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Treasured "Moon Rock" Is Petrified Wood
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that a treasured piece at the Dutch national museum — a supposed moon rock from the first manned lunar landing given to former Prime Minister Willem Drees during a goodwill tour by the three Apollo-11 astronauts shortly after their moon mission in 1969 — has been revealed as nothing more than petrified wood, curators say. A jagged fist-size stone with reddish tints, it was mounted and placed above a plaque that said, 'With the compliments of the Ambassador of the United States of America... to commemorate the visit to The Netherlands of the Apollo-11 astronauts.' The plaque does not specify that the rock came from the moon's surface. Researchers from Amsterdam's Free University said they could see at a glance the rock was probably not from the moon. They followed the initial appraisal up with extensive testing. 'It's a nondescript, pretty-much-worthless stone,' wrote Geologist Frank Beunk in an article published by the museum. Beunk says the rock, which the museum at one point insured for more than half a million dollars, was worth no more than $70. The 'rock' had originally been been vetted through a phone call to NASA. As the US Embassy in the Hague said it was investigating the matter, the Rijksmuseum says it will keep the piece as a curiosity."
The "rock" had originally been been vetted through a phone call to Nasa, she added.
Always good to double double check things.
If it were a swindle, though, there are loads of rocks that would have looked more like lunar material. A brownish chunk of fossil wood is pretty low on the list. You'd think that a hypothetical swindler would have used something more plausible.
I think close to every large museum or gallery has been the victim of forgery (or "fakes").
The National Gallery of Victoria, the largest public gallery in Australia, has misattributed a painting to Van Gogh for the last 70 years. Meanwhile, it was discovered that the Art Institute of Chicago had purchased a fake Gauguin. The Wallraf-Richartz Museum has discovered that a "Monet" purchased five-and-a-half decades ago was a fake as well. Even the Getty and the Smithsonian have fallen victim to countless fakes.
The Dutch National Museum can at least be forgiven for not suspecting that a U.S. ambassador would present a fake artifact as a gift.