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Noah’s Ark Discovery Exposed

Noah’s Ark has been found again, according to a Fox News report.  Peter Wong alerted me to this a couple of days ago (see www.thenoahark.com), but it seemed like more of a scheme to make money than anything.  But today’s report has more information.

Before I go further, I should just note that there are two common responses to a report like this.  One is to laugh and say it’s obviously a hoax (without troubling to consider the evidence).  For some, this is because of a preconception that there was no Noah, there was no ark, and there was no flood. 

Others respond with complete trust, and regardless of what evidence comes forth, they will never relinquish their belief that the ark has been found.  The two approaches have in common a disregard for the evidence.

The FoxNews report does not sound nutty to me.  (I have an expectation of such because there have been previous “discoveries” of the ark that were fraudulent.)  Read it yourself and see if you can detect anything fishy.  Based on this article (and my belief that there was a Noah, an ark, and a flood),

I can’t deem this a fraud.  I’m still suspicious and want to see more evidence, but I’m not yet convinced either way.

But PaleoBabble has an inside scoop.  Randall Price is a professor at Liberty University and he was involved with this expedition.  He explains the “discovery” as the result of a carefully orchestrated hoax. 

I was the archaeologist with the Chinese expedition in the summer of 2008 and was given photos of what they now are reporting to be the inside of the Ark. I and my partners invested $100,000 in this expedition (described below) which they have retained, despite their promise and our requests to return it, since it was not used for the expedition. The information given below is my opinion based on what I have seen and heard (from others who claim to have been eyewitnesses or know the exact details).
To make a long story short: this is all reported to be a fake. The photos were reputed to have been taken off site near the Black Sea, but the film footage the Chinese now have was shot on location on Mt. Ararat. In the late summer of 2008 ten Kurdish workers hired by Parasut, the guide used by the Chinese, are said to have planted large wood beams taken from an old structure in the Black Sea area (where the photos were originally taken) at the Mt. Ararat site. In the winter of 2008 a Chinese climber taken by Parasut’s men to the site saw the wood, but couldn’t get inside because of the severe weather conditions. During the summer of 2009 more wood was planted inside a cave at the site. The Chinese team went in the late summer of 2009 (I was there at the time and knew about the hoax) and was shown the cave with the wood and made their film. As I said, I have the photos of the inside of the so-called Ark (that show cobwebs in the corners of rafters – something just not possible in these conditions) and our Kurdish partner in Dogubabyazit (the village at the foot of Mt. Ararat) has all of the facts about the location, the men who planted the wood, and even the truck that transported it.

My prediction is that this won’t be the last attempt to scam believers.

If I hear more of interest, I’ll note it here.

UPDATE (4/28): I have received the entirety of Price’s letter.  Here is the second half:

To my knowledge, the Chinese took no professional archaeologist or geologist who could verify or document the wood or the structure in situ (in its place of discovery). They were duped in 2006-2007 by Parasut when they were shown a similar cave with something they thought was wood. I met the Chinese when I went with a team of geologists to examine the “wood” in Dogubabyazit and to report that it was volcanic rock (called “tuff”) and not wood. Thereafter, since the Chinese were apparently able to get permits to climb in previously off-limit sites,  I and two other professionals joined with the Chinese (bringing our own independent satellite data) and went with them to Mt. Ararat in 2008. During that expedition, the guide Parasut who claimed to have found the Ark, was constantly drunk and after one month sitting in a hotel waiting, the expedition never happened. It was at this time that I made contact with Dr. Richard Bright who has climbed Mt. Ararat 33 times in search of the Ark and with several others climbed the western side of Mt. Ararat with a shepherd (who had recently been discovered by Dr. Bright’s Kurdish partner) who knew the location of a piece of the Ark. Last year we had a good expedition to a higher site (the satellite site) and this summer we will excavate the shepherd’s site and have every reason to expect success.
I am sorry to have to report that this is apparently a fake (and I am sure that the Chinese do not know this, but they do not respond to my e-mails), however, we do hope soon to have the real thing.
I encourage your prayers for me and others who will have to explain this “discovery” to many others – because negative reports are never well received and motives are questioned, especially when those doing so are part of a competitive expedition. But we do not want people to reject the truth of the Bible because another Noah’s Ark report turns out to be false. We prefer to as clear upfront in our reporting as possible so Christians (and others) can make up their own minds.
I hope that this will be helpful to you at this time,
Randall Price
Archaeologist
Ark Search LLC Expedition

UPDATE (4/28): Good Morning America has a 5-minute segment on the “discovery,” with the majority of that devoted to an interview with archaeologist Eric Cline.  Cline has previously written about the problem with “arkeologists” in his book, From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible.

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11 thoughts on “Noah’s Ark Discovery Exposed

  1. My first reaction was that the timbers in at least one of the photos look like stained softwood, like faux beams in a pub, without patination. Also there was straw lying around in one interior shot. STRAW?? After 4,800 years what's straw doing there?. Come on. This could set ark hunting back for years…

  2. wood decomposes. I don't believe or not believe the bible because various sources have or haven't been able to "prove" archaeological evidence of Noah's Ark.

    I am hugely skeptical of any "Ark" discovery. Who knows exactly where or what to look for.

    Mendacity irks me.

  3. I too have an open mind about the Ark but until 4 years ago, I had a photo that had been taken from the air that showed a clear outline of a very large vessel,on Mount Ararat.It was clearly something large, too big for a hut( as supposed by E.Cline? and his talk on US tv). How do you suppose ordinary people would get up there without taking oxygen tanks with them ? The air is so thin at nearly 3 miles up in the atmosphere, that to take a truck and equipment up there ? Get real..do some research.. After years of 'evolution' it would hardly be in the interests of anyone who isn't a Christian, to admit that
    1)God never makes mistakes.
    2) or that He is even real.
    3) That the flood was an event planned by God, who knows the exact timing of everything.
    In the past few weeks Christians,globally, have received confirmation that this is indeed a real event, for He has told us that in the last days, it would as it was in the days of Noah.
    Timing is everything. 10 years ago this wasn't an issue but since then we now have global warming and the Ark is in the one spot where it cannot be vandalised, or covered in graffiti, nor is it easily accessable to those who would seek to destroy it, and it is being shown to the world now, for a reason..just wait and see..J.Clifton

  4. @Jen, your post is full of supposition. Let's get back to evidence.

    It damages the truth of the Bible and also the Christian faith when we blithely claim this to be true or that not to be true based on what we 'feel' or 'think' should happen, or what we 'hear from God'. Also, the Bible warns believers to stop looking for signs – believe me if you look for them you'll find them, whether they can be verified or not.

    Leave the archaeology & science to those that are qualified and let us focus on Jesus and his saving grace – he's the author and finisher of our faith. Nothing else really matters – and finding an Ark will do nothing to change non-believers's hearts.

    Look, I'm not against human endeavours such as finding the Ark if there's reason to believe that something may be there to find. But there are so many reasons why the Ark would no longer exist. Don't you think that is you were Noah you probably would have used the ark as a source of building material? Is the Mt Ararat of today actually the right mountain?

    Again, why do we search for signs to prove our faith when it's reality is the truest in the personal relationship that we have with Him – introduce people to that and they'll have no desire to try to ignore or disprove God.

  5. arkdiscovery.com shows you the truth about Noah's Ark. It also shows you the truth about many other facts about the Bible. As for me, I know the truth when I see it. I hope many others will also. I'm a free energy engineer. My latest work uses seawater to make, in abundance, fresh water and energy. I have learned "they" don't want you to know about that. I am working on a way, soon. Clue: Seawater can make fresh water and energy. 100% green and clean. Ask yourself the right questions and perhaps you to can figure out a new way. No solar, or wind, no wave or thermal, or any other way man has tried. Mine is new. I only say this to get others thinking about it and perhaps one day we all can say: Yep, that works, I thought of that to. And then work to get it going worldwide.

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