A revelation in India's popular Mid-Day by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has led to a run on moon land.
Khan, known to his legion of fans around the world as "SRK" or "King Khan," admitted in the article that he owned several properties in the moon's Sea of Tranquility, near where the Apollo 11 lunar landing took place forty years ago.
The properties, a gift from an ardent admirer, put Shah Rukh in interesting company. The late "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, owned 1,200 acres in the moon's Lake of Dreams subdivision. The property is willed in equal portions to Jackson's surviving children.
Hip hop music impresario Jay-Z is also among the major owners of moon property in show business.
The properties were legally recorded through the International Lunar Lands Registry (ILLR), an inter-governmental agency set up to register moon property for individuals and business entities. Nearly a million acres of lunar real estate have been registered annually by the non-profit agency since its founding in 1999.
While any property on the Moon can be claimed for a set fee per acre, the most popular properties are in pre-planned tracts in the Lake of Dreams, Sea of Tranquility and Sea of Serenity.
Prices for lunar property in pre-planned tracts begin at less than $20 US (about 850 INR). Prices are slightly higher for premium locations.
