Describe the spaceship.

Chapter 4 is probably the best location for a description of what the spaceship looks and sounds like. At this point, Billy knows that he is about to be taken by the spacecraft, so he goes out in the yard in order to wait for it. The first thing that he notices about the flying saucer is that it sounds like a hooting owl. The flying saucer is capable of navigating both space and time, and it is most likely perfectly circular. The reason for that is that the narrator tells readers that the ship's diameter is 100 feet, so the flying saucer isn't exactly that big. By comparison a modern day semitruck and trailer are roughly 75 feet in length. The flying saucer has portholes around its outer rim, and purple light pulses from the windows. In the bottom of the flying saucer, there is an airtight hatch through which a ladder can extend out of. The ladder leads into an airlock that has two "peepholes" for somebody to look into the airlock. The airlock also has a speaker inside of it. There are several rooms inside the flying saucer, and readers are told that Billy's room is complete with a "Barca-Lounger." There is also a cargo hold aboard.

The hold of the saucer was crammed with other stolen merchandise, which would be used to furnish Billy's artificial habitat in a zoo on Tralfamadore.