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Re: (meteorobs) Buying A Star for Someone- off topic!!
In a message dated 01/07/2000 5:24:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,
HobrockS@go-redbirds.com writes:
<< the stars are not for sale. >>
This hit a "hot spot" with me!
I occasionally have to answer phone quires to New York's Hayden
Planetarium. I wish I had a buck for every phone call that comes in asking
for information on ". . . how I can I buy a star?" Bottom line is, of
course, that it is a S-C-A-M ! The company that has been perpetrating this
fraud (for 20 years) has managed to find a legal loophole by stating in their
radio commercials that "your name will be published in a book that will be
copyrighted." Some years back they claimed that their registry book would be
placed in the Library of Congress (that backfired on them when their
application was returned).
When I tell people that this company cannot be sanctioned by the
Planetarium because the star names are not officially recognized by any
scientific institution most are stunned. It is especially sad to receive a
phone call from somebody who has just lost a loved one and wants very much to
commemorate that person with a star in the sky.
For your "registration fee" (I think it's $48), you get a certificate, a
book on the stars and a star chart indicating where your star is located (in
most cases, "your star" is something like magnitude +18.4 -- good luck in
finding THAT and pointing it out to family and friends).
There is actually a small percentage of people who, even after hearing my
explanation, still insist on getting more information on the star-name
company (buttressing P.T. Barnum's famous quote). When that happens, I just
tell them to call one of the big NYC radio stations, because this company
advertises on just about all of them . . . but they wont get any helpful info
from me.
-- joe rao
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