Mt
Ararat
Mt. Ararat - Courtesy - B.J. Corbin
Mt. Ararat lies in eastern Turkey near the Armenian and Iranian
borders. There are several other mountains in the area. The
closest is Little Ararat. Other near-by mountains have been
searched for remains of Noah's Ark, but nothing significant
has been found. The frozen conditions at the top of Mt. Ararat
would serve to protect the ark from decomposing. If the ark
isn't on the top of Mt. Ararat, there is little hope of finding
any physical remains of it. The map
of Turkey shows the location of Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey.
The Turkish name for Mt. Ararat is Agri Dagi (which
means mountain of pain). The summit is 16,946 feet. It is the
tallest mountain in Turkey and among the tallest in the world.
The mountain is of volcanic origin and last erupted in the 1840
with a violent earthquake. Its geographical location is 39.70
N, 44.28 E.
Click
for larger image (250k) Topo Map of Mt. Ararat
Zoomable
Map of Mt. Ararat
During the Cold War years, Soviet Armenia was photographed
by intelligence gathering aircraft and satellites. Occasionally,
Mt. Ararat was captured in their field of view.
A CORONA satellite
photo of Mt Ararat (JPEG 350k File). This photo was taken
by one of the famed CORONA Spy satellites. This photo shows
Mt. Ararat and the area around the mountain including Little
Ararat.
3D Satellite image of Mt. Ararat
This image was made by draping a high resolution satellite
image over high resolution terrain data.
Click
to enlarge (60K file size) Satellite Image courtesy DigitalGlobe
The Terrain
Since Mt. Ararat is of volcanic origin, the entire area around
it is composed of lava. The terrain in the higher elevations
is primarily composed of loose rock and ice. There are so many
loose rocks that numerous climbers have been injured by slipping
on loose rock or struck by falling rocks. The top of the mountain
is heavily glaciated. The glaciers have contributed to loose
rock production by grinding everything in its path. The top
of the mountain is covered by over 300 feet of ice. The mountain
always contains ice and never completely melts. However, occasionally
in dry years enough ice will melt to expose areas that were
previously covered in ice. Numerous eyewitnesses who claimed
to have seen Noah's Ark, have reportedly done so in these dryer
years.
Thunderstorms
Mt. Ararat is frequented by violent thunderstorm activity
primarily due to its isolation and steep rise above terrain.
These frequent thunderstorms can pose a dangerous threat to
mountain climbers. Climbers have been struck by lightning from
these fast forming storms. One of the few who lived to tell
about such an incident is Dr. John Morris. He and two other
members of his research party were struck by lighting when a
thunder storm suddenly appeared. Fortunately, no one in his
party was killed or seriously injured by the event. They went
on to continue their climb.
Problems From Local Terrorist Factions
Another problem reported by ark research expeditions are attacks
from the various Kurdish groups that control the area around
Mt. Ararat. These armed groups have been responsible for robbing,
beating and shooting at ark hunters. Some of them even claim
to be the guardians of the ark! While some groups have actually
cooperated with ark researchers, others have been extremely
hostile.
Brief History of Expeditions
During recent years a number of explorers have attempted to
find Noah's Ark. Today, the search for the ark continues. The
searchers have begun to resort to more sophisticated technologies.
Below is a brief overview of the modern efforts to find Noah's
Ark.
Eryl Cummings
Eryl Cummings explored Mt Ararat in the 1970's and wrote of
his expeditions in several books.
Col James Irwin
U.S. Air Force Col.
James B. Irwin has been the most noted explorer to search
for Noah's Ark. During 1971, Irwin and Dave Scott landed their
Apollo 15 LEM on the Moon and explored Hadley Rille, a 1,200
foot deep lunar canyon. They drove the Lunar Rover on 8 mile
sweeps of the lunar surface. During the 80's Irwin became interested
in the search for Noah's Ark. He made a total of five expeditions
which greatly contributed to search for the Ark on Mt Ararat.
He made climbs on foot and surveyed the mountain by aircraft.
Irwin was seriously injured during one his climbs when he was
struck in the head by a falling rock. During his last expedition
he surveyed the mountain from a helicopter. A photo was taken
of an object that still remains an anomaly. Irwin passed away
in 1991. He wrote about his explorations in his book More
Than an Ark on Ararat published in 1985.
Dr. John Morris
Dr. John Morris of the Institute
for Creation Research (ICR) in Santee CA, has made several
climbs up Mt. Ararat and also several aerial surveys of the
mountain.
Scott Van Dyke
Scott van Dyke of the Mt. Ararat Research Foundation conducted
extensive aerial photo photographic surveys of Mt. Ararat in
1989. The photos were high resolution including some infrared
photos.
Dr. Don Shockey
Dr Shockey conducted aerial photographic fights over Mt.Ararat
in 1990. His expedition photographed the AbichII glacier.
Ray Anderson
Ray has made multiple climbs including those with Earl Cummings
and Jim Irwin. His Ararat climbs to search for the Ark are documented
on his web site: www.noahsarkfactnotfiction.com
Other Searchers
Numerous others have climbed Mt. Ararat in search of the ark.
B.J. Corbin, Bob Stuplich and John McIntosh are all veterans
of multiple climbs and are actively engaged in ark research
today. Ark researcher B.J.Corbin, Matthew Kneisler, and others
have excellent web-sites
on the search for Noah's Ark. In addition, B.J.Corbin's "The
Explorers of Ararat" details the past explorations for Noah's
Ark.
Click
here to order - The Explorers of Ararat.
Modern Efforts to Find the Ark
There are numerous legends and eyewitness accounts placing
Noah's Ark high up on Mt. Ararat. Only Ararat's frozen top is
capable of preserving the ark. If it landed elsewhere, then
the ark has probably disappeared over the ages, by rotting,
hauled away as artifacts, or used as firewood. Today, the quest
to find Noah's Ark on Mt. Ararat goes on. Access to the mountain
for serious research has been nonexistent over the past several
years due to military actions in the area. It is possible that
the Turkish government will again open the mountain to ark researchers.
There are a number of "anomalies" or mysterious objects that
have been sighted and in some cases, even photographed. ark
researchers George Adams and Robin Simmons have several interesting
anomalies. These are objects on Mt. Ararat that don't appear
to match their surroundings. However, not all of these objects
can be Noah's Ark, since they are in too many different places.
Additional research needs to be made of the mountain using modern
remote sensing technologies. One such mystery object is shown
below.
Ark like object
on Mt Ararat Photo Courtesy George Adams and Robin Simmons.
During the fall of 2004, several expeditions were able to climb
Mt Ararat and conduct additional research. An ark like object
had been reported in the press by Daniel McGivern that was observed
in satellite imagery. Climbers were able to locate the object,
which turned out to be no more than a pile of rocks. See image
below for sighting details.
During fall of 2005, some climbers were able to obtain sports
climbing permits. No discoveries have been reported to date.
One of the climbers, John McIntosh, was injured during a fall
and was rescued by a Turkish military helicopter.
Areas of
Interest on Mt Ararat
Ahora Gorge - The Ahora Gorge is a two mile deep and
mile wide gorge formed by an earthquake in 1840. This area is
composed of extremely rugged terrain. It is an important search
area for Noah's Ark.
Abich Glaciers - These glaciers have been prime areas
of interest to ark researchers. There are two glaciers, Abich
I and Abich II. They are named after Dr. Hermann von Abich,
and early Ararat explorer who climb the mountain in the 1840s.
Parrot Glacier - The Parrot glacier is another area
of interest. Wood was reportedly found in this area. The glacier
is named after Ararat explore Dr. Fredrich Parrot.
New Satellite imagery
This imagery shows the location of most known anomalies on
Mt .Ararat.
Click
to enlarge (150K file size) Image courtesy DigitalGlobe
3D Display of Eastern Slope Area
Click
to enlarge (160 k file size) Satellite image courtesy DigitalGlobe
