Long before Donald Trump, an unemployed man claimed the Moon and sold 611 million acres. He also claimed Mars, Venus and Pluto

Long before Donald Trump declared that “the moon is ours,” an unemployed American made an extraordinary claim of his own: he said the Moon belonged to him — and began selling pieces of it to people around the world.

In the late 20th century, Dennis Hope turned an unusual interpretation of international space law into a decades-long business. He divided the lunar surface into parcels, sold certificates representing ownership of the land and reportedly claimed to have sold more than 611 million acres.

The price was designed to make lunar real estate feel surprisingly accessible: an acre was advertised for $19.95, with additional charges for shipping and what Hope called a lunar tax.

How did Dennis Hope claim the Moon?

Hope's idea reportedly emerged when he was looking for a way to make money from property. Conventional land on Earth was already privately owned, so he began looking elsewhere.

He turned to the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which says that nations cannot claim sovereignty over the Moon or other celestial bodies.

Hope focused on what he believed the treaty did not explicitly prohibit: a private individual making a claim.

He subsequently sent a declaration to the United Nations announcing his intention to claim the Moon, divide it into parcels and sell them. Hope expected someone to challenge the declaration, but when no immediate objection came, he proceeded with his business.

He eventually established what became known as the Lunar Embassy, offering customers certificates for plots of lunar land.

You could buy an acre of the Moon for $19.95

Hope's business was built around the novelty of owning a piece of the celestial body visible from Earth every night.

Customers could purchase certificates representing lunar property, with an acre advertised at $19.95, plus additional fees. Larger purchases were offered at discounted rates.

The business attracted buyers around the world. Hope also claimed that among his customers were former U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

At the high end, Hope reportedly sold a parcel of about 2.66 million acres for $250,000.

He eventually claimed to have sold more than 611 million acres of lunar property.

Those numbers, however, shouldn't be confused with conventional real-estate transactions. His certificates do not represent internationally recognized title to lunar land.

Why the claim doesn't hold up under space law

The central problem with Hope's argument is that the Outer Space Treaty wasn't written as a loophole allowing individuals to do what governments cannot.

The treaty establishes that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation. Legal scholars have argued that this principle cannot simply be circumvented by transferring the purported claim from a government to a private individual.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan, former president of the International Institute of Space Law, has explained that the treaty's restrictions on appropriation cannot be bypassed by putting the claim in private hands.

In other words, buying one of Hope's certificates doesn't give the buyer a legally recognized piece of the Moon.

He didn't stop with the Moon

Hope's extraterrestrial real-estate empire eventually expanded well beyond Earth's natural satellite.

He claimed portions of Mars, Venus, Mercury, Pluto and Jupiter's moon Io, offering certificates for those celestial bodies as well.

Customers could even purchase what was described as the entirety of Pluto for $250,000.

Hope also created the Galactic Government, which he presented as a democratic government representing people who had purchased his extraterrestrial properties.

He even sought recognition for its currency, the Delta, from institutions including the International Monetary Fund.

None of this gave Hope or his organization internationally recognized sovereignty.

Hope had an even bigger idea for the Moon

Hope wasn't simply selling novelty certificates. He also built a larger vision around what he believed could eventually happen on the Moon.

One of his arguments involved helium-3, an isotope that has attracted interest because of its potential use in future nuclear-fusion technologies.

Hope estimated that the Moon's helium-3 reserves could be worth more than $6 quadrillion and maintained that his property owners should have rights to resources extracted from their land.

That claim creates a much bigger legal question: if lunar mining ever becomes commercially viable, who gets to decide who can mine what?

Under current international space law, a certificate issued by Hope's organization would not give its holder recognized authority to prevent governments or space companies from operating on the Moon.

He even created lunar conservation reserves

Hope's plans also included protecting parts of the celestial bodies he claimed.

He established 23 celestial reserves, including areas associated with the Apollo missions and regions around the Moon's poles.

The lunar poles are particularly interesting to scientists because permanently shadowed craters there contain deposits of water ice, potentially important for future exploration.

In 2011, Hope reportedly turned down a $50 million offer for the Moon's north pole, arguing that lunar land should remain affordable for potential future inhabitants.

He envisioned an eventual lunar settlement, including a huge pyramid-shaped city, and described its development as part of his responsibilities as the head of his self-declared Galactic Government.

The Moon certificates became the real product

Hope's story was eventually featured in the documentary Lunarcy!, which followed several people whose lives revolved around the idea of the Moon.

The documentary helped bring renewed attention to Hope's business. By 2013, he said lunar-plot sales had increased by roughly 30% following the film's release.

For many customers, the certificate itself was probably the point.

Owning an acre of the Moon isn't quite like owning a house, farm or piece of beachfront property. It is more like purchasing a physical reminder of an extraordinary idea — a piece of paper saying that, according to one man's interpretation of international law, a tiny piece of the Moon belongs to you.

And that is what makes Hope's decades-long business so unusual: he managed to turn an impossible piece of real estate into something people were willing to buy, even though the legal system never recognized him as the Moon's owner.