<< I laughed out at Tom's alternate ending suggestion <<

Oh, I remember now -- my joking suggestion for an alternate ending where the aliens DO turn out to be mean and conquest-minded, and the sheriff -- who's endangered the whole Earth by not acting more quickly -- is asked why he DIDN'T move against the aliens when they first started injuring and kidnapping people. And the sheriff's only possible response would have to be the truth: "Because Mr. Putnam, the town screwball, asked me not to!"