FBI Arrests 4 College Interns For Stealing Lunar Materials

An anonymous reader "Today, the fourth member of a group of college interns working at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston turned herself in after being charged with conspiracy to steal government property. Click2Houston.com has an article with a video feed covering many details of the case. Apparently, three of the alleged theives went to Florida and tried to sell, online, the 5 oz. of moon rocks and meteorite material they lugged out of the JSC in a 600lb case. Here's another article from the Houston Chronicle."

Re:What did they expect..

[Ignavus Anonymous]

We're lucky that they weren't planning any terrorist activities with the rocks!

The dark side of the moon...

[lfourrier]

...brings no
money.

sorry for the youngs here. A long time ago, there was some band named Pink Floyd...

Should have sold...

[__aadhrk6380]

The rocks in their heads, instead.

The -REAL- conspiracy

[Anonymous Coward]

Is the cover-up of the fact that NASA stole them first from the inhabitants of the moon.
I had the retaining wall in my garden knocked over, parts of it stolen,
and they left kind of striped flag on my front porch.

A tribute to the FBI...

[iworm]

"We put two and two together," Houston FBI spokesman Bob Doguim said Monday. "We had missing rocks in Houston, and some people trying to sell them online."

Heck, they're clever these FBI chaps, eh?

uhm?

[zmooc]

oz? lbs? People living somewhere on the southern hemisphere and a harddisk access format? What do they have to do with moonrocks?

You got that all wrong...

[cnelzie]

They would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those kids and that dog!

-.-

The "Moon": A Ridiculous Liberal Myth

[Anonymous Coward]

It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)

Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors .. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.

Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!

Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.

Re:What did they expect..

[Subcarrier]

But a few hundred pounds of moonrock are sure to be noticed, especially when you sell em on eBay!

You would be surprised, the kind of ideas you come up with after consuming a gallon of moonshine with your friends.

"Hic! Man, this rocks! Show me the money! SHOW! ME! THE! MONEY!"

...can't...resist...

[McCart42]

It'll be interesting to see them use the defense that "it was the moon rock gnomes!" ...can't resist this one.

1. Steal moon rocks.
2. ???
3. Profit!

Re:The dark side of the moon...

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no dark side in the moon really.
In another fact its all dark.

(for the insiders :))

Re:Government property?

[bbc22405]

One point on which I don't agree is the idea that we own it forever. Apparently there was some recent disagreement (perhaps discussed here on the dot?) that involved a moon rock that had changed hands a few times. The first change of hands (from the U.S. to a foreign dignitary) was legit, but one or more of the later transfers were not legit. I don't agree that the U.S. has a legitimate claim to it.

Well, if you had read the Lunar Materials End User License Agreement that was shrink-wrapped around those rocks, you would know that the Central American government only had a non-transferable license to house and view those rocks; we actually retained ownership. That EULA explicitly prohibits resale and reverse engineering, and disclaims the rocks to be suitable for any purpose.

Re:other stolen rocks..

[GigsVT]

The suspect, said to be a former army cook

Hey I saw him in that action movie. It's a good thing they didn't try to fuck with him.

Re:thank you, you stupid fucking intern

[The Dobber]

Yeah right. NASA willl probably form a team to review the issue and come back with the suggestion of A) decreasing the standards for internship B) increasing the compensation.

As for the FBI, gotta love those analytical skills
To quote:

"We put two and two together," Houston FBI spokesman Bob Doguim said Monday. "We had missing rocks in Houston, and some people trying to sell them online."

Wow.

What do you bet....

[CaffeineAddict2001]

... one of them tried to smoke the moon rock in thier crack pipe.

Re:The dark side of the moon...

[bpfinn]

They have become....comfortably dumb.

Too late once again..

[kemster]

.. Damn it. I knew I should have used Buy It Now. Now the auction is gone :( No moon rocks for me, and I was all ready to paypal those guys too.

Re:What did they expect..

[Eric_Cartman_South_P]

They were going too! I head they were just a stones throw away from... oh nevemind.

Re:Who would buy these?

[guttentag]

What kind of idiot would buy moon rocks over the Internet for any appreciable sum of money?

The FBI.

Idiot Selling Moon Rocks: "Hey, I got me some moon rocks for sale! Moon rocks! Get 'em while they're hot!"
FBI Agent: "I'm very interested in your moon rocks. Where did you get them? I see... Where do I send the check?"

Re:Who would buy these?

[PatientZero]

All they got was a fscking T-shirt.