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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."
I hope this can be resolved peacefully, American forces are stretched a bit thin at the moment.
They'll be coming out of the (petrified) woodwork again...
Proof that the moon landing was faked!!!
;)
Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
I wonder if someone swapped the fake rock for the real one back when it was presented.
Proverbs 21:19
The "rock" had originally been been vetted through a phone call to Nasa, she added.
Always good to double double check things.
And naked?
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
...to commemorate the visit to The Netherlands of the Apollo-11 astronauts
o.O
Who would want to visit an astronaut's nether regions, and even if they did why would they need a commemoration
That's no moon rock...
Do you have any idea how long it takes to dig graves for twenty-three oak trees?
Well, at least it's not a coprolite.
I deliminate with tabs. Get used to it.
"Moon Rock" Is Petrified Wood
This changes the whole history of the moon as we know it. This is proof that there is (or was) life in other places besides Earth. This is a momentous discovery in the history of space science.
No, its not the moon landing was faked; what it means is (equally plausible) is that the capsule was pulled through a worm hole, to a point in time when the moon was forested. The piece of wood the astronauts were attempting to bring back, was not placed within the shielded area of the capsule so that when they went back through the worm hole, the piece of wood experienced the full impact of the millenia in between, and hence was returned as petrified. Because the shielding was somewhat worn by the initial trip, the memories of the astronauts were somewhat impacted. Film was subsequently created based upon what NASA believed happened.
Officials in Lake Havasu City, Arizona have discovered that the "London Bridge" they purchased back in the 60's is actually made of moon rock.
Have you read my blog lately?
I *always* think of Ren & Stimpy.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
ZOMG!!! This means there must have once been trees on the moon!!!
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Given that moon rock cost billions of dollars to bring back a few hundred pounds, you'd think NASA would have detailed measurements on every piece that's out there.
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
Well, the obvious jokes about trees on the moon and fake lunar landings have already been made, so I'll make a simple observation: The curators at the Dutch National Museum thought that a red rock the size of a fist was a moon rock?
I'm not a curator at a national museum, nor am I even an amateur geologist, but I'm pretty sure I would at least recognize that the rock described didn't look like any moon rock I had ever seen or heard about. It would be woefully sad if the piece of fossilized tree was one that you could still see the rings in.
Clearly, they never knew the demand for moon rocks, and thought that enormous pieces are handed out to foreign politicians all the time:
Each year an independent peer review panel evaluates new research proposals, and curators mail out about 400 lunar samples to 40 to 50 scientists worldwide. Almost all are less than one gram in size. "We donâ(TM)t hand them out, we only loan them," Mr. Allen said.
Yes, scientists studying moon rocks have to write research grants in order to borrow a piece less than one gram in size. Yet the Dutch prime minister was given a fist sized moon rock. Yeah, OK.
So Wan Hu made it to the moon after all!
Early in the sixteenth century, Wan decided to take advantage of China's advanced rocket and fireworks technology to launch himself into outer space. He supposedly had a chair built with forty-seven rockets attached. On the day of lift-off, Wan, splendidly attired, climbed into his rocket chair and forty seven servants lit the fuses and then hastily ran for cover. There was a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Wan and the chair were gone, and was said never to have been seen again.
"Time is nothing; timing is everything."
Today the Netherlands is mourning wood?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
The ambassador should have given something like a collection of classic American music on cassette tape.
The only hoax is NASA's claim that the moon is utterly barren! This revelation proves the existence of ancient moon trees!
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Did it say "THE moon" (i.e., ours) or just "A moon"? Forest moon of Endor, perhaps?
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Something as valuable as a moon rock can be pretty easily switched with something else that looks rather interesting. I don't doubt that the astronauts gave them a moon rock. What I doubt is that the silly Dutch have managed to safeguard it for all this time. A little research, including photos, can clear the matter up. Next question is; where did the moon rock go?
Best regards.