HOUSTON MOON ROCK THEFT STING: This is pretty interesting. I was on Larry King talking about space property rights and moon rocks some years ago when a woman caller said that J. Paul Getty had had a moon rock in his house, which she had seen as a visitor. That, I later determined, was probably one of many plaster-of-paris fake moon rocks used for astronaut training and later given out as gifts.

This, however, involved an effort to steal the real thing. But the real tragedy is that moon rocks are still rare and valuable. If things had gone as they should have, they’d now be common enough not to tempt thieves.