#2579: Tractor Beam explain

[A flying saucer type spacecraft hangs in the air above a flat area with scattered rocks and two hills in the background. A beam of ’light’ emerges, a conical region textured with wavy lines radiating along its length, from a small square opening beneath the bottom of the craft going down to the ground a bit right of the saucer where its conceivably circular cross-section is rendered elliptic by both its angle of projection and our own viewing perspective. Cueball hangs suspended within the middle of the beam, above the ground but still some way from the saucer. His arms are held out to either side and his legs are bent up behind him. He is looking up at the saucer while talking.]

Cueball: Does this beam only lift me? How do you avoid pulling up dirt and leaves and stuff? If I kick off my shoes, will they fall?

Cueball: Is my weight pulling your ship downward? What will happen if a bat flies through the beam?

Cueball: Hey, why does your ship have those blinky lights? Are they…

[Caption below the panel:]

Moments later, the aliens set me back down and left.