# Hey! I just thought of a big plot hole in Star Trek 6 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084 "2014-01-17T18:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/81 "2014-01-25T02:32:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Has there actually been a scene in Star Trek where someone spots a cloaked ship by looking for wavering stars on the main view screen? Even for Trek, that would be hilariously stupid. In Blish’s adaptation of “Balance of Terror,” someone (I think it was Scotty) said they could track the Romulans from their De Broglie waves as their ship moved through space. Since Blish was most likely working from an early draft script, it’s quite possible this was actually considered at one point by the writer. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/82 "2014-01-25T22:37:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Has there actually been a scene in Star Trek where someone spots a cloaked ship by looking for wavering stars on the main view screen? Even for Trek, that would be hilariously stupid. ST III: Search for Spock. I think the novelization tried to assert that a combination of Chekov’s experience and pure luck let him spot the cloaked Bird of Prey, but in the movie it’s more like “Hey, what’s that distortion?” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/83 "2014-01-25T23:03:09Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > bolding mine. > > It would be totally normal for the Enterprise to have a wide array of equipment, their state purpose is exploration. No way this is a goof, just a reminder of a starship’s primary purpose. It would, but if they’d said something about having such equipment for the mission they were prepping for before Praxis exploded, people wouldn’t have said “But wasn’t _Excelsior_ on that mission?” an hour and a half later. And they should have had Kim Kattrall play Saavik even if Kirsty Alley wanted too much money. _The Undiscovered Country_’s script needed one more once-over. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/84 "2014-01-25T23:09:06Z")
As an aside, I’ve been watching the original series lately, and I have to wonder how many of those gaseous anomalies Sulu was investigating tried to possess _Excelsior_’s crew and/or commandeer the ship. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/85 "2014-01-26T03:00:31Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > As an aside, I’ve been watching the original series lately, and I have to wonder how many of those gaseous anomalies Sulu was investigating tried to possess _Excelsior_’s crew and/or commandeer the ship. Toshiro Mifuni has already possessed Sulu, at least voice wise. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/86 "2014-01-26T03:03:35Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > ST III: Search for Spock. I think the novelization tried to assert that a combination of Chekov’s experience and pure luck let him spot the cloaked Bird of Prey, but in the movie it’s more like “Hey, what’s that distortion?” Aren’t they the same thing, unless you are filming _The Trial_? 🙂 One can explain things better in a novel than a film. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084/87 "2014-01-26T23:24:06Z")
True, but in the movie it looked like _anybody_ could spot a cloaked ship just by looking at the main screen. In fact, a cloaked ship was downright obvious, you’d have to be blind _not_ to see it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-just-thought-of-a-big-plot-hole-in-star-trek-6/679084.md?page=4)