A 74 year old woman who has no money and a sick son was trying to sell a piece of moon rock she alleges was given to her late husband by Neil Armstrong. Instead of getting a buyer though, the woman was swarmed by federal and county officials at a Riverside County Denny's. Riverside County is a a county about an hour east of Los Angeles. And hot. If you are overweight like me, you do not go out there between June and September. Of course it would take you about that long just to drive there because of all the traffic. I am convinced that people who live there never actually get out of their cars. They leave home at 4am, drive to LA, work all day drive home and around 2am they get back home where they eat and sleep in their car until it is time to do it all over again.
Anyway, this all happened about six months ago but is just now being revealed because the woman is considering suing NASA. Selling moon rock is illegal. Lots has been given out but you can't sell it. The government says it belongs to them. Umm, last I checked, the moon did not belong to the US Government. So, when the woman called NASA and then tried to sell it, federal officials decided to scare her. They rushed into a Denny's when she was showing the rock, grabbed her so hard they left bruises and scared her so much it caused her to lose control of her bladder.
NASA has not pressed any charges against the woman but did take the rock which was rightfully hers.
Wait a second. So the widow of the first man on the moon is treated like this? Who owns the moon rock aside, this is a pretty shabby way to treat someone. It could have been handled much better.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they're protecting the 'ownership' of it because it's like faculty at a university. Ultimately anything that you discover/create while employed remains the sole custody of the university. If you die and you give your research to your wife, it doesn't mean she's the owner and she can't sell it. I dunno. *shrug*
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is more to the story...like it's a giant conspiracy and they're protecting interests. (cue Transformers theme music)
*_can_sell it.
ReplyDeleteFuck NASA. Huge waste of our tax dollars for one thing... Bitching about cuts to their pet projects...
ReplyDeleteAwww, boo hoo, no more space shuttle or whatever.
WTF has their shooting off rockets done for us in the last 40 years or so? How many fucking times does a shuttle have to go back and forth to Mir for? Sorry, but fuck men in black.
No...she's not the widow of Neil Armstrong, she's the widow of a man who was given a piece of moon rock by Neil Armstrong.
ReplyDelete@Basil it wasn't the widow of Neil Armstrong it was given by Neil Armstrong (allegedly)and the man who had it died and his wife was trying to sell it.
ReplyDeleteMoon Rock is considered a national treasure and is illegal to sell. Unless you buy a rocket go to the moon and mine some rocks for yourself.
This lady is in deep doo doo.
Apparently, she knew it was illegal to sell and she has been trying to line up buyers for a while. It sounds like NASA handled this very badly though. They could have just warned her against selling it or confiscated it. Setting up a sting is a bit extreme.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry I went off. You do not man-handle an old woman. Just should not happen, and in broad daylight no less! IDC if she was being belligerent or not, or breaking the law or not. Ham-handed goons.
ReplyDeletefrom what I have been reading online the NASA Moon Rock recovery unit does not play around.
ReplyDeleteThere's a NASA Moon Rock Recovery Unit???? I'm picturing a cross between the elves that rescue Santa in The Santa Clause and the Sector 7 group from Transformers.
ReplyDeleteAll joking aside, what the hell? Who thinks organizing a sting operation on a granny is a good idea? Even if she got rowdy, there's no need to hurt anyone like that.
While I dont think harrassing an old woman and stealing her moon rock is cool I disagree that it's a waste of tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteIf anything I would argue that the military is a waste of our tax dollars MUCH more so than anything NASA does.
I mean, common on. NASA is our link to finding out what else is out there in the galaxies, if there was ever any life forms else where, and if we are in danger of anything hitting our planet. NASA is that SHIT!
I always thought being an astronaunt is the coolest thing one could ever be- except I get dizzy in long car rides and hate rollarcoasters, so Im assuming I couldnt deal with the space shuttle ride.
And that's rad that the moon rock is a national treasure.
If I were at Denny's and the MIB came after me, I'd probably pee in my pants, too.
ReplyDeleteBTW- whose the fox in the pic?
ReplyDeleteso here is a good article on it and like @Cheryl said above. She knew what she as doing was illegal. But at the same time she needed the money. BTW there is a picture in the article, this is all over a SPECK of moon dust. It isn't even a rock.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.app.com/article/20111024/NJNEWS18/310240036/NASA-moon-rock-recovery-sting-terrifies-woman-74-who-says-gift?odyssey=nav%7Chead
@Jasmine~that is Neil Armstong
ReplyDeleteSeriously? What has NASA done for us? Um... water filtration systems, cordless tools and appliances, home insulation, football helmet padding, memory foam? Medical grade LED technology transfer, laser technology transfer (both used in closed-body surgeries, eye surgeries and cancer treatment). Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in math, science and technology education, as well as aviation and fire-fighting safety improvements. Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Arden have both used NASA technology to improve their beauty regimens. Ever gotten a digital mammogram? NASA invented this. Or perhaps used a cell phone? PDA? Laptop or PC? No satellites, no communications, NO INTERNET. NASA has also employed hundreds of thousands of Americans for decades.
ReplyDeleteSelena, NASA has done a hell of a lot for us. See above. What I don't appreciate is senators and congressmen using our tax dollars as their own personal treasury chest, or spending lots of money on idiotic things. Did you know there is a tiny rest stop in Pennsylvania that cost around 110 thousand dollars to build, thanks to Vince Fumo. (I read that article a while ago, so I'm sure the specifics aren't perfect, but you get the idea.)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't think I agree with Selena here. As Jasmine says, NASA is the shit. Here is an article I just googled that tells of some of the things that NASA has done for us:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/aug/06/ben_bova_nasa_has_given_us_much_more_moon_rocks_an/
Want to learn more about a guy who tried to sell moon rocks and went to jail for it? Try "Sex on the Moon" by Ben Mezrich. His prose makes Clive Cussler look like Shakespeare, but the story is great.
ReplyDeleteThey did the same thing to my mother, essentially. My grandfather worked at NASA. My mother inherited it. She sent it to get appraised. They seized it and threatened her with jail before giving it back to her.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually not illegal to sell it. It's just that it was property of NASA when it was brought back from the moon so NASA considers it stolen. So you could sell, say, moon rock that was given to the Russians, the Russians sell it, then you can.
The thing that sucks about my mom's moon rock is that she can prove it wasn't stolen. It was a retirement gift from NASA.
Moon Rock Recovery Unit? That has all the makings of an action-packed television series! CSI, SVU, NCIS, why not MRRU?
ReplyDelete@skeeball- Neil is looking HOT! HAHAHA
ReplyDeleteThat should be the next Law & Order franchise! Law & Order: Moon Rock Recovery Unit. I can hear the "duh duh duh" theme now: "In NASA's war on moon rock selling, the criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Moon Rock Recovery Unit. These are their stories."
ReplyDelete@Henriette: LOL! That's exactly what I was thinking of myself!
ReplyDeleteCancan, did you just diss Clive Cussler?! The horror!!!
ReplyDeleteGood one Henriette! Let me just say that our tax dollars should not be used to manhandle anyone 74 f'ing years old. WTF!?!?!?! It's not like she was violent.
ReplyDeleteHenriette - I laughed out loud. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSome of you have made me (unintentionally) laugh hysterically in these comments. ;)
ReplyDeleteSince she was just trying to help her sick son... I feel kinda bad for this lady!