Sunday, February 12, 2012

Close Encounters of the Smithsonian Kind

Our family vacation included a stop at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. They've reworked the exhibits since the last time we visited and the layout is an excellent showcase of the U.S. exploration of space. We saw Mercury and Apollo capsules, the lunar lander, the Apollo-Soyuz space station, the Space Shuttle, Space Ship 1 and other experimental aircraft, satellites galore, and lunar rovers. It was a space lover's dream.

As we wandered away from the beaten track, we found this odd little out-of-the-way display. A quick question was asked:
"What is this?"
Without even thinking twice, I said
"The mother ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
"Right the first try!" I was told.

I was suspicious, and walked around the display case until I found the placard on the exhibit. Yes, I was, in fact, correct. This is the very model that Steven Spielberg's crew used when filming that famous scene. Wow, now I've seen everything!

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