[meteorite-list] Ultimately Un-Stung in the Sting...

From: Richard Montgomery <rickmont_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:47:53 -0800
Message-ID: <B450D6BC6204419D9489FCF9FFA1ECEC_at_bosoheadPC>

Kevin, nice to hear from you on the List! As a proud owner of your book,
and even more, proud of your passion and more....

Richard Montgomery


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Kichinka" <marsrox at gmail.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 1:22 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Ultimately Un-Stung in the Sting...


> Team Meteorite:
>
>
> In a recent correspondence entitled "Space Loot", list member Phil
> Whitmer has shared an article about a past sting operation coordinated
> by agencies of the US Government seeking sellers of space program
> lunar material.
>
>
> I wrote about this before, and do so again because "this can happen to
> you".
>
>
> I became part of their witch hunt of those illegally owning/selling
> moon rocks when I answered a fake ad they placed in USA Today several
> years ago.
>
>
> Two "buyers of moon rocks" journeyed to my home in Fort Myers, Florida
> to set up and arrest me. They left empty handed when I could not offer
> them the silver-dollar size Apollo program lunar rocks they sought.
> They were not interested in buying small 0.01 frags of the first-ever
> lunar meteorite on the market I had purchased from Blaine Reed. No
> matter how patiently I explained the difference between a lunar met
> and a space program rock, even warning them to be careful, "it's
> illegal to possess material from the space program", they weren't
> paying attention, just boasting about how "their clients" could
> purchase "anything they wanted". They were so ignorant of the material
> they sought, so totally clueless about its petrology or appearance,
> that I recommended they not buy something they couldn't scientifically
> explain, and instead purchase "for their clients " a large Campo that
> "anyone would know is a meteorite."
>
>
> Those with copies of my book (only 70 copies remain for sale), "The
> Art of Collecting Meteorites", can read about how their visit caused
> me to become a "person of interest" to the US government. This is
> never a good thing.
>
>
> I was later detained by US Customs after returning from abroad. My
> "escape" involved then-US Congressman Porter Goss (who later ran the
> CIA), US Senator Connie Mack who's grandfather is in the baseball Hall
> of Fame, and a joint request that all "photos, secret audio tapes and
> transcripts" obtained at my home be destroyed.
>
>
> The Chief of United States Customs eventually wrote a letter of
> apology to me and freed me from further investigation.
>
>
>
> Thanks to Phil, I now know the names of the goofy guys that let me put
> on a meteorite "dog-and-pony" show in my dining room one summer
> morning hoping only to sell them meteorites while they hoped to take
> me away in chains.
>
>
> A google search of attorney Gutheinz, Jr. shows him to be very proud
> of his work, he's a real crime fighter.
>
>
> In this article he says, ""If someone hands a governor a moon rock,
> and he keeps it or loses it, if you can't protect something like
> that, maybe they're not that vigilant," said Mr. Gutheinz, a retired
> senior special agent in NASA's inspector general office. "And if
> they're not that careful, and they bring it home with them, what else
> have they brought home with them?"
>
>
> I'll take the high road here and not share my opinion about one who
> invents evil intent and let list members determine for themselves the
> motives for such a person. But it's clear to me that after all these
> years, my innocent solicitation for business from these yoyos could
> have ruined my life.
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
> "Few Americans have been as focused on moon rocks as Joseph R. Gutheinz
> Jr.,
> a Texas lawyer who keeps a spinning globe on his desk reading, "Moon Rock
> Hunter." The title is not official (the globe was a gift from one of his
> sons), but it might as well be: Mr. Gutheinz and his criminal justice
> students at the University of Phoenix and Alvin Community College in
> Alvin,
> Tex., have helped track down 77 moon rocks that were missing, including
> those presented to governors in Colorado, Missouri and West Virginia.
>
>
> Mr. Gutheinz was the undercover agent who led a Miami sting operation to
> recover a moon rock stolen in Honduras in 1998. It was called Operation
> Lunar Eclipse. Mr. Gutheinz ran an advertisement in USA Today reading,
> "Moon
> Rocks Wanted," and a man called offering to sell him a real moon rock. The
> asking price was $5 million.
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Here is another interesting link to this event.
>
>
> http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-062902a.html
>
> Kevin Kichinka
> Santa Ana, Costa Rica
> Marsrox at gmail.com
> www.theartofcollectingmeteorites.com
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>
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Received on Mon 23 Jan 2012 08:47:53 PM PST