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.

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.

This story has been resurfacing once in a while for over thirty years:

NOAH'S ARK GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
- IMPACT No. 47 May 1977
by John D. Morris*
© Copyright 2004 Institute for Creation Research. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-047.htm

The search for Noah's Ark has many years been a source of fascination and intrigue for millions. The story has such appeal that the news media had always been anxious to report any news dealing with the Ark. These accounts have not always been factual or favorable, but they have been well circulated.

The first major splash was in 1883 when Turkish avalanche investigators claimed a discovery of the Ark. The world press so twisted and turned this story, however, and made such a sport of it, that those inclined to accept it were intimidated.

In 1940 the second major story hit the American public. The fictional account of Vladimar Roskovitsky was printed and reprinted in newspapers, magazines, books, tracts, etc. in spite of the fact that the author of the story claimed it was mostly false, built on only the barest of details supplied by the families of two of the deceased members of the reported Russian expedition.

During the '40s, the Ark continued to be in the news, with Air Force personnel claiming sightings from the air, a Kurdish peasant finding it by accident, and several expeditions raising support and making plans.

Fernand Navarra, the French climber, had his day in the spotlight when he displayed to the world an ancient piece of hand-tooled wood that he removed from a crevasse in the ice cap of Mt. Ararat. Later, in 1969, he returned with a team from SEARCH INC. and discovered other small pieces of wood in a nearby location.

In this decade, the publicity has been of a different sort. There have been numerous expeditions with many participants, most of whom consistently lecture and write on the subject, and few in this country are not aware to some degree that the search is current. Since 1972 ten books have been written on the subject, all of which have been good sellers. These books have varied in viewpoint, content and accuracy, but are all reasonably factual.

The Institute for Creation Research has always maintained a strictly ethical, legal and moral stand in its expeditions and its publications have strived for precise accuracy even though truth may not make such exciting reading. It is in that light that some of the more recent well known and circulated items must be discussed.

Satellite Photos
The first of the major news stories of this decade was the report on February 21, 1974, that a NASA satellite known as the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS, now known as LANDSAT) had photographed Noah's Ark from an altitude of 450 miles. The news was repeated in virtually every newspaper, and on every radio and television station.

Unfortunately, when examined by photographic experts, the object in question turned out not to be the Ark. It was many times too large and not at all in the area under consideration as the possible resting place of the Ark. NASA experts agree that the Ark, even if fully exposed, and under optimal conditions, would likely not be visible. In any case, they are certain that this object, located at about 6,000 elevation, is not the Ark.

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."

"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed at the next zebra crossing.

Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys, but that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best-selling book, 'Well That About Wraps It Up for God.'

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