In other words, Jerry is nothing more than a part of Harry's subconscious mind. Thus after entering the sphere, Harry has this power. But in a shocking twist he discovers that Jerry does not actually exist, and that the sphere, in fact, holds the power to allow subconscious thought to become manifested into reality itself. Norman has a suddenly important role as he realizes he has to use psychology to keep the surviving team (now only himself, Beth, and Harry) alive by placating Jerry and keeping him from killing them all. Members of the team start to die in various attacks while the survivors struggle to placate the unthinkably powerful, childlike and temperamental Jerry, who seems to have no concept of death and finds them a source of amusement. But while they struggle to come up with answers to their questions surrounding Jerry and the sphere, bizarre and increasingly deadly events transpire involving sea creatures such as giant squid, sea snakes, and jellyfish, and soon it is apparent they are being manifested by Jerry himself. It first contacts them via a code, which Harry translates. The rest of the team cannot figure it out either.Īs they continue to study and theorize, they are contacted by an intelligent, seemingly friendly alien life form that calls itself Jerry who apparently is from within the spherical alien artifact.

Upon returning he has a terrible headache and he remembers little about what happened inside the sphere and how he opened it. Harry eventually opens it and goes inside. The story soon focuses on first asking thought-provoking questions about the sphere (namely whether it should be opened or not) and then on attempting to actually open the sphere and learn its nature, contents, and origin. At this point a Pacific storm keeps the scientists on the ocean floor without contact or support from the Navy on the surface for what could be a week or more. On further exploration of the spacecraft, the team discovers a mysterious spherical artifact of clearly extraterrestrial origin, which quickly becomes the focus of the characters' mission and the book's plot. To their surprise, they soon discover that the spacecraft is in fact not alien, but an American craft constructed fifty years in the future and apparently sent through time although coral on the craft indicates that it has not been touched for over 300 years.

In the book, the group of scientists, including psychologist Norman Johnson, mathematician Harry Adams, biologist Beth Halpern, and astrophysicist Ted Fielding, (along with the navy personnel) are placed in a deep sea habitat at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to explore the spacecraft.

Sphere book michael crichton