[meteorite-list] Apollo Moon rock sample on eBay?

From: cdtucson at cox.net <cdtucson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 11:04:56 -0500
Message-ID: <20110204110456.T20BF.1099452.imail_at_fed1rmwml39>

Martin,
Obviously this eBay auction is not genuine material.
But, everybody knows there is a lot of real material out there that was given away. The question is . How much? And in what form?
One thing is certain. It was not distributed on an old piece of carpeting.
The ones I have seen are very well displayed in resin along with a formal presentation.
Nobody is saying exactly how many of these are actually out there but, I have seen one in private hands that was given to an engineer / manager at Raytheon. It is in a clear resin pyramid about an inch tall and is an actual pebble not just dust.
What is disturbing to me is what I am hearing here that it is illegal to sell these gifts from NASA?
And if you try NASA will seize them?
I thought the only Government org that was allowed NOT to follow due process of the law was the IRS.
Now , I am hearing that NASA has the same power as the IRS?
I certainly hope not.
Sure a court may grant some action that could stop these sales if it is in fact illegal but, I am surprised that a non-law enforcement agency like NASA has that much power.
This unless there is an actual law on the books. In which case becomes simply a matter of law enforcement. In which case any cop can seize the material.
Until I see that law it seems to me that it is legal to sell this material if it is real and was obtained legally.
Again, this eBay offering is clearly not real but, I would like to see the law in print that prohibits the sale of moon rocks.
Anybody got a copy to share?

Thanks,
Carl

--
Carl or Debbie Esparza
Meteoritemax
---- Martin Altmann <altmann at meteorite-martin.de> wrote: 
> Strange,
> 
> why such a stir on the list, when a person with zero references dumps a
> piece of cat litter as Apollo sample on ebay?
> 
> Such stories are stone-old. Already in the 1980ies material was circulating,
> where sellers claimed them to be Apollo stuff, with similar stories a la my
> grandma had a romantic affair with a NASA-boss and he gave her a Moon rock
> as present.
> And every 3 years or so from Russia people go hawking with unidentifiable
> grains, often fancy arranged in capsules or microscope slides, claiming they
> would be from the Luna-probes. Usually garnished with papers from
> institutes, nobody ever heard of, and garnished with similar stories, a la
> Brezhnev in person gave it to my uncle, who was a high KGB-general for his
> merits...
> I'm tempted to pluck some hair from my head and to wallow it a little bit in
> some butter, to put it on ebay as an Elvis-curl, if it's so easy to get your
> attention.
> 
> Even the question is not interesting, whether the crumb is part of one of
> the many stolen Goodwill-Rock-pieces, like from Malta, Romania or from half
> Africa and Eastern-Europe,
> cause nobody would be so stupid to use a public platform to try to sell it.
> 
> Dunno, a dozen postings - like it is so often - for a primitive fake auction
> on ebay.
> 
> Here are so many on the list, permanently introducing new exciting and often
> breathtaking REAL space matters, - 
> I guess, they would be glad, if they would get half that echo, those dirty
> clowns usually get here, who are trying to commit fraud with their
> self-found Martian, Lunar, Saturnian lumps from the dump in their backyards.
> 
> 
> Just use on ebay the search tag:   meteori* -rolex  
> Sort the result:  Price highest first
> And you will have on the first pages every day one, two dozen incredible
> stupid fake auctions.
> 
> American Lunars, Texas meteorite at 0.75 million, Martha's Vineyard, Canyon
> Diablo achondrites, Martian blood vessels, ooold Buddhist Mekong-iron carved
> ritual crap....as it would be Dr.Terminus' playground.
> 
> And honestly, the worries about the so helpless and innocent victims... if
> they are sooo extremely stupid?
> I get everyday emails, from people I never heard of, who found out, that an
> uncle of mine died, and that they urgently have to send 10 millions or so on
> my bank account. Poor victims of political intrigues in China, Africa, Iraq,
> who will transfer to me some few millions immediately, if I will help them.
> Investors vom Arab and China countries, who recovered my biz and want to
> give a couple of millions to play with, millions I win every day, from
> lotteries I never took part. On average, if I would accept, my fortune would
> grow each day with 52,000,000 USD. Pills I get offered, that I can reduce
> parts of my body and other pills, who will enlarge other parts of my body...
> 
> ...would anybody have mercy with me, if I would be so stupid to fall for
> such stuff?
> 
> Two simple advices:
> 
> 1.Such kind of ebay auctions - as soon as you see there written a "$" and a
> figure larger than only "0"
> - then it's fraud.
> If the sum = 0 - then it's no fraud but naivete.
> 
> 2. Whenever someone (with exception if the person is from Maghreb) contacts
> you asking for your opinion, whether his find is a meteorite  AND his first,
> second or third question is: How much is it worth or where can I sell it.
> - Don't answer, it's wasted time.
> 
> 
> Best!
> Martin
> 
> ...hey I have a few rocks here, which are from Moon  ;-)
> Also sume, where geologists said, they are from Planet Mars.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Received on Fri 04 Feb 2011 11:04:56 AM PST