Object Details
- 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
- Date
- 1977
- Manufactured for
- Columbia Pictures Corp.
- Model Maker
- Entertainment Effects Group
- 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