Morgantown, W.Va. ? A missing piece of the moon may have been found in Morgantown.

Retired dentist Robert Conner learned Friday that the one-gram rock fragment he found in his late brother’s possessions a decade ago was actually presented to the state by NASA during the 1970s.

“I didn’t even know we had one that could go missing,” Conner said. “It’s been on a shelf.”

The rock was part of 135 fragments collected during the Apollo 17 mission and given to the 50 states and several countries, said Joe Gutheinz Jr., a former NASA investigator.

The Texas lawyer has challenged his graduate students since 2002 to locate missing moon rocks that were collected during Apollo 11 and 17 missions and presented as goodwill gifts.