On February 20, 1954, an apocryphal tale suggests that President Dwight D. Eisenhower interrupted his vacation in Palm Springs, California, to make a secret trip to Edwards Air Force Base to meet with two extraterrestrial aliens. The official narrative for the day in question was Eisenhower visited a dentist because he chipped his porcelain cap on a chicken wing at dinner.
The episode title "Take Me To Your Leader" was a common refrain in the alien-themed sci-fi films that were released at the time the episode was set.
At 282 feet below sea level, Death Valley is the lowest point in North America. On October 24, 1994 it was established as a National Park.
The first part of the episode takes place in Albuquerque. New Mexico. in 1954. This is about two hours from Roswell, where the famous alleged UFO crash occurred in 1947. Alien websites claim there are FBI documents that state three alien bodies were found in Albuquerque in 1950 and that a military manual for alien entities and tech recovery and disposal was printed in Albuquerque in 1954. Over the years, a number of sightings have also occurred there, even as recently as 2021. 1954 was also one of the largest worldwide waves of UFO sightings, as well as the beginning of people claiming abduction.
The episode includes a number of things long connected with aliens in both the real world and science fiction including interruption of electronics or machinery, including the car; seeing bright lights during an encounter; lost time; and reports of alien experiments or "probing".