Debris: NBC's new UFO mystery drama unveils first out-of-this-world footage

It's time to make first contact with NBC's brand-new genre series coming to the network this spring.

At a TCA panel Tuesday afternoon, NBC dropped a sneak peek at Debris, a UFO-based mystery/drama about an ominous alien wreckage strewn across the western hemisphere. The pieces start messing with the laws of physics in a way the human mind can barely comprehend. Our species just isn't ready for this tech and as a result, two agents (played by Jonathan Tucker and Riann Steele) from two different continents — and opposing mindsets — are tasked with recovering the splintered craft.

Described as a tantalizing mix of The X-Files and Men in Black, Debris was created by Almost Human's J.H. Wyman, who also serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Watching the first footage, it's easy to see that Wyman learned a thing or two about delivering paranormal thrills from his time as an executive producer on Fringe.

Check it out:

“For me, this is a new concept in things I’m trying to say,” Wyman explained at the panel. “This is a very different concept. It’s dealing with what I am going through now because there is always my DNA in the show. And I love my fans from Fringe so there is something in this for them, but it’s also its own thing.”

NBC ordered the project to series last summer, making it the first pilot of 2020 to score a full season from the network. Luckily, the flagship episode had already finished most of its on-site production just prior to the lengthy shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Any remaining footage was filled in with temporary animation — a similar tactic used by The Blacklist's Season 7 finale.

Jason Hoffs, Jeff Vlaming, and Samantha Corbin-Miller are attached as executive producers on Debris, which is a co-production between Frequency Films (Wyman's production company) and Legendary Television, and Universal Television.

The close encounter begins on NBC on March 1.