First published: Creation ex nihilo 23(2):56 March 2001 Browse this issue Subscribe to Creation Magazine

The Ararat anomaly

by Andrew Lamb

America's spy agency, the CIA, has for decades kept a growing dossier of classified military and spy satellite photos of a small patch of ice near the peak of (greater) Mt Ararat. In about one in ten of those years, the ice melts back enough to expose what some have suggested are the remains of Noah's Ark.

For the last seven years,¹ Professor Porcher Taylor has used the USA's Freedom of Information laws to try and get those photos of the so-called 'Ararat Anomaly' released. Exasperated with government recalcitrance, Taylor arranged his own satellite photos of the area, which were recently published, though not definitive either way.^2,3

If the Ark is not under that ice, why the official secrecy? A mundane explanation is possible. Photos of thousands of military installations and other sensitive spots around the globe are automatically classified secret by US authorities. 'We couldn't release [the Ararat satellite imaging] … because it shows what we were targeting,' says an anonymous senior intelligence source.³

Turkish authorities think that target is CIA listening posts buried in the ice, once used to track missiles from the nearby Soviet base.³

Could a wooden vessel such as the Ark have survived to modern times? On one hand, we don't know the qualities of what the Bible calls 'gopher wood'; there was a 'pitch' (probably resin) coating; and the chances of preservation would be enhanced in such a cold, remote place. A handful of wooden vessels have indeed survived from ancient times.⁴

On the other hand, the ravages of shifting ice, and the lava flows of which there is evidence on Ararat, plus the post-Flood need for fuel and building materials, combine to reduce the probability of survival of the Ark.

Note the following:

• Genesis 8:4 says that the Ark landed on 'the mountains of Ararat', not specifying this particular mountain. There are other mountains in the region with traditions of being the Ark's resting place.

• Finding the Ark would be a sensational advance for the cause of Genesis creation. As a 'type' of the Lord Jesus, it would also have evangelistic value.

• Even so, it would not suddenly 'convert the world'—as Jesus indicated, not even spectacular signs will overcome the wilful refusal to believe God's Word (Luke 16:31).

• God may not want the Ark to be found, because of the human tendency to venerate objects and icons, distracting from the worship of the living Creator of heaven and Earth (Numbers 21:9 cf. 2 Kings 18:4).

• If it is found, it will likely be because of providential circumstances which have, against the odds, allowed it to be preserved for finding in God's timing.

The Turkish government now insists that any archeological research in the area is done in cooperation with Atatürk University. At least one team of US researchers is proposing such a joint project, using ground-penetrating radar on the mountain's icecap.

Many teams have looked for the Ark on this mountain and failed. Veteran Ark searcher, the Institute for Creation Research's Dr John Morris, still encourages and assists other searches. But he, like a number of other past searchers, says it would take some new lead/evidence to get him to 'go over' again. Perhaps the 'Ararat Anomaly', when more details are available, will provide such an impetus.

Web links

References

1. See Creation 20(2):8, 1998.

2. Maier, T.W., Anomaly or Noah's Ark? <www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=208686>, 3 January 2001.

3. Maier, T.W., Anomaly or Noah's Ark?, Insight 16(43):10-14, 24-27, 20 November 2000.

4. E.g. see inset Creation 22(3):47, 2000.