‘MOON ROCK’ GIVEN TO DUTCH IS PETRIFIED WOOD

DUTCH MUSEUM DISCOVERS
MOON ROCK IS REALLY PETRIFIED WOOD

AMSTERDAM — It's not green cheese, but it might as well be. It seems that a moon rock supposedly brought back by Apollo astronauts and presented to a retired Dutch prime minister 40 years ago is actually a hunk of petrified wood, according to the Associated Press. The Dutch national museum said Thursday that one of its prized possessions, a rock supposedly brought back from the moon by U.S. astronauts, is just a piece of petrified wood. Rijksmuseum spokeswoman Xandra van Gelder, who oversaw the investigation that proved the piece was a fake, said the museum will keep it anyway as a curiosity. "It's a good story, with some questions that are still unanswered," she said. "We can laugh about it." The museum acquired the rock after the death of former Prime Minister Willem Drees in 1988. Drees received it as a private gift on Oct. 9, 1969 from then-U.S. ambassador J. William Middendorf during a visit by the three Apollo 11 astronauts, part of their "Giant Leap" goodwill tour after the first moon landing.

Xandra van Gelder said the space agency told the museum then that it was possible the Netherlands had received a rock: NASA gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries in the early 1970s, but those were from later missions. "Apparently no one thought to doubt it, since it came from the prime minister's collection," Van Gelder said. It was given at the opening of an exhibition on space exploration. It was on show in 2006 and a space expert informed the museum it was unlikely NASA would have given away any moon rocks three months after Apollo returned to Earth. Geologist Frank Beunk concluded in an article published by the museum. He said the rock, which the museum at one point insured for more than half a million dollars, was worth no more than euro50 ($70).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

A living being who lives in the mundane world has four defects: (1) he is certain to commit mistakes; (2) he is subject to illusion; (3) he has a propensity to cheat others; and (4) his senses are imperfect.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
Śrī Īśopanisad - Purport in Mantra 1"

A conditioned living being is endowed with four principles of malpractice, namely errors, insanity, inability and cheating. These are signs of imperfection, and out of the four the propensity to cheat others is most prominent. And this cheating practice is there in the conditioned souls because the conditioned souls are primarily in the material world imbued with an unnatural desire to lord it over the material world. ... The world of hypocrisy can be checked only by counteraction through devotional service to the Lord and nothing else.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"The Srimad Bhagavatam - Purport in Canto 1 - Chapter 14 - Verse 4"