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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 3066505" data-attributes="member: 508">I was a brand-new 2nd lieutenant, in a missile training course in preparation for being an ICBM launch control officer.&nbsp; The instructor, an Air Force Captain, was explaining how to use a codebook that had different call signs in it.&nbsp; He was explaining that not all call signs were necessarily real words.&nbsp; &quot;Here's one,&quot; he said, &quot;HORTA.&nbsp; There's no such thing as a HORTA.&quot;&quot;That's not true, sir,&quot; I piped up from the back of the room.&nbsp; &quot;A horta is a silicon-based life form that looks like a small boulder, as shown in the Star Trek episode 'Devil in the Dark.'&quot;The whole class turned around to stare at me in amazement - not only that I'd correct a senior officer on something so trivial, but also because I tended to be a pretty quiet guy back in those days (this was 1987), so speaking up in class like that was something of a rarity for me in any case.Anyway, the instructor rolled his eyes, shook his head, thanked me for my contribution and said he stood corrected, and pressed on with the lesson plan.&nbsp; And I was branded a Star Trek geek by my entire graduating ICBM class.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Johnathan</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Richards, post: 3066505, member: 508"] I was a brand-new 2nd lieutenant, in a missile training course in preparation for being an ICBM launch control officer. The instructor, an Air Force Captain, was explaining how to use a codebook that had different call signs in it. He was explaining that not all call signs were necessarily real words. "Here's one," he said, "HORTA. There's no such thing as a HORTA." "That's not true, sir," I piped up from the back of the room. "A horta is a silicon-based life form that looks like a small boulder, as shown in the Star Trek episode 'Devil in the Dark.'" The whole class turned around to stare at me in amazement - not only that I'd correct a senior officer on something so trivial, but also because I tended to be a pretty quiet guy back in those days (this was 1987), so speaking up in class like that was something of a rarity for me in any case. Anyway, the instructor rolled his eyes, shook his head, thanked me for my contribution and said he stood corrected, and pressed on with the lesson plan. And I was branded a Star Trek geek by my entire graduating ICBM class. :) Johnathan [/QUOTE]

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