Unidentified Flying Object

"*UFO doesn't mean aliens. It means unidentified flying object. So, I'm trying to identify it.*"
—Naomi to Annabelle
**Unidentified Flying Object** is the second episode of the first season of The CW's superhero drama *Naomi*. It aired on January 18, 2022.

## Synopsis

**SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS** - Following a shocking revelation by Dee, Naomi enlists her friends to dig deeper into the mystery surrounding unexplained occurrences in Port Oswego and whether they have anything to do with her past. Meanwhile, Naomi's parents are caught off guard by Naomi's interrogations. Another ominous encounter with Zumbado leaves Naomi shaken, and she seeks Dee's help in taking the next step to embracing her destiny.

## Plot

Dee retracts his wings and explains to Naomi that while he doesn't know who she is exactly, he is certain of one thing — that it started on March 14, 2004, when he saw the light in the sky and first sensed her presence. He further explains how there are invisible vibrations all around them and that people like them have a unique vibrational signature, similar to a fingerprint, and Dee's wings grant him the ability to sense it. Speaking of which, his wings are made from a rare metal found on his home planet of Thanagar. Dee's an alien, as is Naomi, who is a bit overwhelmed by the revelation. He didn't tell her sooner because he didn't want to blow up her life, as her abilities seemed dormant and she seemed happy. While Dee promises to do his best to answer any further questions, he tells her to get some rest and that they'll resume tomorrow.

While Naomi knows that her birth parents died in a crash, she isn't aware of the details. Unfortunately, neither are Greg nor Jennifer, who wonder why Naomi is asking all of a sudden. She claims that she's simply been thinking about it lately, however, they have no answers for her. It was a closed adoption and all the agency would tell them is that it's somewhere on the East Coast. None of this matters to them, though, with Jennifer reminding Naomi that she's their daughter, no matter what. It's hard for Greg to accept that he can't keep Naomi safe from everything, but he promises to always love and be there for her.

Naomi skateboards to school, riding past Dee's tattoo shop, as well as Zumbado's car dealership as he speaks to the police.

After a long day at school, Naomi is approached at her locker by Anthony, who nervously asks her out on a date to the new pizza place in town, to which she agrees, unaware that she had agreed to an actual date.

Naomi meets Dee at the old bridge, where he reveals to her that the first bridges were built by the people of Ancient Egypt, with their own two hands. Dee recalls Naomi asking for proof of his claims. And so, he's brought her out to the bridge to convince her to jump, assuring Naomi that she'll defy gravity and won't even make a splash. However, she is hesitant, even as Dee points out that she's never been injured a single day in her life. Still, she is reluctant to believe that she's an alien and unwilling to jump down into the river. Dee recalls how Superman once told him that "Impossible is relative," revealing to Naomi that he fought side by side with Superman a long time ago, in a war. Naomi maintains her stance and denounces the existence of superheroes and aliens. Instead of jumping, she declares that she'll find the crash site and figure out what really happened that day. Realizing that she's not ready to accept the truth, Dee jumps off the bridge himself and spreads his metal wings. As he hovers above the bridge, Dee tells Naomi that she is an alien and that finding the crash site won't change that.

Jennifer welcomes Annabelle inside, who has come over after receiving a "soft 911" from Naomi, which is only one step down from an actual medical emergency. It includes but is not limited to: romantic emergency, school emergency, snack emergency, and fashion emergency.

Annabelle joins Naomi as she attempts to uncover the truth behind the UFO sighting in 2004, but Naomi seems completely obsessed with her latest endeavor, revealing that there's been a lot of UFO sightings in Port Oswego over the years. A lot of people thought that the March 14th UFO landed in Red River Forest, but her theory is that it landed somewhere near Falls Creek, which she wants to investigate, but Annabelle is skeptical. However, she helps Naomi nevertheless and calls Jacob over to give them a ride in his barely functional car.

Greg meets with Commander Steel, who is impressed with his resume: Counterintelligence analyst for DOD and on the ground experience in several countries. The Commander isn't so sure that the alleged stunt was a stunt at all, despite the fact that Dee claimed ownership. The reason being that their team found a piece of red fabric in Red River Forest, near the crash site. Their lab techs have been working on it for the last couple of days, but it's virtually indestructible and possibly relates to the Superman incident. Greg questions why Dee would admit to being involved if he wasn't, which is what the Commander is hoping he can find out.

Annabelle and Jacob mention Naomi's upcoming date with Anthony, but she wasn't aware that she had agreed to a date. Naomi simply thought they were going out for pizza as friends. Moving on, Jacob, who is a firm believer in aliens, grabs his gear from the trunk and prepares to move further into the woods. Despite the alleged crash happening over 16 years ago, Naomi is hopeful they will find something, maybe even just debris or any evidence of a crash. However, during their search of Falls Creek, Naomi's hearing amplifies without warning, and she can hear everything around her, from the snakes in the grass to the spider crawling its web. A bit overwhelmed by her abilities, Naomi reveals to Annabelle that she can hear everything.

Naomi reveals to Annabelle that she went to see Dee after they broke into Zumbado's dealership, and he sprouted wings and revealed that they both were aliens from outer space, along with Superman being real. Annabelle is literally speechless and questions why Naomi is so persistent in proving superheroes aren't real. Before she can answer, they are joined by Nathan, who asks if they could be any character from Greek mythology, who would they be, in reference to his and Naomi's school project. Annabelle would be Zeus, who was known for his incredible power, but Naomi argues that having all that power was probably too much pressure and that maybe Zeus didn't want to be a God at all. Naomi changes the subject and asks Nathan to come over after soccer practice, so that they can work on their project together.

Anthony has joined Naomi, Annabelle, and Jacob as they develop the photos they took while at Falls Creek. Anthony questions if they went because of Steve O'Brien, who is at the center of a Port Oswego urban legend. Steve is a local guy who was obsessed with UFOs back in the day. In 2004, when he was either a junior or senior in high school, he and some friends went into the woods to look for the crash site, and apparently, some weird stuff started happening, but after he came back from the woods, Steve refused to talk about it.

Fortunately, Steve still lives in Port Oswego, and Anthony introduces his friends to Mr. O'Brien, who used to do some logging jobs with Anthony's dad. They inquire about the 2004 UFO crash, but Steve instantly becomes uncomfortable with the conversation. Initially, he claims that he simply didn't want to be the strange UFO guy anymore, but when Naomi asks what happened back then, he reluctantly reveals that he was skateboarding in the square when he saw the light that day. So, he and a couple of his friends decided to find the crash site. They were almost at the mill when things started to happen. The woods started to feel alive, and they could hear voices, despite never actually seeing anyone. They never made it inside, as Steve heard a horrible noise before seeing a bright light. That's the last thing he can remember before waking up back at his car. When Naomi mentions not seeing a mill at Falls Creek, Steve reveals that the UFO didn't land at Falls Creek, as they were a few miles away.

Naomi and her friends return home, where she insists that they have to find the mill, suspecting that the noise Steve heard was someone trying to cover up the crash, however, Anthony, Annabelle, and Jacob are reluctant to continue any further, as they all have homework to tend to. Naomi briefly loses her composure before retreating to her room, with Annabelle following behind her, trying to be the voice of reason. Assuming aliens and superheroes are real, Naomi wishes that it didn't have to be her. She's adopted, was always moving around because of her dad's job, and most of the time, she was the only black girl in her town and school. Her entire life has been about being different, and now she's supposed to accept the fact that she's an alien from space when she'd rather just be normal, but Annabelle reminds Naomi that she's anything but normal. She's recites the Serenity Prayer and explains that there are things in life that they simply can't change. While it's okay to be scared, Annabelle advises Naomi to accept her fate.

Naomi enters the kitchen to find Anthony helping her mother prepare dinner. When Jennifer heads to the car to get a left behind grocery bag, Anthony explains that he and Jacob decided to stay, as they wish to help Naomi. Nathan joins them and reminds Naomi that it was she who told him to come over so that they could work on their project. Naomi apologizes, but she's finding it difficult to explain her situation. While they may not be together, Nathan reminds Naomi that they're still friends and that she can talk to him about anything. They're interrupted by Annabelle, who tells them to come out into the living room, where Anthony and Jacob are scouring the map for mills, but none of them are within a ten-mile radius of Falls Creek, but on Naomi's Pacific Logging map, she finds a mill just a few miles from Falls Creek, as Steve described.

Just as Annabelle notes that Jacob's car is getting more and more crowded with each ride, the car itself breaks down on the side of the road, forcing Naomi to call Lourdes, who gives them a ride to the mill and follows them inside. They come across a wall with similar markings to those on the disk Naomi discovered in the woods. Naomi's hearing hieghrns just like before and she hears someone coming, telling her friends that they have to go, but they're cornered in by Zumbado, who has followed them to the mill. He reveals that the police came by his place after someone broke into his dealership, but he hasn't decided on what to tell them just yet. As for her friends, he gives them a chance to leave. While they're initially reluctant, Naomi pushes them to leave after Zumbado gives his word that they won't be harmed. Before parting ways, Lourdes hands Naomi her pepper spray and instructs her to aim for his eyes.

With her friends a safe distance away, she asks Zumbado what he wants. He simply wants her to stay out of this before she gets hurt. Just like before, when they were in the woods, Naomi conjures a vortex of energy around her. He's impressed, as she's much more focused than when they were in the woods, but using her powers will only get her into trouble, he warns her. Naomi wants to know what happened on March 14th and asks to know what the markings mean, but Zumbado simply blows a gust of wind in Naomi's direction, knocking her to the ground and warning her to never come back.

Naomi thanks Lourdes for the ride and walks the rest of the way home with Anthony, who questions why Zumbado was following them, but Naomi insists that she doesn't know why. When Anthony mentions their date, Naomi calls it off, revealing that she didn't mean to agree to a date, as she has a lot going on and wants to stay friends. She's not saying no to him, she's just saying not right now, which Anthony accepts.

Greg returns home and joins Jennifer on the couch. He tracked down the actor Dee hired, but all he got was a full voice mailbox. It's feeling like a dead end, and in the morning, Greg has to meet with Commander Steel. Jennifer questions if Dee is a threat. Greg isn't sure, but he is certain that Dee is hiding something.

Naomi returns to Dee's shop and asks why he's helping her, as it probably would've been easier for him to just stay quiet. Dee simply knows what it feels like to be different and not know why. Naomi genuinely wanted Dee to be wrong, and she told herself that if she could prove that something else happened on March 14th, then her life could go back to normal, but she realizes that will never happen. This scared her, but the notion of powers excites her. Naomi also asks Dee to introduce her to Superman, which he very well may do one day. She thanks him and reveals that her powers manifested again, but this time, she meant to conjure it, though she couldn't control it, which Dee offers to help with.

Commander Steel welcomes Greg to UAPTF, which stands for Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. It was developed by the DOD and Naval Intelligence to investigate other worldly threats, like aliens. The Superman appearance was only the latest in a long line of mysterious incidents. Not only are aliens real, Commander Steel believes that they're already among them. Unfortunately, they have no idea what the invaders want or what they will do to get it, so they have to assume they're extremely dangerous and hostile.

Zumbado returns to the mill and makes the markings on the wall disappear. Meanwhile, Dee trains Naomi, returning to the bridge and convincing her to jump into the river, which she does flawlessly, confirming that she is in fact an alien, if any doubt remained.

## Cast

* Cranston Johnson as Zumbado
* Alexander Wraith as Dee
* Mary-Charles Jones as Annabelle Peters
* Mouzam Makkar as Jennifer McDuffie
* Daniel Puig as Nathan
* Camila Moreno as Lourdes
* Will Meyers as Anthony
* Aidan Gemme as Jacob
* Barry Watson as Greg McDuffie
* Sean Hankinson as Steve O'Brien

## Trivia

* The episode title is referenced by multiple characters, all in search of the truth behind the March 14th, 2004, sighting.
* It is revealed that Dee is from Thanagar, most notably known for being home to Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

## Gallery

### Videos

Naomi 1x02 Promo "Unidentified Flying Object" (HD) DC superhero series

## References

1. ↑ Naomi: Season One Ratings - TV Series Finale
2. ↑ Recently Added Episode Titles - Various Shows - 22nd December 2021 - SpoilerTV
3. ↑ Naomi Listings- The Futon Critic