How Robert Hunt convinced the world he was a NASA astronaut (and a dozen other things)

Time of India

9 hours ago

Source: Instagram/@from_quarks_to_quasars
You might imagine there are few professions on Earth you could convincingly impersonate, especially ones like astronaut, fighter pilot, or Navy SEAL. Jobs that require top-clearance, rigorous physical tests, and years of specialized training.
But Robert Hunt, a man from Medford, Massachusetts, somehow managed to convince the world he was all of them.
By the time he was 27, Hunt had racked up an extraordinary list of fabricated identities: television producer, inventor of a spray-on diaper cream, U.S. Senator, Marine, baseball star, and most famously, NASA astronaut.
In an interview with Space.com conducted over six phone calls in March 2025, Hunt proudly declared: 'I was literally the best at what I did.'
Early signs of a born conman
According to The Boston Herald, Hunt's father, Leo, recalled his son's first con at the age of 14, when he sold a neighbor painted sparrows as yellow canaries.
'When the birds Roy [Robert] sold him took a bath, all the paint, or yellow chalk, or whatever the hell it was, started to come off. And they were sparrows! Sparrows!'
His obsession with space reportedly began at age 7, the night he watched the Apollo 11 moon landing on TV.
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Undo
From there, the fantasy only grew. Space.com reported that during the Vietnam War, teenage Hunt would sneak into Chelsea Naval Hospital, dress in discarded military uniforms, and salute himself in the mirror.
In 1979, Hunt claimed he joined the Marine Corps under a delayed-entry program. But after an administrative error, he was sent home from Parris Island with an 'honorable discharge.'
'It was disappointing, because that was my dream,' he told Space.com.
'I knew everything there was about the Marine Corps and the Navy, so when I graduated, I just carried on the dream.'
According to Space.com, he began bluffing his way onto military bases, slipping into barracks, and claiming fake credentials. 'I knew the curriculum; I knew the commands; I knew the structure.'
That same year, he reportedly dressed as a second lieutenant and snuck into Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire, where his first wife worked.
He was later caught snooping around Air Force Two—the Vice President's jet. The incident ended with an FBI investigation and the collapse of his marriage.
Building a
fake astronaut
Through the 1980s, Hunt used doctored military records and borrowed evaluation reports to build an elaborate identity. He forged documents to show he was a helicopter pilot with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, according to Space.com.
He admitted: 'You just had to have the balls to do it.'
With fake credentials, he procured flight suits, Navy astronaut wings (purchased for $20), and even gave himself a promotion, becoming 'Capt. Hunt, America's youngest Marine astronaut.'
He claimed to have trained at the Johnson Space Center, studied rocket boosters at Morton Thiokol, and flown classified missions aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
He told audiences: 'Atlantis reaches seven Gs during takeoff and glides in from 220,000 feet with zero power.'
He showed off blackened 'heat tiles' from his alleged shuttle reentry, tiles that were actually burnt kitchen flooring.
In 1989, Hunt was riding high on his fantasy life. He gave motivational talks, spoke at schools, and was even honored with honorary citizenship in Dublin, Ireland in December 1988.
During one speech, he described 'top secret' space missions and bombing runs over Libya from an F/A-18 jet launched from the USS Coral Sea.
According to state trooper Andrew Palombo, who later investigated him, the stories were pure fiction.
The Beginning of the end
In January 1989, Trooper Palombo received a complaint at Logan Airport. A woman claimed that a NASA astronaut had visited her home in full Marine uniform, convinced her 18-year-old son to enlist, and when he changed his mind, demanded $4,000 for a 'Pentagon favor' to cancel the enlistment.
The astronaut? 'Captain Robert Hunt.'
Palombo, quoted by The Daily Item, learned that Hunt had been discharged from the Marine Reserve in 1979 after a psychological evaluation. Furious at the impersonation, Palombo began digging deeper. 'He got the stuff on credit by posing on the phone as an officer and a gentleman... It was worth about $1,000, and of course, he didn't pay for it.'
He told The Boston Herald: 'He's a flim-flam man... we figure he's squeezed at least $60,000 out of people since September.'
On January 28, 1989, Palombo searched Hunt's home. What he found was astounding: police badges, NASA helmets, flight jumpsuits, medals from wars that happened before Hunt was even born.
He was arrested for larceny. On trial, Hunt pleaded guilty to larceny by false pretenses for using his wife's corporate card and swindling $4,000 from the recruit's family. He received a two-year suspended sentence and walked free by May 1989.
From astronaut to fake SEAL commando
Freedom didn't slow him down. He briefly considered honest work—as a plumber—but instead used the money to buy another Navy uniform. 'That's when I became a commando,' he told Space.com.
He showed up at the Presidio of San Francisco as the commander of SEAL Team Six, slept in officers' quarters, and spent three weeks working in an emergency operations center before being arrested again. After being caught parking in a general's reserved spot, the FBI charged him with false impersonation.
He pleaded guilty in July 1994 and served one year in prison.
Even after prison, Hunt's con continued. Trooper Palombo—far outside his jurisdiction, kept tabs on him. When Hunt started dating a wealthy Canadian golfer and claimed to be a federal drug agent, Palombo tipped off Canadian authorities.
Palombo died in 1998 in a motorcycle crash. Hunt, years later, expressed regret: 'What I regret is the people who got hurt.'
After the September 11 attacks and increased scrutiny, Hunt admitted his schemes became 'impossible.' The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 also made it illegal to claim military awards or decorations fraudulently.
According to Space.com, Hunt now lives quietly in New Hampshire, works in construction, and spends his free time watching the History Channel.
'I eventually grew up,' he said. 'I stopped dreaming of space.'