A NASA spacecraft lands on an unknown planet and begins to take rock and soil samples. Four aliens discover it and are sucked into the craft through its vacuum tube, after which it makes its way back to Earth. The aliens are able to escape from a government base by using their powers (with which they can destroy or heal anything they touch). During the escape, the youngest one hides in a passing van, occupied by a boy named Eric Cruise who uses a wheelchair, his older brother, Michael, and their single mother, Janet, who are moving to California from Illinois.