The Man Who Became a Millionaire Selling Moon Land

Dennis has been selling ‘plots’ not only on the moon but also on Mars, Venus and Mercury. Among those who have bought land from him are Hollywood stars and former US presidents.

Dennis Hope came up with the idea of ​​selling a plot on the moon

Imagine, you’ve just gotten divorced, you have no money, and it occurs to you that I wish I had some property that I could rent out to make some money. And then you look out the window and an idea pops into your head: ‘I’ll sell the moon!’

Not getting the point? But this was the idea that changed the life of American citizen Dennis Hope in 1980, and he became a millionaire by selling a plot on the moon.

Let’s try to find out how they managed to do all this.

‘A land that had no owner’

After coming up with this idea, Dennis decided to gather information.

In an interview with the Voice news agency several years ago, he said that he went to the library and pulled out the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

What is written in this UN document?

According to this international agreement, space is the common property of all humanity, the ‘common human heritage’, and no country is allowed to claim territorial sovereignty over it.

Article 2 of this agreement specifically states that it is not permitted to claim ownership of the Moon and other planets and stars in the celestial system by occupation or in any other way.

Dennis Hope interpreted it this way: If it belongs to everyone, it belongs to no one. If no country can claim it, then can’t an individual claim it?

“It was land that had no owner,” he said in an interview with the BBC.

Hope looked out her window and thought that selling plots of land on the moon could be profitable.

But the real question was, how to establish the truth about it?

For this, once again, Hope took advantage of a legal loophole, or rather, the ‘silence’ of the United Nations.

They sent a notice to the United Nations claiming ownership of the Moon, all eight planets in the solar system, and their moons.

In this notice, he clearly stated that he wanted to divide the properties into pieces and sell them. He also wrote that if the United Nations had any legal objection to this, they should be informed.

How is the placement of a plot on the moon determined?

Since then, Dennis has been selling ‘plots’ not only on the Moon, but also on Mars, Venus and Mercury.

Those who bought land from them include Hollywood stars, former US presidents including Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, as well as major hotel chains such as Hilton and Marriott.

Former US President George W. Bush is said to also have a plot on the moon.

Dennis Hope told the BBC in 2007 that he sells an average of 1,500 properties a day. He said that he closes his eyes and places his finger on a map of the moon to choose a plot location on the moon.

“It’s not a scientific method, but it’s fun.”

And apparently, it’s as much fun as it is profitable. Dennis has earned about $12 million from this business so far. According to him, this has been his only profession since 1995.

This image shows maps of available land plots on the Moon and Mars, as well as the procedure for acquiring property on Mars.

Speaking to Voice, he said that a minimum of one acre of land can be purchased. According to Dennis, the largest property a person can buy is a “continent-sized” plot. This consists of 5.332 million acres and is priced at $13.331 million.

“We haven’t sold the largest plot yet, but we have sold several plots of 1,800 and 2,000 acres. 1,800 of the world’s largest companies have bought land from us for specific purposes, including the Hilton and Marriott chains.”

‘Galactic Government’

You must be wondering if this will all work or how to assure those who buy land on the moon that their ‘property’ will not be taken away from them one day.

Dennis Hope and other ‘owners’ had the same question and they came up with a solution.

Dennis said that they all decided to establish a democratic country together, which they called the ‘Galactic Government’.

“It took us three years to draft the constitution, and in March 2004, when we had 3.7 million property owners, it was published online. It received over 173,000 votes in favor. So we are now a sovereign nation with a formally adopted constitution.”

“We currently have diplomatic relations with 30 countries in the world and we want as many countries as possible to recognize us, because we want to become a member of the International Monetary Fund,” he says.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify their claims.

When a Chilean citizen bought the moon for one dollar

Claims of ownership of planets in the celestial system have been emerging long before humans even thought about setting foot on the moon.

In 1936, Dan Lindsay claimed ownership of not only the moon but all of space, and he received offers to buy it at the time.

A similar claim was also made by Henaro Gahardo Verre.

The Chilean-born lawyer claimed that on September 25, 1954, he acquired ownership of the moon through a notarized document in which he declared himself the ‘owner of the moon’.

The document was signed by a notary in the agricultural city of Talca in central Chile and is now preserved in the Judicial Archives of Santiago.Chile Judicial Archive/BBCThe document was signed by a notary in central Chile, and is now preserved in the Judicial Archives of Santiago.

However, Henaro Gahardo Veere’s attempt to reach the moon was apparently a joke.

As he told the American newspaper Evening Independent in 1969, he wanted to ‘buy’ the moon so he could become a member of the local social club ‘Talka’.

According to him, under the club’s rules, it was necessary to prove ownership of some property for membership.

Lacking resources and wanting to join the city’s elite, he decided to buy the moon. According to him, it cost just one dollar.

‘Real estate business’

Dennis Hope continues his real estate business, but according to experts, at least legally, the moon is not owned by anyone.

The 1967 international treaty also states that the exploration and use of outer space should be for the common benefit of all countries.

So can an individual declare themselves the owner of the moon?

Claire Finkelstein, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert in international law, told a website affiliated with the American broadcaster NPR in 2019 that this could not happen.

However, when it comes to commercial activities in space, such as resource exploration, the matter is not so simple.

“International law is not clear about space mining activities by private companies,” Professor Ian Crawford of Birkbeck College London told the BBC in 2016.

He said, “The Outer Space Treaty needs to be re-examined.”