Noah's Ark Found? Company Claims Commercial Satellite Has Picture Proof

Space.com ^ | 4/26/04 | Space.com

[Brett66]

April 26

Noah's Ark Found? Company Claims Commercial Satellite Has Picture Proof

Satellite photos of Mount Aratat, Turkey taken by commercial imaging satellite company Digital Globe released today are said to contain proof of the existence of the biblical Noah's Ark.

The images, revealed at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. (see right), are said to reveal a man-made structure at the site where the Bible states the vessel came to rest.

The claim was made by Daniel P. McGivern, president of Shamrock -- The Trinity Corporation, who according to a press release has been searching for the Ark for several years.

The first pictures of the site were taken by the U.S. Air Force in 1949. The images allegedly revealed what seemed to be a structure covered by ice, but were held in a confidential file labeled “Ararat Anomaly” for years. In 1997, the government released several of these images, but experts deemed them inconclusive.

McGovern's is not the first satellite search for the Ark. In 2002, Porcher Taylor, a senior associate (nonresident) at the prominent think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., also requested satellite imagery of the area to see if the mythical vessel truly existed.

The summer of 2003 provided a great opportunity to take a new series of photographs, according to the release, because it was the hottest summer in Europe since 1500. This caused a massive meltdown on Mount Ararat. McGivern used DigitalGlobe’s Quick Bird satellite to collect a new set of satellite images.

Click to view close-up of alleged proof of Noah's Ark

According to the press release, McGivern has put together a team of scientists, archaeologists and forensic experts to excavate the object and collect samples beginning in August of this year.

“These new photos unequivocally show a man made object,” McGivern is quoted as saying. “I am convinced that the excavation of the object and the results of tests run on any collected samples will prove that it is Noah’s Ark.”

The field manager for the excavation will be Dr. Ahmet Ali Arslan, a native of Turkey who has traveled up Mount Ararat 50 times in 40 years and formerly worked in the Turkey Prime Minister’s office. According to the release, Arslan plans to discuss the details of the excavation with the Prime Minister next week.

[VaBthang4]

Smonk: "odd that on a website dedicated to conservative discussion, that creationism and a simple story about the ark should provoke such a flood (no pun intended) of dismissive derision."

gcruse: "This might be explained by pointing out that conservativism, unlike creationism, does not entail checking one's brain at the door."

Actually it has become readily apparent to me that this board has a fair share of bitter contrarians versus legitimate Conservatives. It shows up strong on the weekends....alot of e-deadenders and LP candidates who rail more against authority than anything else. Creation itself implies ultimate authority...that is why we tend to see the immediate [and transparent] backlash whenever someone drills to deep into reality.

There's is a peculiar kind of brilliance [usually reserved for Liberals] that can walk right by the truth...unfortunately, it shows up here whenever the way, the truth and the life are discussed.

Sad I suppose...but hey, I'm straight. ~grin~

[mtbopfuyn]

Just what every woman already knew. Men have always claimed something's bigger than what it actually measures.

[Louisiana]

bump

[Quilla]

While studying a strange yellow tide that recently surfaced in the Black Sea, Al Gordino and Rudy Gunn are taken captive. Apparently the next novel's villain is developing a weapon derived from melting snow, a byproduct of which is creating the deadly tide. Who else can Vice President Sandecker send to quell this evil but Dirk Pitt? Not to mention the fact that Pitt is chomping at the bit to save his best friend and deputy director of NUMA. Searching for the villain's hideout in NUMA's signature turquoise hovercraft, Pitt, assisted by virtual intelligence from Hiram Yeager, eventually ends up in Mount Aratat and happens upon Noah's Ark.

Check your Doxa dive watch, it's not time for Dirk Pitt to retire. ;-)

[verity]

This is nothing but a commercial advertisement!

[Desdemona]

Since that location has been touted as the resting place of the ark for a few thoudand years and scientific tests on wood brought back from the structure carbon date it to the correct time and it is gopher wood, etc., they're collecting on an old story. Right now, it's covered by ice. It years past it hasn't been and there's much better pictures out there.

[Stultis]

I like the photo's on this site and the story better ... anyone refuting that the ark has been found?

Yeah, nearly everybody. The skeptics have refuted Ron Wyatt because he's a loon, and the biblical literalist "arkeologist"/creationist types have refuted him as well. (The later are put off not only by the fact that his "ark" is a well known type of geological formation, but also by the fact that it's not on the mountain but rather in the foothills to the South, and by the fact that Wyatt uses "New Age" techniques like dowsing in his "research".

[Poodlebrain]

Oh boy, will there be an evil Muslim antagonist since it's happening in Turkey? I would expect Dirk's son and daughter to go to the rescue since their introduction in the prior book.

To think Frank Zappa was right those many years ago, not only is yellow snow unsafe for eating, it can be weaponized.

[Long Cut]

"What's the hangup with getting a predator drone up there for closeups?"

Uh, the Predators are all otherwise engaged in far more important, and immediate work than looking at rock formations.

[Poohbah]

"What's the hangup with getting a predator drone up there for closeups?"

Uh, the Predators are all otherwise engaged in far more important, and immediate work than looking at rock formations.

When you have to explain that to someone on a conservative website, you have a problem.

My parents grew up on the phrase, "Whatsamatta, don't you know there's a war on?"

Maybe we need to bring that phrase back.

[AgThorn]

I must admit that "Wyatt" seems a bit wierd, after reading this site more ... especially the "ark of the covenant" story. What a joke.

Anyway, besides Wyatt, the pictures on "noah's ark" are much more convincing and seem pretty solid. Are there any other researchers than Wyatt that have documented this? or refuted it?

[Long Cut]

Even IF the story of the Ark was anything more than a parable, and even IF such a craft came to rest on the slopes of Ararat, there is little chance it would still exist, in any form.

Could you just IMAGINE someone asking the DOD to detail one of its indispensable Preds to look at a common rock formation, on the chance that it's Noah's Ark, in the middle of a war?!?

Whatever general was hearing the request would call security, immediately.

How many "expeditions" to this area have been announced over the years? How many have actually gone, and how many of THOSE have brought back scientifically verified evidence? Seems to me that a LOT of con jobs have been run on religious people, using their faith against them.

[Betis70]

>>Even IF the story of the Ark was anything more than a parable, and even IF such a craft came to rest on the slopes of Ararat, there is little chance it would still exist, in any form.

Actually I'm not so sure about that, esp if it is encased in ice at the top of a mountain.

As a former archaeologist, I am constantly surprised at what we find, intact, after close to 1000 years or more. Heck look at some of the mummified remains from Peru as an example. Or the infamous Ice Man (Otzi) from the Italy/Austria border in the Alps. He was from the Copper Age, which is roughly 5,300 years ago. And they could tell what he had for dinner. And he was in ice, at the top of a mountain.

[commish]

Not to mention the group from vermont pulling a complete P-38 out from under 200FT of ice in Greenland..and after restoration, FLYING IT!

I realize it had only been there 50 years, but the point is that it was perfectly preserved, right down to the parachute on the seat.

[Stultis]

As a former archaeologist, I am constantly surprised at what we find, intact, after close to 1000 years or more. Heck look at some of the mummified remains from Peru as an example. Or the infamous Ice Man (Otzi) from the Italy/Austria border in the Alps. He was from the Copper Age, which is roughly 5,300 years ago. And they could tell what he had for dinner. And he was in ice, at the top of a mountain.

The Ice Man had fallen into (or sought shelter in) a depression or crevice. He stayed in place, in a stable block of ice, over which a glacier flowed for thousands of years. An object the size of the biblical ark would almost certainly be in the flow region of a glacier, and would be badly broken up (at best).

[Stultis]

Click here to find letters from several (creationist) researchers who've looked at Wyatt's "ark" site (actually referred to by "arkeologists" as the Durupinar site, it was considered and rejected long before Wyatt). Answers In Genesis has a report by Andrew Snelling here. Lambert Dolphin also has a page on Wyatt. He primarily references the first link I gave you, but provides some other info as well. The intro is pretty uncompromising:

Ron Wyatt, who has been telling his tales of discovering Noah's Ark, the chariots of Pharaoh, the pillars of Solomon, the true Mt. Sinai, the tomb of the Patriarchs, Sodom & Gomorrah, the place of Christ's crucifixion, and the Ark of the Covenant for many years, has been documented as an archaeological fraud. Both former "friends" as well as professional archaeologists in his own denomination (Seventh- Day Adventist) have published detailed refutations of all of his "discoveries."

There's an interesting page here, at NoahsArkSearch.com, that has some background info on the Durupinar site, a number of links to articles (mostly con, but also pro), and some interesting pictures. Check out the "Other Canoe/Boat Shapes" pictures, illustrating that this type of formation is not unique in the area.

Now that's just a sample of the creationist response. The real skeptics, of course, aren't any more favorably disposed to this fraud.

[pctech]

Interesting

[AgThorn]

great summary ... thanks!!!

I remember some other photo's, research done that seemed to be about a separate site for Noah's ark. It was up in the mountain, few have journeyed, but was emerging from a glacier and broken in half .. need to see where that was, but I don't think it was Wyatt. Wondering if this too was 'questionable'.

I actually bought a great video on The Search for Mt Sinai that was excellent and I have lent it out to someone. I am not thinking that was Wyatt either, but now I am suspicious. Anyway, the proof was pretty solid that Mt Sinai was actually found in Saudi Arabia. Will have to get that video back to give source.

[AgThorn]

found it, the Mt Sinai video reference I mean ... very very believable ... haven't searched for anyone refuting it.

http://www.explorationfilms.com/folders.asp?action=display&record=20

[Stultis]

I remember some other photo's, research done that seemed to be about a separate site for Noah's ark. It was up in the mountain, few have journeyed, but was emerging from a glacier and broken in half .. need to see where that was, but I don't think it was Wyatt.

The site you're thinking of is probably the same discussed in the article leading this thread. (Sorry, but it's just rocks too.) Wyatt's site is some 15-20 miles South of Ararat, in the foothills.

The theory that the ark has broken in half is (or used to be, last I knew) a popular one among believers. I think this is because it allows them to reconcile otherwise irreconcilable sightings.

If you ignore the prior absurdity of an oceangoing ship on top of a mountain, a wooden ship the size of the titanic strong and watertight enough to ride cataclysmic seas for months, etc, etc, etc, then the idea of the ark being broken is not implausible. Different part of a glacier move at different speeds. Although, the way glaciers usually flow, I'd think it would be more likely for an object like the ark to be sheared along the horizontal axis rather than (or at least in addition to) the vertical.