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California woman trying to hawk moon rock for $1.7M to undercover NASA agent detained in sting
Yahoo ^ | 5/21/11 | Robert Jablon

Posted on 05/21/2011 5:25:22 AM PDT by Libloather

California woman trying to hawk moon rock for $1.7M to undercover NASA agent detained in sting
By Robert Jablon, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
1 hour 3 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - She promised the moon, for a sky-high price. He wasn't buying.

A woman who tried to sell what she said was a rare piece of moon rock for $1.7 million was detained when her would-be buyer turned out to be an undercover NASA agent, officials said Friday.

The grey rocks, which are considered national treasures and are illegal to sell, were given to each U.S. state and 136 countries by then-President Richard Nixon after U.S. moon missions and can sell for millions of dollars on the black market.

NASA investigators and Riverside County sheriff's deputies detained the woman after she met Thursday with an undercover NASA investigator at a restaurant in Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles (110 kilometres) southeast of Los Angeles, the sheriff's office said. The investigation was conducted over several months.

Authorities swooped after the two agreed on a price and the woman, whose name has not been released, pulled out the rock.

NASA planned to conduct tests to determine whether the rock came from the moon as the woman claimed.

"We don't know if it's lunar material," said Gail Robinson, deputy inspector general at the space agency.

(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: apollo; luna; moon; moonrock; nasa; rock; space; sting
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To: yldstrk

>> How do people get their mitts on a moonrock to sell?

They’re not really from the moon, you know... she pulled them out of Heranus.


21 posted on 05/21/2011 6:06:31 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Trust in God, but row away from the rocks!)
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To: BookmanTheJanitor
Rock.


22 posted on 05/21/2011 6:11:37 AM PDT by Libloather (The epitome of civility.)
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To: Libloather
Are they also tracking down the global warming deniers? From space, yes.

Will aluminum foil block the rays ?

23 posted on 05/21/2011 6:29:39 AM PDT by Raycpa
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To: LRS

I saw that episode earlier this year when was in the hospital for a couple of days.


24 posted on 05/21/2011 6:31:35 AM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: Libloather

The Rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4O5LccxCDo


25 posted on 05/21/2011 6:34:11 AM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: Raycpa
Will aluminum foil block the rays?


26 posted on 05/21/2011 6:35:45 AM PDT by Libloather (The epitome of civility.)
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To: wally_bert

That was one of the classic episodes of a classic series! I hope you weren’t in the hospital for something that hurt when laughing!


27 posted on 05/21/2011 6:40:27 AM PDT by LRS ("This is silly! It can't be! It can't be!!" "Oh yes it is! I said you wouldn't know the joint.")
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To: LRS

Actually Married With Children was far more painful (funny) when I wsa hospitalized last year. A great episode nonetheless.


28 posted on 05/21/2011 6:58:14 AM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: yldstrk

stolen material ... :-)


29 posted on 05/21/2011 7:33:36 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Libloather

NASA has an enforcement department?????????


30 posted on 05/21/2011 9:19:31 AM PDT by RobinOfKingston (An election is not a (national) suicide pact.)
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To: RobinOfKingston

It’s been over 10 years since I left the Army as a Military Police officer. While I wanted to move into the private security/investigations (where I ended up), I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket and kept my options open by looking into continuing employment with the FedGov. Even then I was amazed/shocked/appalled at all the bureaus, agencies, etc. that were looking to fill criminal investigator positions, NOAA, Bureau of Indian Affairs, NASA, you name it.


31 posted on 05/21/2011 9:25:01 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: RobinOfKingston
LOL...Here's an opening for a Criminal Inspector with the Library of Congress.

Don't laugh...It starts at $105K.

32 posted on 05/21/2011 9:29:17 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: Libloather
The grey rocks, which are considered national treasures and are illegal to sell

Give me a break.

33 posted on 05/21/2011 9:57:45 AM PDT by newzjunkey
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To: All; Libloather
Gutheinz said most purported moon rocks offered for sale on the Internet are bogus, though authentic moon rocks can be purchased if they came to Earth in a meteorite.

One part says it's illegal to sell them and this other part says it's not.

If the rock turns out to be genuine but not from the 2,200 Apollo samples (100 of which are missing), does she get an apology and the rock back or just a bill for authentication services?

34 posted on 05/21/2011 10:02:09 AM PDT by newzjunkey
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To: USNBandit
Almost all federal agencies have their own IG sections now. Most are involved in investigating fraud by people those agencies serve. For instance the Dept. Education has investigators that go after fraudulent grant usage.

Who is investigating the government investigators?

Lemmme guess, the government right?

35 posted on 05/21/2011 10:59:58 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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