Which James T. Kirk is actually stored at Daystrom Station?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has offered a potentially different James T. Kirk that could be stored at Daystrom Station.

In Star Trek: Picard season three, fans were treated to the briefest of glimpses of Captain Kirk’s body (skeleton only) along with his full name, indicating that somehow, his body had been recovered after his death on Verdian III in Star Trek: Generations. (And after Captain Picard had buried it under a pile of rocks.) But Star Trek: Strange New Worlds introduced an alternate theory as to which Kirk’s body is being stored at the station.

In “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” the third episode of the second season of Strange New Worlds, Lt. La’an Noonien Singh time travels to an alternate reality where she meets and quickly forms an attachment to that timeline’s Captain Kirk, but as she and “James” as she calls him break into the Noonien Singh Institute, Kirk is killed by another time traveler, and La’an is forced to leave him behind.

Could the James T. Kirk that is currently stored at Daystrom Station be a different Kirk?

CBR offers an explanation as to how the Alternate Kirk could have ended up at Daystrom Station. Basically, if his body was found by the scientists at the Noonien Singh Institute, they would be curious as to who it belonged to and why it was left practically on their doorstep. It wouldn’t be difficult for them to ascertain his identity and to determine he’s not from their time period. But since they’d have no way to send him back, it would make sense for them to preserve him.

There are a lot of ifs and hows behind this suggestion, especially since this would be a much younger Kirk left behind, and his skeletal structure would show that. That said, weird things abound in Star Trek, and it would be a great way to bring even more mystery to the presence of Kirk’s body. And honestly, I think I’d prefer this idea rather than the one where some unfortunate souls had to unbury Kirk.