One report to the Federation President gave the planetary cloud cover at 73% and rising.Īs all planetary power sources began to fail, the Federation President was forced to send out a planetary distress signal, which was picked up by Admiral Kirk, aboard the ' HMS Bounty', a captured Klingon Bird-of-Prey. The sheer amount of energy contained in the broadcast began to vaporize Earth's oceans and ionize the atmosphere, creating a catastrophically thick cloud layer over the entire planet, disabling power and communications over many of Earth's largest cities. The ships did not recover from their neutralized states even after the Probe had continued on, beyond their ranges.Īfter disabling both Spacedock and the USS Excelsior, the Probe settled over the planet and directed its transmissions towards its oceans. The Saratoga was disabled by the probe's powerful communication, as were at least seven other vessels along the probe's route to Earth, including the starships USS Yorktown and USS Shepard and two Klingon vessels.

( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)įirst contact with the Probe by a Federation starship was made by the USS Saratoga while patrolling the Neutral Zone. It was also capable of ionizing planetary atmospheres, seemingly as another unintended side effect. It apparently served to broadcast the message of the Probe, but had the side effect of causing virtually any device that used energy to function to lose its power.

The sphere's purpose was that of a communications device. This sphere was physically detached from the Probe while in use, but connected to it by an energy beam. Dwarfing the Miranda-class Federation starship USS Saratoga and even the Earth Spacedock, the Whale Probe was cylindrical in shape, and carried a small deployable sphere, normally stowed internally, at the front.

Star trek iv whale probe