People Are Split As Researchers Begin Digging What They Believe Could Be Noah’s Ark

Some debaters pose scientific evidence as entirely opposed to religious beliefs. However, it might be more productive to think of science and religion as operating in different realms. One deals with the observable, testable, and repeatable methods. The other deals with faith, interpretation, and a search for meaning. But that doesn’t mean they’re always mutually exclusive.

The Noah’s Ark Scans team has been investigating a boat-shaped mound in Turkey, rumored to be the resting place of the protective vessel, since 1959. Non-destructive techniques and geophysical surveys revealed promising scans of the formation’s internal structures, which researchers deemed man-made.

Noah’s Ark is a well-known Genesis story in which Noah builds a massive wooden vessel to survive a flood meant to cleanse the earth of wickedness

Edward Hicks

The Noah’s Ark Scans expedition believes the Durupinar formation, located in eastern Turkey near Mount Ararat, could mark the final resting place of the vessel

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So they began drilling into the mysterious, boat-shaped formation looking for answers

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Atop a hill in Turkey sits a boat-shaped mound that researchers have named the Noah’s Ark formation. Captain İlhan Durupınar first discovered it in 1959 in aerial photographs taken near Mount Ararat. Its 157-meter (515 feet) length is likened to the description of Noah’s Ark in Genesis 6.

Researchers from all over the world traveled to the site and conducted various studies from the late 1970s through the 1990s. They attempted drilling in the 1980s, but it left much of the formation uncharacterized because the machinery was unfit for such research. Water used to cool the bit washed away much of the data.

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The site was officially discovered in 1959, and after surveying, digging, and dynamiting, local researchers concluded that the formation was a natural anomaly

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The projects saw a new revival in the 2010s. Non-destructive subsurface scans conducted throughout the years revealed unusual structures beneath the formation. Analyses show linear forms and right angles, indicating man-made construction. Some scans uncover corridors and chambers atypical of the geology and unlike similar natural formations nearby.

The team identified five anomalies that could indicate a man-made structure beneath the formation. Soil tests from 2024 produced samples containing 3 times as much organic material as those from outside the site. Together, these findings lead some scientists to believe that a decayed wooden ship may be buried about 9 meters below the surface of the Noah’s Ark formation.

But in recent years, the site has been probed with ground-penetrating radar again

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In the villages northeast of the Noah’s Ark site in Turkey, a series of giant carved stones stands. Some are over ten feet tall and weigh several tons. Each has a hole carved near the top. Some researchers have identified them as drogue stones: enormous drag anchors used on ancient vessels. Such stones would have been tied on long ropes and tethered to ships, helping stabilize them in harsh conditions and keeping their bows turned into the waves. Their proximity to the site leads some to believe the rocks were indeed drogue stones from Noah’s Ark, cut loose shortly before it reached its final landing. Such interpretations can’t be fully confirmed. Skeptics say the stones are more likely to be Armenian memorial markers or pagan monuments.

Pottery shards were also found near the Noah’s Ark formation. Judging by the composition and structure of the shards, they are about 5,000 years old. The research team thinks the pots may have stored food and water on the biblical ark, but acknowledges they are also likely remnants of ancient civilization history unrelated to scripture.

And the ongoing research isn’t showing signs of stopping

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The project’s multi-decade timeframe is sometimes cited as a criticism. Skeptics find it hard to believe a discovery of this scale would take so long if strong evidence for the existence of Noah’s Ark were presented. Regardless, the project continues, with new research directed by Prof. Dr. Cenker Atila of the Department of Archaeology at Sivas Cumhuriyet University, approved in June 2026.

After decades of non-invasive studies, the team will conduct a series of geological and archaeological investigations at the site. The project team aims to create the most comprehensive map of the subsurface formations to date. Core drilling and chemical analysis are due soon, after which excavations might follow.

Even Bear Grylls is interested

 

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So naturally, some people are eagerly waiting for definitive proof

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But despite the researchers’ efforts, skepticism remains

To some, the Noah’s Ark Scans project is nothing more than a large-scale marketing campaign intended to bring more funding, attention, and tourism to the site. California State University geologist Lorence G. Collins calls out the findings. He believes most of the research is circumstantial and emphasizes that the artifacts found near the site, along with some radar anomalies, do not constitute proof of the biblical ark.

Whether religious or not, most remain unconvinced by the findings so far. Far more evidence is needed for the world to believe the Bible’s narrative. At the current rate, that’s unlikely to happen soon.

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