10 Predictions About The Future Star Trek Probably Got Wrong
7. April 5, 2063: Is There Life On Ni'Var?
Have beings from another world already paid us a visit? The question has certainly received a good deal of renewed attention lately with the claims made by David Grusch, the US Congressional hearings, and NASA's Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) report. An answer is as unforthcoming as ever, but fortunately for Star Trek fans, we know the exact date (discounting the Ferengi) of First Contact — we 'celebrate' it each year!
If you're looking for something more concrete to plug into the Drake equation and foil the Fermi paradox, you can turn to the search for exoplanets — the first of which was discovered in 1992. At the time of writing, over 5,500 planets orbiting other stars have been detected, some in the habitable zone.
Sadly, however, it won't be the Vulcans stopping by for an LLAP in 2063. Or, at least, they won't have travelled from the 40 Eridani system, long held in Trek to house the planet that would eventually be known as Ni'Var. In 2018, scientists thought they had discovered a 'super-Earth'-type planet in orbit of the star 40 Eridani A, but, in 2023, this was found to be an error owing to the surface properties of the star. Someone tell Doctor Cochrane to pause the jukebox!