The Roman god of fire - Vulcan, and the Mysteries

A recent news item, Star Trek fans set to beam up to Canada, jogged M.E.'s memory regarding a mystery we posed to readers here in 2008.

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The mystery had nothing to do with Canada, however. M.E. discussed three, eerie Star Trek connections to New Zealand. The first can be seen at left.

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The second is the Saint Bathans mammal. Previously it had been thought that bats were the only terrestrial mammals native to New Zealand. Since the subclass Theria includes humans, whatever the St Bathans mammal was, it was not human. Yet, both Star Trek's fictional Vulcans and real bats are noted foe enlarged and sometimes pointy ears.

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Are these simply coincidences, or did an unexplored connections exist between Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry and New Zealand's Vulcan Hotel, therian bats, or the Wellington Sea Museum?

Roddenberry spent time in the Pacific Theatre during WW II earning a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in the U.S. Army Air Corps. with the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Wing of the Thirteenth Air Force. After military service, Roddenberry worked as a commercial pilot for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am).

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M.E. suspects that Roddenberry may have once spent considerable time in New Zealand, vacationing, or otherwise. Reviews of Roddenberry's authorized biography (1994) and absence of reader insights leave significant doubts whether any of the mysteries posed will ever be solved.

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Submarines are always silent and strange.