Thoughts on the Star Trek Universe
and Its Difference from Ours
by the Director

Despite some fans who try to fit the events of the Star Trek universe into our timeline, it is fairly obvious that the events of Star Trek actually occur in a parallel universe. For example, certain events claimed to have happened (mostly on the original television series) in the latter decades of the 20th Century never happened on our Earth.

As a futurist and serious historian with a special interest in turning points in history and what would have likely happened, based on established facts and trends, if another decision or path had been followed, I have come to the conclusion (from all existing story material) that the Star Trek universe and our universe diverged at some point in the mid-1960's.

All of the existing evidence shows that the history of Earth in the Star Trek universe -- even counting the stories of a Ferengi vessel crashing in New Mexico in the 1940's and a Vulcan survey ship crashing in Pennsylvania in the 1950's, which are behind-the-scenes events which had no apparent effects on the scheme of things -- shows that at some point up to the mid-1960's, the two universes were essentially the same. Both the Star Trek timeline and our timeline had a Roman Empire, an American Civil War, World War I and World War II, for example. The parallels continue up to around the beginning of the Apollo space program. From this point on, the universes change.

With this point of divergence in mind, I've tried to determine what event in this very narrow span of time could have had such a profound effect on how the universes went down different paths. I considered possible changes in what happened in relations between the NATO countries and the Warsaw Pact countries, but this does not seem to be the case based on later events. I considered what a different outcome in Vietnam might have lead to but that change happens too late to be the nexus of change. I even considered what would have happened had Martin Luther King, Jr., not died when he did, but I am certain that cultural and societal changes would also have happened too late to change things at that point. The only two possibilities I am left with that make any sense are these: Either President John F. Kennedy was not assassinated and was reelected, with the United States and the world advancing in a different way OR his brother, Robert Kennedy, was not assassinated and became president, and, again, the United States and the world advanced in a different way. Because of their progressive ideas, I feel either or both of these could have lead to the Star Trek universe we know of. I have found no reference to the Kennedy assassination in any canon source, so there is no reason not to believe he was still alive and president at the time the Enterprise went back in time during the Gary Seven incident.

From what we know of John F. Kennedy, his goals and aspirations for the U.S. and world, it makes the most sense that the change where the two universes diverged was because he did not die in November 1963 and was reelected. With that mandate, he succeeded in getting societal and civil rights wrongs righted sooner than they happened on our Earth. His continued presidency would have kept the energy behind the space program and it would not have floundered for decades after the moon landings, meaning technology and spaceflight would have advanced sooner than we experienced. Medical advances and development of the Third World would have happened at a greater pace, too. Although the Cold War would have likely continued into the 70's or 80's, it is certain that the dysfunction of that system would have caused cracks in Communism. With Kennedy living, the way Vietnam turned out could have been drastically altered, changing political balances in Asia. With a progressive program of advances, though, one needs no stretch of the imagination to see, in a world with rapidly growing sciences, genetic engineering which lead to the Eugenics Wars and Khan Noonian Singh, World War III and the Post-Atomic Horror.

It is hard to imagine a world without a President Johnson, a President Nixon, a President Ford, etc., but it is very likely to have happened. We can extrapolate how different things would have been had that been the case.

Now, it is possible to contemplate various other shades of possibilities. For example, John F. Kennedy could have died at a different time and Lyndon Johnson could have still become president, but instead of him having a full term after finishing Kennedy's out, he could have either died, decided not to run sooner than he did or lost the nomination for election to his own term. Here is where we could insert the possibility of Robert Kennedy living and either succeeding his brother as president directly or following a brief Johnson presidency. It is sad to consider that changes that advanced mankind in many ways could also have a dark side that could have lead to a worse situation. One must remember that technology has always been a double-edged sword. It is easy to see a world where advances in medicine lead to curing of diseases sooner but that more advanced medical technology could also be perverted into developing terrible biological weapons or creating a race of "superior" beings.

I can find no other change in events of known public figures or political situations during the Earth's 1960's that could have had such a profound change in the way things in the Star Trek universe developed. It makes perfect sense that John F. Kennedy lived (possibly followed by his brother) and that Earth advanced faster than ours did, leading to mixed results. It fits what we do know of that time.

Now, in more recent developments, there has been a so-called "reboot" of the Star Trek franchise, which has lead to a series of films. They are so vastly different than the original material, that it is obvious this is yet another parallel universe which also diverged from ours at some point. Because of so many differences, yet many of the same characters, it is hard to postulate at this time where the "split" came but it might be about 50 to 100 years before the events of the original television series to account for the differences. More on that in the future...

All original work on these pages ©1980-2016 by Mark Gardner et al
operating as the Vulcan Language Institute™.

Star Trek and its related characters are copyrighted by Paramount Pictures/CBS Paramount Television.