I never noticed the scary pumpkin in the intro

[Luckyflux]

I was watching some reruns the other day and I never noticed the large, red, ringed planet in the intro of TNG. The way the shadows or spots on the planet lay, it looks like a large, Halloween style pumpkin carving.

Been loving TNG for many many years, and I never noticed it before. Have you ever seen it before?

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

The Spock Comet from the DS9 intro eventually crashed into that planet, which created massive storms that looked like Kahless's face.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Guinan: ...Now it's a Samarian coral fish with its finn unfolded.
Lt. Commander Data: I believe what you are seeing is the effect of the fluid dynamic processes, inherent in the large-scale motion of rarified gas.
Guinan: No. no. First it was a fish, and now it's a Mintonian sailing ship.
Lt. Commander Data: Where?
Guinan: Right there. Don't you see the two swirls coming together to form the mast?
Lt. Commander Data: I do not see it... It is interesting that people try to find meaningful patterns in things that are essentially random. I have noticed that the images they perceive sometimes suggest what they are thinking about at that particular moment.
[he looks out at the nebula again]
Lt. Commander Data: Besides, it is clearly a bunny rabbit.

(source)

 

[Luckyflux]

I guess no one has seen it in the intro? The ringed planet.....in the intro....has markings that look like a Jack O'Lantern.....is this thing on???

Did I pick the wrong week to stop sniffing glue

 

[LitmusDragon]

I was going to ask- were you by any chance intoxicated when you saw the pumpkin face?

I tend to see faces in things when I'm inebriated.

Seriously though you may be on to something but I'd never heard anyone mention it before. A screen shot might be helpful.

 

[kitsune]

I assume you're referring to the title sequence that started in season 3? In seasons 1-2, Jupiter and Saturn are shown, but starting in season 3, Jupiter was removed and Saturn gained some storms.

But no, I don't see how those storms could be interpreted as the features of a jack-o-lantern.

 

[Luckyflux]

Well I was in an altered state of mind that's for sure! I guess it is the title sequence from the later seasons. I think I saw it when Cause and Effect was recently on.

I remember sitting on the sofa looking away from the TV when the intro was playing. Then I briefly looked up at the screen and saw a giant, scary looking pumpkin face, as the -D flies past it. I was shocked! I thought to myself "Was that a giant Jack O'Lantern I just saw?" I knew the stuff I was smoking wasn't that good, but still I was taken aback.

I will try to find a screen shot

EDIT--OK I found the intro on youtube. It isn't when the -D is flying past, it is when the camera is panning around the white planet (doesn't look like the moon), then panning around the red, ringed planet. This is around the 20 second mark of the intro. As the camera starts to pan around the red planet, the dark spots on the planet's surface resemble a pumpkin face.


[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOryEhRTP7A[/yt]

 

[kitsune]

I think I can kind-of see it, if the face you're seeing is rotated 45 degrees counterclockwise, with two elongated eyes and a mouth formed from two of the larger storms.

 

[RegFan]

It does look a bit like a pumpkin face.

 

[kitsune]

 

[LitmusDragon]

Hey it does.

 

[Withers]

I honestly thought the OP was insane but I stand corrected; that does, in fact, look like a Jack-o-Lantern face. I'm not going to be able to see anything but that now when I watch the intro.

-Withers-​

 

[Doug Otte]

I honestly thought the OP was insane but I stand corrected; that does, in fact, look like a Jack-o-Lantern face. I'm not going to be able to see anything but that now when I watch the intro.

-Withers-​

I guess you have to tilt your head to the side so your ear is resting on your left shoulder. From now on, whenever I watch the opening credits (instead of skipping past them like I've done for nearly 20 years), I'll try to remember to tilt my head so I see it.

Doug

PS Does the fact that we see it mean that Luckyflux is NOT insane?

 

[Withers]

I guess I didn't think of that- my head is, by default, tilted that direction most of the time thanks to being generally puzzled at most things I see... which I guess makes it all the more remarkable I never saw the Pumpkin Planet until it was pointed out to me. Learn something new every day, eh?

*Head tilt the other direction*

-Withers-​

 

[Marten]

When you're looking for it, you might see it as a pumpkin.

 

[Luckyflux]

PS Does the fact that we see it mean that Luckyflux is NOT insane?

Nah, still insane. It just means that you can trip like I do

 

[Nardpuncher]

Yep, I see it now.

I still need help seeing Spock in the comet's tail in the DS9 intro. I've even seen posts where people have paused on the exact right frame and still I couldn't see it!

 

[Sorak]

I saw it too, and looked the same to me: a Jack O' Lantern

 

[BolianAuthor]

Well slap me silly, and call me Aunt Jemima...

 

[KobayashiMaru13]

Oh, wow. i cant believe i never saw that! i guess i never paid enough attention.