I have to fully endorse this mission. Ninety year old William Shatner, a.k.a. Captain James Kirk, first real trip into space. Live long and prosper, Captain.
The Solomons first meet the Big Giant Head in person when he arrived by plane at their local airport, in an obviously agitated state. When asked about his flight, he responded "Horrifying, at first. I looked out the window and ... I saw something on the wing of the plane", to which Dick responded "The same thing happened to me!" This is a double reference. In an early episode, Dick attempts to fly for the first time and is frightened when he sees something on the wing of the plane. Both references are also to the Twilight Zone story "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", which tells of a man on a commercial flight who is convinced he sees a creature on the plane's wing which no one else can see. Both William Shatner and John Lithgow (Dick) had previously played that Twilight Zone character; Shatner played it in the original 1963 TV series episode, and Lithgow played it in the 1983 movie remake.