It began as a routine transatlantic flight from Chicago to London. But for pilot Rayford Steele, journalist Buck Williams, flight attendant Hattie Durham, and many of the passengers on the Pan-Continental 747, it turned out to be one of the most traumatic and terrible nights of their lives.

Chaos erupts as a result of the disappearances, and those left behind search for answers to the vanishings. Sinister events occur at the United Nations as the new U.N. Ambassador Nicolae Carpathia grabs the reins of power.