I recall reading this stuff in the 70’s, along with Late, Great Planet Earth, Bigfoot and books on the coming ice age.
It would seem the todays tech would allow someone to go up and check out rumors like this. Not easily, but very possible.
If I recall correctly, the reason they haven’t been able to get people up there is because the Turkish government won’t issue permits for them. For some reason, a muslim government doesn’t want evidence of Biblical events made public ... go figure.