Model, Spacecraft, Mother Ship, Movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
Object Details
- Date
- 1977
- Manufactured for
- Columbia Pictures Corp.
- Model Maker
- Entertainment Effects Group
- Summary
- This is the model of the alien Mother Ship used in the filming of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Columbia Pictures, 1977). The ship was conceived by Steven Spielberg, the film's director and screenwriter. It was made by a team headed by Gregory Jein, using model train parts and other kits. When filmed with special photographic and lighting effects, the model appears to be a huge, hovering craft. Rotating, colored lights underneath the ship added to its effects.
- Looking closely at the model, one can find tiny hidden smaller models which are not seen when the Mother Ship appears in the film. These models were added by the model makers as internal "jokes." They include a Volkswagen bus, a submarine, the R2-D2 android, a U.S. mailbox, an aircraft, and a small cemetery plot.
- Alternate Name
- Mother Ship Model
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
- Exhibit Station
- Human Spaceflight
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Inventory Number
- A19790906000
- Type
- MODELS-Miscellaneous
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Materials
- Wood, plastic, and metal
- Dimensions
- Length, 63 inches; width, 38 inches; weight, shipping, 400 pounds; case: 74 x 74 inches
- Record ID
- nasm_A19790906000
Cicular, double-tiered, with many projecting spires coming out around the circumference and tubes of different sizes, along with rods, some curved, projecting from top; mounted on black pipe, with bundle of electronic wires coming out from side of pipe; bundle, with 32 wires, for lighting the many small neon lights within the model by outside outside power source or sources; details on model largely made from HO, N, and O guage model train parts and other model kits, then painted over; overall, dark glossy grey; case contains 32 wire strands in a compartment under the model.
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