Canadian Vulcans crowdsource funds for Starship Enterprise

 

This small Canadian town has a rather big ambition: to raise more than $1 trillion to build a full-scale, working model of the USS Enterprise—or so it seems.

 

The town of Vulcan in Alberta, Canada, is taking to Indiegogo to raise the $1.132 trillion for the starship project—including an initial $2 billion for research into warp drive technology.

 

"Vulcan (pop. 1836), located in the Canadian Badlands of southern Alberta, is the Official Star Trek Capital of Canada, and the spiritual centre of the Star Trek universe. As such, Vulcan plays host to an annual mid-summer Star Trek celebration and festival called Spock Days. While the town was established in 1915 by the Canadian National Railroad, and named Vulcan in honour of the Roman god of fire, this vibrant prairie community has since grown to embrace its connection to all things Star Trek-related," it said.

 

It added it even developed a Tourism and Trek Station to welcome visitors.

 

Vulcan has also become home to a huge collection of authentic costumes and props from Star Trek television programs and films via its Trekcetera museum.

 

Massive workforce

 

The town said its outskirts could house the massive work force of more than 10,000 engineers, scientists and workers for the project.

 

The decommissioned Vulcan Aerodrome, a former Royal Canadian Air Force base, could serve as a "Vulcan Spaceport," home to the production facilities required to construct the Enterprise.

 

Marketing campaign

 

But before you shell out money for the starship, get on to the project's real website, VulcanTourism.com: the Indiegogo campaign is just a marketing ploy.

 

"This campaign was conceived and produced by Canadian Badlands Ltd. The campaign is meant to be filled with fun, fantasy and generate discussion and attention. Just imagine if we really COULD build the Enterprise! We are thrilled with the support and excitement from our fans on such an enormous project. PLEASE DO NOT SEND MONEY! Note all donations already made will be returned to the donors as the target will not be reached, as per Indiegogo rules," it said. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News