From whose perspective? Their long time ago could be the remains of a vanished future.
The imaginary future of Star Trek....
A coworker in the 1970s said her girlfriend had a beach towel for the show that said:
“Where No Man
Has Gone Before.”
She and her friends laughed.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll bet.”
XD...
Look Phil, we all saw the movie... it clearly said it happened a long time ago and a long way away!