The 'Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back' Mistake Hiding In Plain Sight For 39 years

The “Star Wars” saga takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. But one goof that’s been hiding in plain sight for decades is of much more recent ― and far, far more local ― vintage.

If you take a close look at Luke’s lightsaber in the wampa cave on the icy planet of Hoth in 1980s “Empire Strikes Back,” you’ll see “NEW YORK” stamped into the bottom.

The error was spotted by Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group, who works to ensure continuity throughout the “Star Wars” franchise:

Given that there aren’t many people in any galaxy who know as much about “Star Wars” as Hidalgo, it’s a safe bet that few have noticed the error.

But good luck NOT seeing it in subsequent viewings. It’s even visible in the YouTube clip:

Hidalgo explained in subsequent tweets that the lightsaber was made from a Graflex flash holder for a camera:

When it was repurposed as a lightsaber, most of the text on the bottom was hidden. But much of “New York” was unobscured, and for the most part unnoticed.

Until now.