Nan Moore is a U.S. government employee whose son is killed when Korean Air Flight 007 is shot down by Soviets on September 1, 1983. While the "official" story maintains that the flight accidentally veered too far into Soviet territory, was mistaken as a spy plane and shot down when it failed to identify itself, Ms. Moore suspects otherwise. However, in the course of her struggles to get to the bottom of what actually happened, she finds herself constantly stonewalled. Facing a conspiracy of silence and the increasing hostility of the authorities, Ms. Moore attempts to find out exactly what occurred, but with every answer she discovers, new questions arise.