We present stratospheric ozone abundance profiles retrieved from absorption spectroscopy of the atmosphere backlit by thermal continuum emission of the Moon. Infrared heterodyne spectra at 9.6 ¿m at a resolving power of λ/Δλ ≥ 106 have been acquired on many occasions between 1988 and 2003 from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. IR heterodyne spectroscopy provides a passive probe of terrestrial ozone distribution in the 25--50 km region of the stratosphere with the potential to retrieve altitude-resolved profiles of temperature and abundance. Retrieved ozone profiles are compared with those obtained nearby using active and in situ means (lidar, ozonesonde) with good agreement (≤0.1 ppmv) in the lower stratosphere and with differences ranging from 0 to 1 ppmv in the upper stratosphere.