The 3-foot model of the USS Enterprise was used in the show's original pilot episode as well as the opening credits of the resulting TV series.DALLAS — The first model of the USS Enterprise — used in the opening credits of the original “Star Trek” television series — has boldly gone back home, returning to creator Gene Roddenberry's son decades after it went missing.
“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.” Maddalena said the model vanished in the 1970s after Gene Roddenberry loaned it to makers of"Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which was released in 1979.The 3-foot model of the USS Enterprise was used in the show's original pilot episode as well as the opening credits of the resulting TV series, and was the prototype for the 11-foot version featured in the series' episodes. The larger model is on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
Roddenberry, who was just a young boy when the model went missing, said he has spotty memories of it, “almost a deja vu.” He said it wasn't something he'd thought much about until people began contacting him after it appeared on eBay.