Easter Island Head in the Netherlands
On March 29, 1962, the tide brought something strange to the beach of Zandvoort, Netherlands. Edo van Tetterode told authorities that while walking along the beach he discovered what appeared to be an Easter Island Head. Those who saw the statue assumed that it must have traveled all the way from the South Pacific to the Netherlands by the ocean currents. News of the discovery spread quickly as experts from the Netherlands and around the world scrambled to get a look at the new Easter Island artifact.
A Norwegian expert took a very close look at the statue and he confirmed that it was authentic and that it came from Easter Island. The town rallied around their newfound treasure and put it on display in the town center. Thousands of people from all over the world traveled to get a close look and not a single person ever suspected the truth. At least not until Edo van Tetterode gave an interview about discovering the statue.
On April 1, during an interview with a TV news crew he admitted that he had actually carved the statue and planted it on the beach. He said that he had been inspired by research of Thor Heyerdahl and wanted to create his own artifact.
The following year, to encourage more tomfoolery in the Netherlands he created the National April 1 Society. Each year the society would award bronze replicas of Edo van Tetterode’s famous statue to those the society judged to have made the best jokes that year. The Society continued on until Edo van Tetterode died in 1996. The original statute remains on display in the front yard of Edo van Tetterode’s home and a much larger statue (also created by Tetterode) can also be found on the beach.