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Look, we all like to believe that if we were born into a position of great authority, we would wield it to institute democratic values–or at least be benevolent rulers. The embarrassing truth is that the congenitally powerful rarely tend to exhibit the better angels of our nature, which is why it’s so surprising that King Abdullah II of Jordan has such a progressive record. Not to be confused that recently deceased other King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the King of Jordan can boast a record of religious tolerance, a major campaign for quality housing for Jordanians and Palestinian refugees and an increasingly free press.

He will also go down in history as the weirdest Star Trek cameo of all time—yes, even weirder than Iggy Pop.

In 1996 (then Prince) Abdullah–a major fan of the show–had a walk-on in Star Trek: Voyager (a vastly underrated series in the franchise, I feel). Adding to the surrealism of the scene, Abdullah’s moment as a Federation medical officer is entirely wordless, because he wasn’t a member of the Screen Actors Guild! Apparently the king is such a Trekkie, he’s actually the primary investor in a Jordanian Star Trek theme park, which is probably exactly what I would do if I had that kind of money and power. Hey, you know what they say…

Thanks to Jordan Somers