a desperate battle between U.S. Marines and the aliens , Ray is forced to choose between being separated from Rachel and preventing Robbie from joining the fight : he lets Robbie go with the Marines , to what appears to be certain death . While escaping , Ray and Rachel are offered shelter in the basement of a farmhouse by a man named Harlan Ogilvy . 

Answer: answer: At the scene of the lightning strikes, a massive ``Tripod'' war machine emerges from the ground and uses powerful weaponry to destroy the area, disintegrating most of the witnesses into a grey dust and leaving only their empty clothes behind.  There is a desperate battle between U.S. Marines and the aliens.
answer: The lightning strikes, a massive ``Tripod'' war machine emerges from the ground and uses powerful weaponry to destroy the area, disintegrating most of the witnesses into a grey dust and leaving only their empty clothes behind.  A news team explained that there are multiple Tripods that have attacked major cities including New York City, Paris, Washington, D.C. and London, and have force shields to protect them from human weapons. They also explain the Tripods' pilots traveled to Earth within the lightning as a way to enter their war machines, which had been buried here millions of years prior.