Remember the "something" that blew through the Texas sky earlier this month? The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to officially call the Feb. 15 sighting a meteor instead claiming it was either debris from colliding satellites or a natural phenomenon.

Regardless of which Area 51 label the government wants to use, a few pieces of chondrite the size of large pecans (covered with fresh fusion crust) were discovered south of Dallas by an Arizona meteorite hunter. One of the 8-ounce rocks is projected to bring around $5,000 when it’s auctioned May 17 by Heritage Auction Galleries. The director of the astronomy laboratory program at the University of North Texas has run at least one of the rocks through a series of authentication tests.

Maybe they should also give the rocks the Joe Dirt “check for peanuts” test.

Orson Welles may have directed one of the best movies of all time in Citizen Kane, but he was also a weird dude. So much so, that he made it a point to burn all the Rosebud sleds featured in the 1941 film. In 1982, when director Steven Spielberg paid $60,500 for a sled … at that time it was the highest price paid for a piece of film memorabilia … Welles was quick to defend that the sled must have been a promotional piece and not an actual prop.

What about bros before no-goes?

Having died in 1985, Welles won’t be able to cry foul over the sale of the trophy cup Welles' character, Charles Foster Kane, holds during the film.

The seller (mrs.miniver), who has the prop listed on eBay for a mere  $2,710,000, claims it’s the only onscreen object that Welles held in the movie. Having not watched the flick since Theory of Movie Making in college I’m not going to call that assertion false, but you mean to tell me that during the entire running time of the movie he never palmed anything else? Too bad I’ve already rented Pineapple Express this weekend or I’d get to the bottom of this.

The listing states that Christie’s authenticated the cup and did a full appraisal. And in case the Buy It Now Price cleans you out, free shipping is being offered.
 

Are those restraining orders keeping some of you from getting to rub the tootsies belonging to Kim Kardashian or Avril Lavigne? Well thank your lucky parole officer that we’ve got a solution for you.

Clothes Off Our Back has five pairs of Ruthie Davis designed shoes up for bid including:

• Bolt shoes autographed by actress and award-winning singer Beyonce. The brown/gold shoes have a 5-inch heel with a 1-inch forefoot platform. The upper is made of metallic kidskin, patent leather, kidskin and faux cobra. There are studs on the upper and the heel is a hand-painted wood look with gold nuts and bolts in the heel. It is lined in metallic kidskin leather and made in Italy. The shoes retail for $950. Beyonce wore the shoes (in silver) to the recent NYC Fashion Rocks red carpet event.

• Koolhaas shoes worn by The Hills star Lauren Conrad (above). The shoe has a 4/5-inch heel with a corrugated metal heel insert. The upper is a ribbed steel metallic kidskin with two rubber straps with silver metal studs. Made in Italy, the shoes retail for $665. Conrad wore the shoes in a photo shoot for the September 2008 issue of CosmoGirl.

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The paleontologist who discovered several famous fossils in and around Malta, Monta., pleaded innocent Thursday to federal charges that he stole fossils from Bureau of Land Management property.

Charged with theft of government property, Nate Murphy, 51, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison with another three years of probation and a $250,000 fine.

Murphy was the director of paleontology with the Dinosaur Field Station in Malta for 15 years before resigning July 1, 2007 ... one month after the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations, the FBI and the Bureau of Land Management began their investigation.

In September, state prosecutors charged him in Phillips County District Court with stealing a turkey-sized raptor fossil. Those charges allege that Murphy intended to sell replicas of the fossil, worth between $150,000 and $400,000.

Just last year, one of the nation's foremost fossil restorationists, Joe Taylor, sold a mastadon skull for $191,200 to help his museum avoid bankruptcy.

Still smarting from the 2004 bomb Around the World in 80 Days, Jackie Chan didn’t exactly need a reason to go Kung-Fu Panda on someone. But following Christie’s auction of a pair of Qing dynasty bronze sculptures this week, he’s ready to remove croissants from his eating regimine.

At the heart of the issue are two sculptures … a rabbit and rat … that were stolen from Beijing’s Summer Palace during the second Opium War in 1860. After years of moving from “owner” to “owner” the pieces ended up selling for £28 million. Needless to say the Chinese government and its favorite export this side of porcelain aren’t turning the other cheek.

"This behavior is shameful," Chan said. "They remain looted items, no matter whom they were sold to. Whoever took it out (of China) is himself a thief. It was looting yesterday. It is still looting today."

The buyer’s identity was not released. The Chinese government warned it would use all necessary channels to recover all relics stolen.

Maybe this means a new plot twist for Rush Hour 4.
 

As if Hallmark doesn’t already have enough opportunities to bleed us dry for $3.99 a pop, today is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day.

Sky’s the limit, huh?

Well after seeing that another comic book collector is selling off a 1938 premier issue of Action Comics … the first appearance of Superman … and is expected to get a final price of somewhere around $250,000, we declare today Dorks Know Best Day.

From this point forward, Feb. 26 will now be a day of vindication for all those who were persecuted for spending money buying comics instead of dating, putting spoilers and lift kits on cars or trying to impress friends and family with the best home theater surround system on the block.

The owner of the comic, who wasn’t identified, bought the comic for 35 cents in 1950. According to Comic Connect, about 100 copies of the comic are known to exist.
 

With Mardi Gras kicking off tomorrow, bead sales in the French Quarter are surely moving at a brisk pace. But the pedestrian payoff down in New Orleans won’t compare to the sets that were recently offered to the highest bidder.

Ever wanted to cop a feel off one of the contestants on The Bachelor?

You probably missed your best chance. Contestants on this season’s show made breast casts to raise money for the Keep A Breast Foundation. The casts brought in $3,500 including $1,000 for Jillian Harris’ bust. Harris (right), one of the three final suitors left looking for love, was sent home on last week’s episode.

Others who’ve exposed themselves for a good cause include Pink, the Foo Fighters (huh?), Dita Von Tesse and Katy Perry (above).

Perry, this generation’s Cyndi Lauper and known for controversial but commercially successful hits like “Ur So Gay, “Hot ‘N Cold” and “I Kissed a Girl”, raised $3,550 in December 2008 for a cast made and decorated by former boyfriend Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes (below).
 

eBay sellers have been notified that their tools may have been infected. Apparently a third-party add-on that some sellers use has been flagged by Google. The Trojan virus, called Adclicker, is low risk, but does help certain websites get credit for artificial traffic. What happened to the good old days when computer viruses just erased your hard drive? Are hackers getting soft or just trying to hit impression guarantees?

 

Hundreds of Oscars were handed out last night during the 3 ½ hour snooze fest otherwise billed as the 81st Academy Awards. Can’t they just cut to the chase, announce the major category winners, eliminate the dance numbers and save everyone a couple of hours?

Among those taking home gold were Kate Winslet (Best Actress for The Reader), Sean Penn (Best Actor for Milk) and Penelope Cruz (Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona). And while the winners had death grips on their prizes during the post-show parties, at some point those 13.5 inch trophies will begin to collect dust on mantles.

But don’t look for them to hit an auction.

Each nominee has to sign a contract stipulating they won’t sell the statuette without first offering it back to the Academy for $1. The winner’s agreement, established in 1951, was established to ease the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ fears that cash-strapped winners would find high bidders.

But what about the pre-1951 Oscars?

There are no formal restrictions placed on them. Michael Jackson purchased the Best Picture statue for 1939's Gone With the Wind for $1.54 million.  

Maybe the recession hasn’t quite made it across the ocean. Former reality star of Big Brother, 27-year-old Jade Goody managed to auction off the rights to her wedding over the weekend for the bargain price of $1.4 million. That cake must have been delicious.

Goody, who transformed herself from villain to valiant after being diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer, had no problems selling out her big day.

"People will say I'm doing this for money," she was quoted as saying by The Sun tabloid. "And they're right. I am, but not to buy flash cars or big houses. It's for my sons' future."

With only a few weeks left to live, Goody married 21-year-old Jack Tweed … with painkillers stashed inside her dress.