Plot synopsis
In 1980, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is undergoing routine operations in the North Pacific when it encounters a bizarre electromagnetic storm. Just as a jet fighter is coming into land on the ship, a ring of energy passes around them both.
After the storm has passed, they soon realise that they have just passed through a time portal. Although they are at the same location, they are now in December 1941 just before the Japanese attacked Port Pearl Harbour.
They have enough firepower to take out the whole Japanese feet, but should they interfere with history or not?
As they have already saved Senator Chapman from his death, they realise they must have changed history, so they send fighter planes to stop the fleet.
However, before they reach their target, the ship recalls the planes, as a similar electromagnetic storm is brewing.
They all pass back through the portal to 1980 – except for one officer who was stranded. He waits 40 years and then shows up at the dockside as an old man, where he greets the young crew of the USS Nimitz, as they return from their mission.
My comments
While in the past, the aircraft carrier could have changed a significant event, which would have changed history. However, circumstances prevented it, which is typical of the Novikov self-consistency conjecture and a converging timeline.
Summary of time travel
The fact the crew saved a life and left a sailor behind when they were in the past shows that the past is open.
However, they find that history has not been changed by their adventure into the past. It seems the timeline has converged by the time they return to their present.
The crew returned without one of their officers, but then met him as an old man when they later reached port.
So, the future must also be open, as they were experiencing a different future to the one they would have been if they had not time travelled.
Although the lost officer only had a one-way trip, he would have been on the same timeline as the crew.
Category of time travel
Science fiction: finding portals.
Model of time
Open past, open future with a converging timeline.
Crew’s return trip:
Lost sailor’s one-way trip:
