S5 Ep11: Sex on the Moon: The Audacious Theft of Lunar Rocks

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A band of nerdy geology enthusiasts were sure the email they received in 2002 was a hoax: The unsolicited message said that its writer was in possession of moon rocks that he was willing to sell. But moon rocks were among the most valuable objects on earth and anyone who knew anything about NASA knew that not only was owning them illegal, but it was impossible. One email recipient reached out to the FBI and was instructed to pose as an interested buyer, triggering one of the most outlandish heists in history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking, they change laws, change society, or even
0:12.4	earn the label, Crime of the Century. But the stories that made headlines and decades past
0:18.9	aren't necessarily remembered today.
0:22.6	I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author, and in each episode of this show,
0:26.8	I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened.
0:33.9	This is Crimes of the Centuries.
0:52.3	Thank you. This is Crimes of the Centuries. Greetings, the email read. My name is Orb Robinson from Tampa, Florida.
0:57.5	I have in my possession a rare multi-carat moonrock I'm trying to find a buyer for.
1:03.4	The laws surrounding this type of exchange are known, so I will be straightforward and nonchalant
1:09.3	about wanting to find a private buyer.
1:12.0	If you or someone you know would be interested in such an exchange, please let me know.
1:17.1	Thank you. Orp. Robinson.
1:20.3	Axel Emmerman figured this had to be a joke.
1:23.9	Some dude with an obviously fake name was asking him if he wanted to buy some moon rocks.
1:29.7	Moon rocks.
1:30.8	It may be the most valuable thing on Earth.
1:33.6	There were a finite amount of them and were only allowed out of NASA's hands for highly regulated scientific research.
1:41.7	Otherwise, they resided in a hermetically sealed, glove-handled existence of
1:46.9	pure nitrogen, touched only by those in oxygen-canistered, full-bodied, purified clean suits in the
1:53.8	lunar lab, which nestled deep within the Johnson Space Center's well-guarded and highly secure
1:59.4	megacompound.
2:06.4	Even researchers got only the tiniest bits of rock to work on and only under specific conditions.
	...

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