William Shatner turns 84 today (March 22, 2015). Shatner, of course, is most often associated with his role as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk.

One of his other famous roles is in this classic Twilight Zone episode, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” in which he plays an anxious traveler who thinks he sees a gremlin tampering with the wing of a plane. Watch the 2-minute version right here.

The Twilight Zone, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (1963)

The episode has often been parodied. For example, The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror IV” Halloween episode features the segment “Nightmare at 5 1/2 Feet,” in which Bart sees a gremlin on the side of the school bus. In the movie Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig believes she sees a Colonial woman churning butter on the wing of a plane.

On The Simpsons, Bart seems a gremlin on the side of the school bus.

In the movie Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig thinks she sees a colonial woman churning butter on the wing of the plane.

Personally, I’m more afraid of birds hitting my plane than I am of gremlins, but that’s just me.

Related article

• William Shatner Wikipedia listing (wikipedia.org)