From the Log of the Starship Enterprise

In January of 1967, an episode of Star Trek entitled “The Galileo Seven” aired, and caught the attention of Dr. George Agogino, then Director of the Paleo-Indian Institute at Eastern New Mexico University. In the episode, Spock and his crew crash-land on a hostile planet with “caveman” like creatures lurking around, and throwing spears at the crew. Dr. Agogino saw a morphological resemblance between the spear points used in the episode and Folsom points and, apparently on a whim, he decided to send a letter to Desilu Studios and request that the spears that were used in the television show be donated to the Blackwater Draw Museum. A few months later Robert Justman, the associate Producer of Star Trek received Agogino’s request, and was enthused to answer it.

Justman noted that the spears were based on the Folsom points that had originally been found in New Mexico in the late 1920s, but he made sure to address the “dramatic license” that was practiced by enlarging the spears to 15 feet in length. Nonetheless, Agogino was still thrilled at the possibility of having Folsom themed Star Trek memorabilia on display.

Many letters went back and forth between Agogino, Justman, and NBC, mainly addressing shipping and logistics of mailing 15 foot spears, but eventually the spears made their way to Portales, New Mexico, and then to the Blackwater Draw Museum where they were proudly displayed.

Star Trek prop spears as they were formerly displayed in the Blackwater Draw Museum.

Follow-up:

While creating our new Museum we found that we would not likely display the Star Trek memorabilia. The New Mexico Museum of Space History had long held and interest in these with there broader view of space and science fiction in modern culture. While it was difficult to let them go, they were ultimately re-housed in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Link: https://www.nmspacemuseum.org/