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What was the probe in Star Trek 4?


In Star Trek 4, an unknown space probe travels to earth, "EMP"-ing everything on its way and almost destroying the planet by trying to talk to whales.


Are there any informations (extended universe) what that probe was or what it actually wanted? In the movie, it is simplified as the probe saying "hi", and after a short smalltalk, it goes away again, restoring the damage it has done.


Consider the following:



  1. When Kirk and his crew arrived in the past, they received the song of whales via comm. The signal was send from San Fransisco.

  2. Signals from earth travel at light speed max. The signal was send in 1986 and the probe arrived in 2286, meaning 300 light years of distance for the signal to travel. That is not much in interstellar travel, and well within Federation Space. If we assume the probe traveled with light speed, the "home" of the probe must be withing 150 light years. In the movie, it seems to be moving at less than warp, so it might be underway even longer. Has no one tried to track the probe?

  3. Sending a giant probe to a planet up to 300 light years away sounds very irrational considering the probe destroyed/disabled other star ships on it's way, just to say "hi whales"



I love the movie, but in the end, these facts confuse me alot.



Answer



It appears that there was a sequel novel Probe that gives some more background about the "Whale Probe".



Kirk and his crew later discover that the Probe was created by beings that resembled Earth cetaceans


Spock successfully mind melds with the probe, learning that it did not seek to be destructive to other races, instead they were so different from its creators that they were ignored as "mites" in "metal bubbles", and teaches the probe to be more aware of what it is doing to humanoid life in the galaxy as it travels, leaving the probe to continue to explore the galaxy



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