The Enigma of World War 3 in the Star Trek Universe

Watch the film Star Trek: First Contact.

According to Data, '600 million dead. Very few governments left.' It all happened way back in the 1990's, a time Riker missed most of the drama. All those augments and nuclear weapons and that post-atomic horror thingie. I think it was at the shopping mall that day or something. Probably Babbages. Back then, I was really into Nintendo games.

Theories and Speculations

It will end with Spock Prime killing Quinto... whatever his last name was! However, the matter is not as straightforward as it seems. The idea of a Prime Universe in Star Trek lacks substantial evidence, as the central timeline constantly changes. Thus, it is challenging to establish any history that is reliable outside of what's depicted for the crew of their respective ships.

No Established World War 3

One major point is the lack of definitive evidence for a World War 3 on Earth. The events and their ending are enigmatic at best. The introduction of warp space flight and First Contact are widely regarded as the end of ruralism associated with escaping the conflict involved with the war. However, I pose the question, besides entries and pictures in a database that has seen so many alien hands in it, manipulating the various crews, is there actually any evidence of an actual World War 3 on Earth?

Manipulation and Speculative Theories

I don't think there ever was one. A larger story might involve who is manipulating history through the records. My theory is that it could be the Bynars, the only race/gender/species who appeared to be gifted enough as programmers in the series. They may have tried to establish a 'prime timeline,' which coincidentally and strangely disappeared after TNG and are missing from Star Trek Online altogether.

Here's the evidence of manipulation:

Very little actual records of the event. The ONLY evidence of nuclear activity was radioactive isotopes during this time period was in the air. Records from alternate realities (e.g., In a Mirror, Darkly and more violent versions of Earth's past) are positioned as history, suggesting either bad filing or intentional misfiling.

A Mirror and the Primary Timeline

My theory is that World War 3 happened in the Mirror universe (Terra's alternate reality), and the "primary timeline" for "our" Star Trek never had it. The records of that war are contaminating the timeline, leading people to believe that the Mirror's history is the actual history. This might be manipulative, trying to obscure the real narrative.