As Army Officers approach the visitor, their attention is drawn at first to the smashed device laying on the ground beside the visitor. A sudden silence permeates the air. It is as if the very air in charged with electricity. A giant robot is for the first time seen, standing just outside the ship's portal. The Military backs away in fear and confusion.
Pandemonium breaks out in the crowd as curious spectators flee from around the ship.
The robot descends the ramp and comes to rest on the ground. The ramp withdraws automatically into the ship. The robot tilts its head, looks down upon the fallen visitor, and comes to a decision. No single scene, in any movie since, conjures the emotions of fear, panic, awe and expectation as this first appearance of Gort. Utter silence followed by the deep-throated strains of Bernard Hermann's score as Gort appears for the first time, instills in the viewer a sense of foreboding that sheer logic cannot dispel.