The Sixth Sense: The Man Who Died at Three and Nine

A government official has visions of death by drowning, a voice calls to him, “Help me!” He’s working on secret negotiations for the government, goes to see Dr. Rhodes for a consultation.

The visions come at three and nine, or else (in Dr. Rhodes’ presence) the official brusquely dismisses the good doctor, who discerns a medallion on a chain around his patient’s neck.

This satire comes complete with a “telepath” actively embarking on a transplantation of his own mind into the official, who is facing oblivion. The telepath is a Hindu and a student of tantric meditation, he saved himself by abandoning his wife in “a seasonal flood of the Ganges”.

The official at one point exclaims, “The truth! I don’t even know what reality is any more.”

For Night Gallery, Rod Serling explicates this with a question, “Have you ever wondered who controls the mind of our important statesmen?” The answer is “evil entities”, which is merely an allusion to St. Paul, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”