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Museum of the Bible Quietly Replaces Questioned Artifact

Associated Press

   OKLAHOMA CITY - The Museum of the Bible in Washington quietly replaced
   an artifact purported to be one of a handful of miniature Bibles that a
   NASA astronaut carried to the moon in 1971 after an expert questioned
   its authenticity.

   The move follows an announcement last year that at least five of 16
   Dead Sea Scroll fragments that had been on display at the museum were
   found to be apparent fakes.

   The museum replaced the original microfilm Bible with one that was
   donated by an Oklahoma woman who wrote a book about the Apollo Prayer
   League, which arranged for Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell to carry
   tiny Bibles to the moon.

   "We know for sure that one on display right now went to the moon, but
   we could not verify for sure that the one we had originally on display
   had gone to the moon," museum spokeswoman Heather Cirmo said. "We
   couldn't disprove it, it just wasn't certain."

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