Modern Searches and Sightings of Noah's Ark

According to the Bible, Noah's Ark was a ship that Noah built at God's behest. The humans of the world had grown so "sinful" that God felt it necessary to kill all of them, save two. He told the least sinful man in the world-Noah-to build a boat and to lead two individuals from each species in the world on it. He then flooded the entire Earth, killing everything but the creatures aboard the ship. When the flood subsided, the ship was on a mountain.

Some say that the bible points to Mount Ararat in Turkey as the landing place of Noah's Ark. Others believe that the bible clearly places Noah's Ark in Iran. Still others believe that Noah's Ark either never existed or would have wasted away a long time ago. Therefore, it is impossible to find, regardless. Noah's Ark believers have been searching for this biblical boat for hundreds of years. Modern searches have turned up mixed results.

1970 - Georgie Hagopian

In 1970, an Armenian named Georgie Hagopian told people who were searching for Noah's Ark that he had seen it on Mount Ararat. He claimed that he had been to see it twice when he was a boy, once in 1908 and once in 1910. His uncle, who presumably knew the Ark's location, guided his discovery of Noah's Ark.

Georgie Hagopian described Noah's Ark as "long and rectangular." He said it said on the edge of cliff, atop and bluish-green rock. According to Georgie, the bottom of the boat was flat and the top was nearly flat. He said that the wood was like stone, suggesting that it had been petrified, a process that scientists say take millions, not thousands of years. Georgie's claims have never been substantiated.

1980s - James Irwin

James Irwin is one of the few men who have walked on the moon. In the 1980s, he became one of the many men who have wasted years in search of Noah's Ark. He believed that the ark was out there, waiting to be found, but he never found it.

1993 - George Jammal

George Jammal was featured in the CBS documentary "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark." In it, he showed the audience a piece of wood that he claimed he took from the ark when he found it. He said "This piece of wood is so precious . . . and a gift from God."

George claimed that he found Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat in 1984. He said that he and his friend Vladimir were climbing the mountain when they came across the ark. He said that he saw the pens in which the animals had been kept when he climbed inside the structure and took a piece of wood from it. He went on to claim that his friend Vladimir was taking pictures of Noah's Ark when he fell and was swept away by an avalanche. He was killed and the camera lost with him.

Later, it was found that George Jammal was an actor who had been lying about his Noah's Ark discovery. Vladimir never existed. The piece of wood was perfectly ordinary.

2004 - Daniel McGivern

In April of 2004, Daniel McGivern announced that he would be getting ready to fund an expedition to search for Noah's Ark. He claimed that he was going to prove to the world that the ark exists. He pompously said that his expedition would be "the greatest event since the resurrection of Christ."

McGivern was supposedly armed with satellite images of Noah's Ark at roughly 15,000 feet on Mount Ararat. However, predictably, the Turkish government denied him access to the mountain, which resides in a military zone.

Interestingly, Daniel chose Ahmet Ali Aislan to lead his expedition. Ahmet was one of the men involved in the infamous "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark" documentary. He is also suspected of forging pictures of Noah's Ark.

2006 - Bob Cornuke

Bob Cornuke is a former police officer and SWAT team member. He is also one of the most familiar faces in Arkaeology. In 2006, he found something on Mount Suleiman in Iran that he claims could be Noah's Ark. At first, it looked like a boat-shaped rock at 13,000 feet. However, he and his team supposedly discovered that it was indeed a wooden structure. Cornuke has said that he cannot say for sure that his discovery is the biblical ark.

2007 - Noah's Ark Ministries International

A group of evangelical Christians with Noah's Ark Ministries International claim that they are 99.99 percent sure that they found Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat in April of 2010. Several experts, including Creationists and Noah's Ark buffs have said that they believe the members of NAMI have been tricked by locals. With very little photographic evidence and no scientific evidence to back up the claim, we are left to assume that this is just another bunk Noah's Ark discovery.

Noah's Ark may or may not have existed. That is a hard thing to prove either way. The flood seems unlikely, given scientific evidence, but the debate rages on. The likelihood that the ark will ever be found is slim, despite avid searches for it. The fact of the matter is that, without an unlikely occurrence, wood that is thousands of years old will not be preserved. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that a ship that is thousands of years old would remain exposed for explorers to see plainly, without eroding.

Sources

Lovgren, Stefan, Noah's Ark Quest Dead in Water - - Was It a Stunt, retrieved 9/12/10, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0920_040920_noahs_ark.html

Ravilious, Kate, Noah's Ark Discovered in Iran?, retrieved 9/12/10, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060705-noahs-ark.html

LaHaye, Jim & Morris, John, Noah's Ark Sightings, retrieved 9/12/10, nwcreation.net/noahsightings.html

Jaroff, Leon, Phony Arkaeology, retrieved 9/12/10, tiem.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,161990,00.html