Alan Sims, property master: The script called for something round, so I set to work, locating items that could be made into something round. As you know, we are always trying to save time and money; and it wasn't any different with this particular prop. I located some fans at Home Depot that had great housings, but only half of the fan would work for what I wanted, so I bought two and used half of each."

Transwarp coil.

Transwarp coil.

Having acquired the housings, Alan had to give them a suitably high-tech look. Alan: "We set about making it light up and flash slowly with green lights. The top and bottom of the fans were flat, so fluorescent diffuser lights were great for the top and bottom covers. Then I had holes cut in the middle, and we put in all kinds of visually interesting materials, like copper rings, circuit board, armatures, and perforated metal. Basically, we used whatever bits and pieces we had lying around that could be added to give that finished alien look."