The very first model of the USS Enterprise which was used in the opening credits of “Star Trek: The Original Series” has been found after having been missing since the 1970s. It has been returned to the Roddenberry family. Heritage Auctions contacted Eugene “Rod” Rodenberry, son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry, to let him know they had it.
Heritage’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, said the auction house was contacted by people who said they’d discovered the model in a storage unit. When it was brought into Heritage’s Beverly Hills office, Maddalena and a colleague “instantly knew that it was the real thing.” The consensus is that this, the very first model of the Enterprise ever commissioned, is priceless.
This model reporteldy vanished in the 1970s, after Gene Roddenberry loaned it to makers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” which was released in 1979. The mystery remains of how it got lost, if that was the case.
Roddenberry is understandably thrilled to have this model back in the family’s possession. Especially after a long-lived rumor that he throw the model in the pool as a boy and having destroyed it. At least he knows for sure he’s in the clear about it. We can’t say for sure it never got thrown into a pool, we can say if it did it wasn’t enough to damage it.
“Finally I’m vindicated after all these years,” he said with a laugh.
Originally, the model sat atop Gene Rodenberry’s desk. It disappeared in the 70s and no one knew the real story. Gene who in the past was quite meticulous with his record keeping even going so far as to make notes of that prop went where, had not mentioned in any of his papers anything about this model. So it remained a mystery as to its whereabouts for a long time.
Roddenberry will not be keeping the model to himself. Instead, he’s going to donate it to a museum where fans of the show can visit it often.
“This is not going home to adorn my shelves,” Roddenberry said. “This is going to get restored and we’re working on ways to get it out so the public can see it and my hope is that it will land in a museum somewhere.” This model’s big brother, the 11-foot “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” shooting model, is currently housed in the Smithsonian.
