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Short story of a dome (or at least a barrier) that appeared over a city overnight - it may have been New York or Manhattan. There was not any explanation or claim of responsibility. An engineer could hear a B-flat tone that it produced and that was a clue to solving it. The dome/barrier was actually a test, as the perpatrators were evaluating it as for a more large scale use/attack. I read this between 1975 and 1990 in an anthology.
Not a movie or video.
The story is The Box by James Blish (famous in Star Trek circles). Originally published in 1949 and republished several times, including in "The Best of James Blish" and "Beyond Control" 1972/74. It was even made into a teleplay on the show "The Secret Files of Captain Video", broadcast Sept. 5, 1953. The episode had Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink of Hogan's Heros).
A desperate race against death as a scientist & associate, rush to save a suffocating city entombed within a mysterious encapsulating covering.
It was in the 1952 Omnibus of Science Fiction by Groff Conklin. I remember that story vividly, as well as a few others from that book.
Here it is for sale in the edition I remember reading (printed in 84).
I feel like a story like this was discussed in the Incomparable podcast but I can't find the reference anymore... I did some searching and all I could find was All Flesh Is Grass (1965) by Simak... OK the book I was thinking about was Spin from Wilson, so definitely not what you're looking for... Hope this helps...
"The Dome" by Steven Milhauser
