the Raw Story

A top American scientist who once worked for the Pentagon and the US space agency NASA was arrested Monday and charged with attempted spying for Israel, the Department of Justice said.

Stewart David Nozette, 52, developed an experiment that fueled the discovery of water on the south pole of the moon, and previously held special security clearance at the Department of Energy on atomic materials, the DOJ said.

He is charged with “attempted espionage for knowingly and willfully attempting to communicate, deliver, and transmit classified information relating to the national defense of the United States to an individual that Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer,” the DOJ said.

Nozette had been dealing with an FBI undercover agent in a sting operation, the department said, adding there was no wrongdoing by Israel.

Nozette, who was arrested in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland and taken into custody, could make his first court appearance Tuesday on the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets for profit,” said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security.

In addition to stints with NASA and the Department of Energy, Nozette worked at the White House on the National Space Council under then-president George H.W. Bush in 1989 and 1990.

“From 1989 through 2006, Nozette held security clearances as high as top secret and had regular, frequent access to classified information and documents related to the US national defense,” the Justice Department said.

In early September, Nozette received a phone call from a person “purporting to be an Israeli intelligence officer, but who was in fact an undercover employee of the FBI,” the DOJ said.

“Nozette met with the UCE (undercover employee) that day and discussed his willingness to work for Israeli intelligence,” informing the agent that “he had, in the past, held top security clearances and had access to US satellite information.”

The scientist offered to “answer questions about this information in exchange for money.”

Over the next several weeks, Nozette and the undercover agent exchanged envelopes of money for answers to lists of questions about US satellite technology.

“In addition, Nozette allegedly offered to reveal additional classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems,” DOJ said.

FBI agents retrieved a manila envelope left by Nozette in a designated location this month that “contained information classified as both top secret and secret that concerned US satellites, early warning systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information, and major elements of defense strategy.”

by Tracey D. Samuelson, Christian Science Monitor

The ‘birther’ allegation that President Obama wasn’t born in the US is nothing new. America has a long tradition of political accusations gaining traction.

The recent chatter over the Birther’s Movement and President Obama’s birthplace has a long way to go before it can be considered one of the top political conspiracy theories out there. Here are several that endure year after year, often despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

1. JFK’s assassination: Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone

Many people still question the death of the 35th president on a sunny afternoon in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Was it really Lee Harvey Oswald? If so, did he act alone? Under whose direction? Were the FBI or CIA involved? There are endless questions posed about that day, and asmany different theories about how to answer them.

2. The American government was behind 9/11

According to 911Truth.org, the collapse of the Twin Towers wasn’t caused by Al Qaeda or foreign terrorists, but rather “elements within the US government and covert policy apparatus must have orchestrated or participated in the execution of the attacks for these to have happened in the way that they did.”

3. The government hushed up what really crashed in Roswell, N.M.

Something crashed in the desert outside Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947. But what? Some conspiracy theorists maintain it was an alien space ship and that the US military covered up the discovery of the crash site and alien bodies. The enduring theory has turned the small town of Roswell into a circus of alien paraphernalia shops and a tourist destination for seekers of the paranormal.

4. The CIA created AIDS

Most people and scientists believe that the AIDS virus was transferred from monkeys to humans in the 1930s. But a small group maintains that the virus was man-made, manufactured by the US government or the CIA and specifically used to target African-Americans and homosexuals. Others believe the US created AIDS as a bioweapon, but that it spiraled out of control.

5. The moon landing was a hoax

We’ve all seen the grainy video of Neil Armstrong taking his historic steps on the moon, planting the American flag, and declaring, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But some say it was all staged so that the US could beat Cold-War-Rival Russia in the Space Race.

Ye Olde Conspiracy Theories

For conspiracy theories that date back to the founding of the Republic, including His Royal Highness King John Adams and Confederate turncoat Mary Todd Lincoln, check out this essay on The Daily Beast.