<Tr> <Td> Polis, Joel Joel Polis </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Fuchs, Fuchs </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Waites, Thomas Thomas Waites </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> Windows, Windows </Td> </Tr> <P> In Antarctica, in 1982, a Norwegian helicopter pursues a sled dog to an American research station . The Americans witness the Norwegian passenger accidentally blow up the helicopter and himself . The Norwegian pilot fires a rifle and shouts at the Americans, but they cannot understand him and he is shot dead in self - defense by station commander Garry . The American helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and Dr. Copper leave to investigate the Norwegian base . Among the charred ruins and frozen corpses, they find the burned remains of a malformed humanoid which they recover to the American station . Their biologist, Blair, autopsies the remains and finds a normal set of human organs . </P> <P> Clark kennels the sled dog where it soon metamorphoses and absorbs the station dogs . This disturbance alerts the team and Childs uses a flamethrower to incinerate the creature . Blair autopsies the new creature and learns that it can perfectly imitate other organisms . Recovered Norwegian data leads the Americans to a large excavation site containing a partially buried flying saucer, and a smaller, human - sized dig site . Norris estimates that the saucer has been buried for at least 100,000 years . Blair grows paranoid that the creature could assimilate all life on Earth in a matter of years . The station implements controls to reduce the risk of assimilation . </P>

Where does the movie the thing take place