Former car salesman who claims he owns the moon has made $11MILLION by selling pieces of lunar landscape - and buyers include Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and George Lucas

Dennis Hope claimed ownership of moon in 1980 through legal loophole

Said UN Outer Space Treaty blocks countries owning planets, not people

He has now made more than $11million (£6million) selling acres of moon

Customers include George Lucas, George W Bush, and Hilton Hotels



Dennis Hope, 66, claims to own the moon and has made more than $10million selling acres of it since 1980

A businessman claiming to sell acres of land on the moon has made more than $10million (£6.million) from the venture.



Dennis Hope, 66, says he exploited a loophole in the 1967 UN Outer Space treaty to claim ownership of the lunar landscape.

He then divided it into plots and sold them in his local bar and over the internet via his company, Lunar Embassy, for $20 (£12) an acre, or $25 (£15) including mineral rights.

Hollywood actors Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Clint Eastwood, and Star Wars creator George Lucas are said to be among his six million customers.

Presidents Reagan, Carter and Bush Junior have also had plots bought for them, while companies such as Hilton and Marriott have also invested.

Hope has even set up his own state, the Galactic Government, in 2004, which has a ratified constitution, a congress, a unit of currency and even a patent office

Each owner gets a gold-embossed certificate and an entitlement to vote in any future elections.

Mr Hope, a former used car salesman, researched the law on land-grabs on Earth before writing to the United Nations to lay claim to the moon.

He did not receive a reply refusing his request, and therefore considers himself to have a legal right to the moon and all its minerals.

He also claimed ownership of most of the other planets in the solar system, and their moons, at the same time.



He said: 'I couldn't help thinking that there was a lot of unclaimed property up there.

'I was intrigued enough to look up the treaty and sure enough Article Two states 'no nation by appropriation shall have sovereignty or control over any satellite bodies'.

Mr Hope says a loophole in the UN Outer Space Treaty allowed him to claim ownership of the moon,and other planets because the treaty forbids countries from doing so, not individuals

Mr Hope has even set up his own government, the Galactic Government, which has its own constitution and currency. He claims the state doesn't have to abide by UN laws because it is not a member

'I found a lot of countries accepted that land could be claimed so I just applied what I learned.



'People have said just because the UN never responded doesn't mean you own it. Well, I did my due diligence, they should have done theirs.'

Mr Hope, from San Francisco, came up with the idea of laying claim to the moon while on a cross-country drive in the late 1970s.

He started selling the plots in his local pub before going online as the internet grew.

He said: 'I'd sit in bars, with a batch of deeds in my coat. I'd get talking to someone and they asked what I did, I'd say, "I sell the moon".

'It was a great conversation starter. I made a lot of sales that way.'

Mr Hope now has plans to build a giant pyramid on the moon, with room for thousands of visitors.

He said it is unlikely anybody will live there permanently because it could lead to medical complications.

Mr Hope has so far sold moon land to to the likes of sci-fi master George Lucas, former President George W Bush and Hilton Hotels. Each owner is given a certificate and the right to vote in any moon elections



But he does believe people will have 'extended vacations' of up to three months at a time to get the 'best views in the solar system'.

A leisure company even plans to open an indoor golf course. Dennis's biggest sale so far is 2.6 million acres to one person.

But he says he turned down a 'massive' offer - worth 'hundreds of millions of dollars' - because the company wanted to buy the polar regions.

Mr Hope said: 'That's where the frozen water is and they're not for sale. Any company that owned it would have a monopoly on the moon's water supply and would exploit it.'

The youngest land owner on the moon was a day old and the oldest 97.



Unsurprisingly, Mr Hope's business venture has landed him in court on numerous occasions.

He said: 'I've been taken to court in Germany and Sweden for fraud but both cases were thrown out of court because of lack of jurisdiction.

'No court wants to tackle the issue yet, but I'm sure they'll be cases in the future.'

Others have sent him abusive letters and emails, and at least four bomb threats have been made against the business.

He added: 'They call me a con man and a charlatan and that no one can own the moon for himself.

'I just turn them over to the FBI and let them deal with them.'