by Raashid Andrabi
SRINAGAR: Within days after Chandriyan-III landed on the dark side of the moon, Jammu businessman Rupesh Masson purchased a plot on the celestial body. Now, a Kashmir doctor Dr Kousar Bakshi also claimed to become the first Kashmiri resident to own a plot on the moon.
Some days before, Hina Bashir, a Program Coordinator at IMT University Dubai, sought to surprise her husband, Shahid Yaqoob Khan, with an extraordinary gift. After pondering over distinctive ideas, she settled on something truly out of this world – she purchased a plot of land on the Moon for around 30 dollars.
The “purchases” make the “buyers” to newspapers and to the TV and it might be triggering a sort of jealousy in the society as well. These people get into the spotlight for almost nothing.
Be sure, they own nothing on the moon. They only have purchased a certificate of owning a plot that the seller does not own himself. These certificates are good wall hangings and decorative.
“Your Lunar Land Claim and ownership package includes a beautifully engraved personalized deed, a satellite photograph of your property on the Moon and an information sheet detailing the geography of your selected area,” the seller declares on his website.
The scam is rooted in the United States of America where a company registrar failed to have timely application of mind and registered the company, now called, the lunar registrar. It has an interesting story.
It is the story of Dennis Hope who was fighting joblessness after his separation from his partner that he discovered a “hope” in selling the celestial bodies. He claims to own almost everything in the universe except the sun and the earth.
For over three decades, Hope, an entrepreneur from Gardnerville, Nevada, has boldly claimed ownership of the moon and parlayed this assertion into a thriving lunar real estate business. This comprehensive exploration delves into the origins of Hope’s lunar ownership claim, the intricacies of his lunar real estate business, legal controversies, and the broader implications of his cosmic ambitions.
In the early 1980s, faced with unemployment, Hope turned to an unexpected source for his next venture—the moon. Gazing out of his window, he saw unclaimed property on a cosmic scale. Recalling a tidbit from a college political science course about the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which prohibited nations from claiming the moon but remained silent on individual ownership, Hope saw an opportunity.
Hope went to his local US Governmental Office for claim registries, the San Francisco County Seat, and claimed the entire lunar surface, as well as the surface of all the other eight planets of our solar system and their moons (except Earth and the sun). Initially, he was taken for a crackpot but five hours later the main supervisor accepted and registered his claim of ownership.
Later, he penned a letter to the United Nations, staking a claim to the moon and daring them to refute his legal standing. To his surprise, there was no response, setting the stage for his audacious lunar enterprise.
Founded in 1980, Hope’s Lunar Embassy Corporation claims to have sold more than 600 million acres of lunar land, and the sales extend beyond the moon to include Mars, Venus, Mercury, and even Pluto. Operating on the premise that the UN treaty does not apply to individuals, Hope sells lunar plots for US $19.95 per acre, complete with additional charges for a “lunar tax” and shipping for the deed. Larger plots and entire celestial bodies are also available, with purported buyers including three former US presidents – George HW Bush, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and nearly 700 well-known celebrities. Reports in the media suggest that he once sold a “country-sized” plot of land – 2.66 million acres, for US$ 250,000.
One of the intriguing aspects of Hope’s lunar enterprise is the sheer scale of land he claims to have sold. With more than 611 million acres allegedly under ownership, Hope’s Lunar Embassy has become a major player in the extraterrestrial real estate market. Despite legal ambiguities, his unconventional approach has resonated with a diverse clientele, adding a layer of mystery to the extent of lunar land now purportedly owned by private individuals.
While Hope’s lunar real estate business thrives, legal experts and the president of the International Institute of Space Law, challenge the interpretation of the UN Outer Space Treaty. According to these experts, the treaty applies not only to nations but also to their citizens, making individual lunar ownership untenable. Despite this, Hope remains steadfast in his claims, exploiting what he perceives as a legal loophole that supports his celestial enterprise.
Hope’s lunar venture faces multifaceted challenges, including scepticism from legal experts, potential conflicts with future lunar exploration missions, and the absence of international recognition. Yet, Hope envisions a future where lunar landowners, represented by the Galactic Government he presides over, can leverage their lunar properties. With helium-3 reserves valued at over $6 quadrillion, Hope underscores the economic potential of his claimed lunar territory, adding an intriguing dimension to the ongoing cosmic drama. Helium-3 is used in nuclear fusion research on Earth and trades for about $125,000 an ounce.
Nobody contested his claim – neither the US government nor the UN or any of the powerful five nations. Encouraged, he once threatened China which had said they would set up a station on the moon. Instead, the hugely moneyed man has been adopted by the Republicans.
Owning is slightly different from a wall hanging. In most countries, if one owns a piece of land, he or she exercises exclusive control over it and no one can use it without permission. The government recognises ownership and helps owners enforce it. That is not the case for moon land-owning.
The International Law of Space does not allow any country to own land anywhere beyond Earth. According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the exploration and use of space shall be carried out in the interests of all countries: outer space is the “province of all mankind”. As of 2019, 109 nations are bound by the Treaty, and another 23 have signed the agreement but have yet to be officially recognised.
The Outer Space Treaty is a list of guiding principles determining what nations can and cannot do in space. It also concerns planets and celestial bodies such as asteroids and the Moon.
But Hope, who has sold almost 7.5 per cent of the moon’s surface for US 12 million so far, is not the first claimant to the ownership of the moon. In 1996, German citizen Martin Juergens declared that the Moon belonged to his family, claiming that it had been presented to his ancestors in 1756 by Prussian King Frederick the Great as a gift of service. Juergens petitioned the German government to take the matter to the US. Not surprisingly, no action has been taken by either government.
Private companies have been ‘selling’ plots of land on the Moon since at least the 1950s.
An acre on the moon goes for US 19.99 dollars, while the same-sized plot on Mars will set you back the US 22.49 dollars, plus tax and shipping and handling. It amounts to less than Rs 4000 an acre, something that cannot get a person his grave in Srinagar. But the Kashmir land grabbers have a huge opportunity. There are no greater salesmen than the land mafia people in Srinagar. Why do they not see hope in the business Hope started?
