# The Dutch Prove that there were Forests on the Moon!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-prove-that-there-were-forests-on-the-moon/507995>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 28, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-prove-that-there-were-forests-on-the-moon/507995 "2009-08-28T03:15:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-prove-that-there-were-forests-on-the-moon/507995/1 "2009-08-28T03:15:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> ‘Moon rock’ in Dutch museum is just petrified wood

> [@](#):
>
> By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer Toby Sterling, Associated Press Writer – Thu Aug 27, 11:35 am ET  
> AMSTERDAM – It’s not green cheese, but it might as well be.
> 
> 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.

[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090827/ap\_on\_re\_eu/eu\_netherlands\_not\_moon\_rock](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090827/ap_on_re_eu/eu_netherlands_not_moon_rock)

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**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-prove-that-there-were-forests-on-the-moon/507995/2 "2009-08-28T03:17:21Z")

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That’s ridiculous…

We’ve clearly found another Earth that failed that the government isn’t telling us about.

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**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-prove-that-there-were-forests-on-the-moon/507995/3 "2009-08-28T15:33:04Z")

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Thanks a lot, you just cued up this clip in my mental movie jukebox:

(Presentation voiceover): “You may wonder: how can wood get so hard?”  
Beavis & Butthead: Heh heh. Heh… Huh-huh. Huh.