NASA Busts Woman Selling $1.7M 'Moon Rock'

reply to post by alienreality



Yes, its strange...well at least I think so.
I mean, you would think these things are gold.

reply to post by burntheships


Nasa agents? I call BS on this; since when has NASA had law enforcement powers?

reply to post by mydarkpassenger



Well let the reader understand....so you think that the agents were from ....
the FBI or ....?

Or you think the whole story is made up?

No Charlie Sheen joke?


1.7M Gram rocks making dreams come true?

reply to post by mydarkpassenger



Ok cool, I found the actual sherriff write up.

On May 16, 2011, the Lake Elsinore Police Department was contacted by agents from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and special agents from the Office of Inspector General. NASA agents were conducting an investigation regarding the illegal sale of a moon rock.

The NASA investigation was conducted over several months and resulted in an undercover meeting set up at a restaurant in Lake Elsinore, on Grape Street. On the morning of May 19, an undercover NASA agent met with the seller of the moon rock and agreed to buy the artifact for approximately 1.7 million dollars. After conversation, the moon rock was produced inside the restaurant. Several Lake Elsinore Police investigators and NASA agents moved in on the suspect, took possession of the moon rock and detained the female.

NASA agents took possession of the moon rock and interviewed the female suspect. At this time the investigation is ongoing.
www.riversidesheriff.org...

And....found the NASA Office of Inspector General.

The Office of Investigations is responsible for conducting investigations on allegations of crime, cyber-crime, fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct having impact on NASA programs, projects, operations, and resources. OI refers its findings either to the Department of Justice for prosecution or to NASA management for action. Through its investigations, OI identifies crime indicators and recommends effective measures for NASA management that are designed to reduce NASA's vulnerability to criminal activity. The Office of Investigations is comprised of Headquarters and four geographic Field Offices including a Computer Crimes Division. See link to Field Offices for investigative and geographical areas of responsibility.

oig.nasa.gov...

reply to post by mydarkpassenger

Nasa agents?

As a rather unique agency, with skills that are in high demand, NASA logically has connections to Top Secret aspects of National Security interests, as many, many private sector contractor companies, as well. (Boeing, Northrup-Grumman, etc).

Certainly, while any NASA 'agents' may not have law-enforcement authority, they can be investigative experts and have associations with various agencies that do.

This would be similar to the sorts of concerns about corporate espionage within the commercial companies mentioned.

One would presume the rationale re: the Moon samples is to prevent a brisk, underworld black market trading scenario, and the criminal elements that would be attracted.

Keep in mind, the actual examples that are given out as *gifts*, as mentioned, are encased in Lucite and considered a sort of memento. The *raw* samples, when loaned to verified scientific laboratories and such, are more strictly controlled, to prevent their "disappearance"....

The United States is party to a Treaty that states no object in space can be claimed by any Government. It went into effect in 1967.

Those Rocks can't be claimed as Property of the United States Government.

en.wikipedia.org...

She's going to win in Court.

reply to post by Pervius


NO, seems you didn't fully comprehend what you were reading. Your own source:

The Outer Space Treaty, formally known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies......

Read that again.....it (the Treaty) refers to the ENTIRE celestial body, moon, or planet. Not just a piece of it.

In fact, bringing this up, lends perfect credence as to the why of NASA not allowing commerce and trading, or profit, from the Lunar samples! Read on......

This is dicey, and open to interpretation, I suppose:

The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet...

Where do you draw the line? If I am a tourist, and bring home a rock from China....does China still own and have a claim to that rock? Can I profit from selling it? If it is incredibly unique, and hard to obtain, does that alter its status? (I don't know, those are rhetorical examples...). *Value* is in the eye of the beholder, as they say about *beauty*. ( N'est pas? )

Key points of the Treaty

The Outer Space Treaty represents the basic legal framework of international space law. Among its principles, it bars States Parties to the Treaty from placing nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. It exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications (Art.IV). However, the Treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit. The treaty also states that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and shall be free for exploration and use by all States.

Boilerplate, but look here (this may have implications for future mining potential, as is discussed often on ATS....especially be those (like John Lear, et al) who have made the claims that *mining* is currenlty "ongoing"... cough, cough.....( ):

The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet, since they are the Common heritage of mankind. Art. II of the Treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means".

Let that sink in......

More:

However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object. The state is also liable for damages caused by their space object and must avoid contaminating space and celestial bodies.

The Lunar samples were returned within, and under control of a "space object" (Apollo).

The last sentence, above, is interesting though....and, for now is a bit moot, but one day will need to be addressed, once more activity is occurring on the Moon, and the *debris* that is there is encountered......


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Possibly outside the boundaries of this thread topic, but interesting nonetheless. There is also the non-ratified (thus, "falied") "Moon Treaty" of 1979....that no space-faring nation at the time signed on to. Very telling, indeed...(??)

Originally posted by Pervius
The United States is party to a Treaty that states no object in space can be claimed by any Government. It went into effect in 1967.

Those Rocks can't be claimed as Property of the United States Government.

en.wikipedia.org...

She's going to win in Court.

If it's real...

A treasured piece at the Dutch national museum - a supposed moon rock from the first manned lunar landing - is nothing more than petrified wood, curators say.

news.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by Regenstorm


I wondered how long it would be, before that "Dutch Rock" was brought up!

Again, that was a complete non-event, really an embarrassment for all concerned. The piece of petrified wood was given to the Ambassador, at some (undetermined) point. He kept it in his home....where it was discovered, after his death....and someone else (who is, if still alive, no doubt horribly embarrassed) and a few others thought it was a "moon rock"....as did quite a few other ignorant, gullible people. Including the museum curator....

No one bothered to ascertain its credibility....they all just assumed.....

so now the US government owns the moon???
next they'll own the universe and god himself.......poor god what has he create

reply to post by anumohi


Huh???

so now the US government owns the moon???

Where do you get this? Did you read the thread?

I'm sure many rocks made it into politicians wine cellars and vaults. I'd be surprised if every single one of them is accounted for

The fact that NASA took it pretty much vouches for the fact they believed it was real or they would have let the local guys take her down

reply to post by Pervius


These objects are not in space.

They are on Earth. Therefore, capable of being a possession.

Further, this treaty has no teeth. It is merely a nice idea that frankly, if I managed to get a colony or corporation off the ground (ha ha) and nobody had the ability to enforce that law, I'd ignore it.

Even further, the treaty applies to nations. It doesn't apply to individuals, nor individual entities (eg. Corporations). This is an interesting loophole.

Wow, almost two million for some rock, gotta have rocks in your head to buy that... knowing that theres a 50/50 chance we never even went to the moon...

Just sayin...

Originally posted by daviddee
I still question if we did or did not even go to the moon. People that is, we may......and I say may....as in maybe have sent a unman ship there to collect dust and a rock, but people? I still don't think we did.

And so what if she took a rock ? I have lots of rocks in my back yard, and no one is yelling at me.

People have put vaule on things that mean nothing in the light of it all.

A rock from the moon ? $1.7 million? and how is this going to feed me ?

David Dee

If you deny science, than you're an idiot in my book.

Originally posted by Helious
An undercover NASA agent? NASA is a civilian run operation, while still under government control. Who gives them authority to have undercover agents and perform "stings"?

NASA is military

reply to post by burntheships


I'd like to know how NASA has the power to go out and bust people. Sounds like a job for law enforcement, not rocket scientists. Cops don't go out trying to launch rockets.

reply to post by ElGatoLoco0698


While I am not saying I agree with the premise that all moon rocks should automatically belong
to NASA ...its very apparent they have the power to confiscate all "lunar matter" real or imagined.