Missing moon rock turns up in ex-governor’s house

By The AP
Tuesday, June 1, 2010

DENVER — One of the missing moon rocks given to Colorado in 1974 has turned up in an ex-governor’s house.

The rock was given to former Gov. John Vanderhoof by the Nixon administration, which awarded bits of moon rubble to all 50 states and more than 130 foreign countries.

Vanderhoof is now 88 and living in Grand Junction. He kept the rock on a plaque in his house and didn’t think much of it until college students started looking for the moon rocks — most of which are missing.

Vanderhoof joked that he’d offered the rock to museums but no one was interested until the college students’ quest led to his office plaque.

Another set of moon rocks awarded to Colorado was found in storage at the state history museum about a decade ago.