Ridiculous History Podcast

Episode: Moon Rock Heists, Part One: Lunatic Heists and Space Law

Host: Ben Bowlin & Noel Brown
Air Date: August 27, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the surprisingly dramatic history of moon rocks: from painstaking efforts to bring them safely to Earth, to the fraught quest to protect them from decay, theft, and diplomatic mishaps. Ben and Noel entertain and inform as they recount the science, logistics, and downright ridiculous heists (and accidents) that have beset humanity’s rarest space souvenirs—teasing the wildest story of all for part two.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Value and Vulnerability of Moon Rocks

• How Moon Rocks Arrive on Earth

  • There are only two legal ways to get moon rocks: they either come as meteorites or are collected through lunar missions ([06:54]).
  • About 2,250 lbs collected from meteorites (mostly Antarctica, Africa, Western Asia), and 842 lbs were retrieved by Apollo missions.

• Apollo Collection and Preservation

  • Apollo missions (1969–1972) brought back over 2,200 samples ([07:45]), ranging from rocks to dust.
  • Samples are stored in highly controlled, nitrogen-filled cabinets to prevent Earth’s atmosphere from contaminating (oxidizing) them—the "Moon rocks' enemy" ([09:03], [20:09]).
  • Key quote: "To the moon rocks, the Earth's atmosphere is the alien bit." – Ben ([20:05]).

• Clean Room Protocols and Low-Tech Solutions

  • NASA established some of the world’s strictest clean rooms for storage ([23:49]).
  • Even with technology, sometimes "they used a deli meat slicer with a diamond-tipped blade" to cut moon rocks ([24:55]).

Moon Rocks and the Problem of Back Contamination

• Initial Fears About Lunar Germs
  • Early protocols erred on the side of caution: astronauts quarantined three weeks post-mission ([14:02]), and lunar samples were fed to mice and quail to test for “moon plague.”
  • “You have to walk naked as Adam through a UV light bath…and then you get to put on your street duds and exit.” – Ben ([15:11]).

Who Owns the Moon? Space Law and Distribution

• International Treaties

  • No country owns the moon; the United Nations’ Moon Treaty (1979) formalized this ([29:01]).
  • "There's no calling dibs on the moon, right?” – Noel ([29:13]).

• Moon Rock Storage and 'Doomsday Vaults'

  • 84% of US moon rocks stored at Johnson Space Center (can "withstand 1000 years underwater"—"doomsday vault") ([29:26]).
  • 16% moved to White Sands Test Facility as a backup ([30:23]).
  • Samples are shared with global scientists and displayed at select museums for public education ([31:00]).

Moon Rocks as Diplomatic Gifts and the Heist Setup

• Nixon’s Goodwill Moon Rocks

  • "Tricky Dicky" Nixon ordered fragments be gifted to all US states and numerous foreign leaders: 270 "Goodwill Moon Rocks" ([35:23]).
  • Around 180 of these are now missing or unaccounted for.
  • “That’s right—two-thirds are just gone. Like Keyser Soze in the night.” – Noel ([39:29]).

• Why & How They're Lost (or Stolen)

  • Many rocks were simply misplaced, trashed, or pocketed.
  • Ireland’s was accidentally sent to a landfill during a fire cleanup—now "a pot of gold under a dump" ([42:03]).
  • Malta's was outright stolen from an unsupervised exhibit—“only an amateur would just steal the rock,” says investigator Joseph Gutheinz ([46:14]).

Joseph Gutheinz: The Moon Rock Detective

• The Indiana Jones (and Van Helsing) of Space Rock Recovery

  • Former intelligence officer Gutheinz leads the “Moon Rock Project,” tracking down lost moon rocks worldwide; 79 have been recovered so far ([41:00]).
  • Nicknamed “the Van Helsing of Luna traffickers” in the Spanish press ([49:25]).

• Notable Recoveries:

  • Honduras: Its goodwill moon rock surfaced in Florida, being sold for $5 million ([51:35]).
  • A sting named “Operation Lunar Eclipse” led to its recovery and return ([52:28]).

Memorable Quotes

• "[Moon rocks] looked like lumps of charcoal in the bottom of a backyard barbecue grill." – Ben quoting Elbert King, first lunar sample curator ([28:19])
• "It belongs in a museum." – Ben & Noel, multiple times, channeling Indiana Jones ([43:22], [46:55])
• “Only an amateur would just steal the rock. If we are trying to sell it on the black market, you would want the full set…the plaque, the flag.” – Joseph Gutheinz via the hosts ([46:36])
• “That’s right—two-thirds are just gone. Like Keyser Soze in the night. Lost, lost, stolen, missing." – Noel ([39:29])
• On Operation Lunar Eclipse: "A tad on the nose." – Ben ([51:52])

Notable Moments & Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Summary/Highlights | |---------------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | Podcast host banter/“regular man on the moon” jokes | Setting the playful, irreverent tone | | 05:14 | Introducing Thad Roberts & the NASA heist (teaser) | Tease of the notorious “Sex on the Moon” heist, saved for Part Two | | 07:45 | Apollo missions and how much lunar material we have | Fun facts: 842 lbs, careful storage, “chonky boy” Big Mully | | 09:51 | Soviet, Chinese, and US moon rock hauls | US has by far the greatest share, focus on American lunar samples | | 12:16 | Moon landing skepticism & the challenge of space | Logistical hurdles and science fiction fears about “moon plague” | | 15:11 | Lab decontamination and UV light “Adam walk” | Amusing description of early NASA quarantine protocols | | 20:09 | Oxidization: the moon rock's greatest enemy | Earth’s atmosphere as the real “alien threat” to moon rocks | | 23:49 | Clean rooms & meat slicers: NASA’s rigorous methods | “Cleaner than your house”; Lo-fi deli slicers as scientific equipment | | 29:01 | Space law and the “no one owns the Moon” principle | Unpacks the Moon Treaty and how it shapes moon rock ownership | | 35:23 | Nixon’s “goodwill moon rocks” and tracking fails | Diplomatic gifts go missing; the 2/3 loss figure established | | 41:00 | Joseph Gutheinz’ Moon Rock Project | Moon rocks detective and recovery stories (Ireland, Malta, Spain) | | 51:35 | “Operation Lunar Eclipse” | A successful sting brings back the Honduras moon rock | | 54:11 | Science spin-offs of moon missions | Velcro, “pens that write upside down,” and “applied science” | | 55:28 | Shoutouts, teasers for Part Two, banter about nicknames | End-of-episode setup and podcast in-jokes |

Episode Tone & Style

• Playful, irreverent, nerdy: Banter about werewolves on the moon, Indiana Jones, and even moon landing denial.
• Pop culture savvy: References to Armageddon, Indiana Jones, and the Pink Floyd album.
• Meticulous but light-hearted: Deep dives into technical detail (clean rooms, moon rock chemistry), but always with a pun or joke.
• Respect for space history: Genuine awe and reverence for moon rocks, punctuated by their blasphemous theft.

Looking Ahead

The much-teased story of Thad Roberts and the infamous “Sex on the Moon” caper will be the focus of Part Two.

"It seems like part one here is going to be kind of the history of moon rocks and the distribution of them and the sort of international affairs of it all. And this is its own little mini heist, or at the very least an MIA situation, due to the incompetence, let's just say, of old Tricky Dicky. So lest you be irritated that we don't give you the promised heist heist and the sex on the moon stuff, that's all going to happen in part two, and I think it's an absolutely banger of a place to break this." – Noel ([47:14])

Recommended Listening

Fans of this episode might enjoy:

• Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know: For further discussions on moon landing conspiracies.
• Ridiculous Crime: For more wild true crime tales with a humorous twist.

Credits

• Big thanks to research associate Jordan Runtaw ("Smoking moon rocks in the boondocks Runtaw," per Noel [55:28])
• Super producer: Max Williams
• Shoutouts: Eves Jeffcoat, Christopher Haciotes, AJ “Bahamas” Jacobs, Rachel Big Spinach Lance, and of course, the always-schemin' Jonathan Strickland aka The Quister.

End of Summary