| File:JohnChristopher.jpg | |
| John Christopher | |
| Species: | Human |
| Gender: | Male |
| Actor: | Roger Perry |
Captain John Christopher (serial number 4857932) was a human who served as a United States Air Force officer during the late 1960s. He was also the father of Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, who led the first Earth-Saturn probe.
In 2267, the USS Enterprise was hurled backwards through time. Its progress stopped in the year 1969, in low Earth orbit over an Omaha military base. With most systems off-line, the ship dropped deep into the Earth's atmosphere and became visible on the air defense radars. Christopher was assigned to intercept it; he flew his F-104 Starfighter on approach. Fearing the possibility of nuclear missile attack, Kirk ordered the ship to hold Christopher's aircraft off with a tractor beam. Unfortunately, the aircraft was too fragile to withstand the force of the beam, and began to disintegrate. As a result, Kirk ordered the pilot transported out.
Christopher's materialization aboard the Enterprise created a new suite of problems: he now knew the future. And the longer he stayed, the more he learned. Spock knew that an unscrupulous man could use that knowledge to his advantage, perhaps altering the future, and so he and Kirk decided Christopher would have to remain aboard. But Spock's initial assessment of Christopher's future contributions as "not significant" was erroneous. While Christopher himself would lead an unremarkable life (at least as far as the future was concerned), his son, Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, would lead an important early 21st century manned mission to Saturn. Now the crew faced a paradox; it was impossible to keep Christopher aboard, and impossible to return him.
Kirk and Sulu attempted to retrieve the hard evidence of their presence: the recordings of Christopher's tower traffic and the films from his wing cameras. Without this evidence, Christopher's verbal account would be regarded as just another UFO encounter in a crowd. But Kirk was captured, and Spock was forced to allow Christopher to accompany him on a rescue mission. A mission that offered Christopher a chance to escape. Fortunately, Spock's foresight prevented this disaster, and Christopher was returned to the ship with the rest of the landing party.
Spock's theory offered a better answer. In calculating how to return the ship to its proper era, Spock realized they'd have to retreat a little farther into the past as they approached the sun. They could then "slingshot" around the sun, back past Earth and into the future. If they returned Christopher to the precise moment he was beamed out, they would effectively eliminate the timeline in which he visited the Enterprise, and all the evidence. Christopher was returned to the cockpit of his aircraft moments before he left, preserving the timeline. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday")
Background
Captain Christopher was played by actor Roger Perry. According to the episodes end-credits he was credited as "Major Christopher".
Of note is that when Christopher is given a Starfleet uniform to wear, it bears the rank of lieutenant. The USAF rank of "captain" is, in fact, equivalent to the naval rank of "lieutenant."
In real life, John Christopher is also the name of a British science fiction writer best known for the Tripods trilogy.