Chilean lawyer named Jenaro Gajardo Vera owns the moon

[snopes]

Comment: Many people have claimed possession of celestial bodies,
including the Moon. Some even through notary. I read this account of
Chilean poet, Jenaro Gajardo Vera, doing so in 1954. That seems plausible,
however the story also goes to say that Nixon recognized this by asking
him permission to land on the Moon, as is stated for example here:
http://www.futilitycloset.com/2010/03/12/moonshine/ (and many other
Spanish-written sites). I imagine this is the poet's fabrication, is this
somehow debunkable?

[diddy]

Aren't the us signatories of the moon treaty which says that no one owns the moon? I wouldn't think that any claim of ownership of the moon would be recognized.

[GenYus234]

Right, even if Chilean officials granted the claim, that only works if the moon was Chilean territory.

[BrianB]

As the OP implies, nearly all of the websites with this story are in Spanish. In addition, the Spanish Wikipedia has much more information than the English one. One of the claims Mr. Gajardo makes is that Richard Nixon sent him a telegraph asking for permission for Apollo 11 to land on the Moon. However, the Spanish Wikipedia raises issues with that claim. Namely

• No such telegram has every been found.
• Mr. Gajardo claims Nixon asked permission for Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to land on the Moon. As anyone with even a smidgen of knowledge about Apollo 11 knows, Michael Collins remained in orbit during the mission.

The claim about all three astronauts is also listed in Afterthought: New Writing on Conceptual Art by Mike Sperlinger.

Also, Chile is a signatory to the 1967 Outer Space treaty, which states:

outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means

From what I've found he made many other kooky claims. I don't know why this one has attracted any attention.

And finally, a comment about the OP. The OP says the following about the 1967 Outer space Treaty:

we don’t know whether Chile is a signatory

Huh? It took me less than 5 seconds to find that Chile did sign it.

Brian

[Dasla]

Originally Posted by BrianB

[*]Mr. Gajardo claims Nixon asked permission for Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to land on the Moon. As anyone with even a smidgen of knowledge about Apollo 11 knows, Michael Collins remained in orbit during the mission.

Brian

Not to give this any credit, but maybe they were allowing circumstances in which Collins has to be part of the landing party.



Actually I own the moon.

[Dasla]

Originally Posted by BrianB

And finally, a comment about the OP. The OP says the following about the 1967 Outer space Treaty:

Huh? It took me less than 5 seconds to find that Chile did sign it.

Brian

Well, dur, you looked.