'Moon rock' given to Holland by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin is fake

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Curators at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, where the rock has attracted tens of thousands of visitors each year, discovered that the "lunar rock", valued at £308,000, was in fact petrified wood.

Xandra van Gelder, who oversaw the investigation, said the museum would continue to keep the stone as a curiosity.

"It's a good story, with some questions that are still unanswered," she said. "We can laugh about it."

The rock was given to Willem Drees, a former Dutch leader, during a global tour by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin following their moon mission 50 years ago.

J. William Middendorf, the former American ambassador to the Netherlands, made the presentation to Mr Drees and the rock was then donated to the Rijksmuseum after his death in 1988.

"I do remember that Drees was very interested in the little piece of stone. But that it's not real, I don't know anything about that," Mr Middendorf said.

Nasa gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in 1969 and the 1970s.

The United States Embassy in The Hague is carrying out an investigation into the affair.

Researchers Amsterdam's Free University were able to tell at a glance that the rock was unlikely to be from the moon, a conclusion that was borne out by tests.

"It's a nondescript, pretty-much-worthless stone," said Frank Beunk, a geologist involved in the investigation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/6105902/Moon-rock-given-to-Holland-by-Neil-Armstrong-and-Buzz-Aldrin-is-fake.html

Edited March 7, 2014 by Porterhouse

[deleted-05292014 331]

Hey it is Amsterdam after all. The real one probably got rolled up and smoked.

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

I read once that when they tried to trace all the moon rock given out as goodwill after the Apollo missions a substantial amount had gone missing in 30 years. At some point someone substituted the real thing for this worthless bit of rock.

[Neonred 3,562]

Of course it was a fake. Don't you remember that moon mission was also a fake. All done from a sound stage somewhere.

[Pooky 3,784]

That is an awesome practical joke.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Took one look at the pic before reading, and said to myself, "That's petrified wood".

Now granted, I have seen it a few times in my travels back and forth across AZ, but how in the world would that fool anyone in the scientific community? Looks very different from, and has a lot less mass than, say a chunk of meteorite.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Took one look at the pic before reading, and said to myself, "That's petrified wood".

Now granted, I have seen it a few times in my travels back and forth across AZ, but how in the world would that fool anyone in the scientific community? Looks very different from, and has a lot less mass than, say a chunk of meteorite.