I will give this film credit to how the writer/director treated the aliens.

After watching both cuts of the film, I never received the impression that the aliens were our "foes." Rather, it was akin to a child playing with insects or a pet, in that everything had a sense of curiosity about it. When the aliens levitated the lighthouse couple into the air, it was as if they were attempting to bring them aboard their ship. Unfortunately, due to the nature/construction of the craft and/or the existence of the aliens as an extraterrestrial form of energy, the humans were too fragile to bring aboard. As a result, the wife was burned and the husband was burned to death.

When the 2 scuba friends were levitated out of their raft and flung back towards the island, it was as if the aliens were "putting the insects back into the jar". When one of the friends (played by the writer/director John Coats) fired the pistol at the "being", it was as if it was trying to communicate to him. Unfortunately for him, it was some Eldritch energy being, and it's mere voice/electromagnetic waves drove him (albeit temporarily) crazy and then comatose.

Even on the beach, it was as if the UFOe was trying to speak, whether an apology, a final statement or just acknowledgement that humans were too fragile for contact and interaction.

I cannot say as to how the other scuba friend died. Maybe the aliens tried one last time for contact, and when he died they gave up and left. Maybe he simply died from natural causes, having drowned when capsized by large waves while trying to get back to his boat. I almost feel the movie would have better if it had left his fate unanswered (something washing ashore, but not him, like remains of his raft with burn marks indicating that they successfully abducted him).

This could have been an excellent little 70's sci-fi movie, if only the acting was better...