Satellite Search Underway For Noah's Ark

[dasa 0]

Satellite Search Underway For Noah's Ark

By Leonard David

Senior Space Writer

posted: 07:40 am ET

30 August 2002

 

A puzzling mountain-side object in Turkey is the target of a hide-and-seek game of biblical proportions.

 

The high-flying and super-powerful commercial QuickBird satellite has begun snapping imagery of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey - in a quest to spot the possible remains of what is believed to be Noah's Ark.

 

Aircraft pictures taken in the late 1940s, as well as more recent secret spy satellite shots of the area do show something odd - a bit of strangeness that has earned the title of the "Ararat Anomaly". Perhaps it's little more than a natural, albeit eye catching, geological formation. On the other hand, that anomaly could have a classic tale to tell, one that reaches back into biblical times.

 

DigitalGlobe's powerful QuickBird satellite is cranking out ultra close-up imagery of Earth targets. As example, this picture shows the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France -- taken March 27, 2002-- and demonstrates the quality of pictures churned out by the high-flying satellite. Credit: DigitalGlobe

 

 

On the lookout trail

 

Most Biblical scholars and Near Eastern archeologists and historians regard the Biblical accounting of Noah's Ark and a world-devastating flood as a story handed down by oral tradition.

 

As told in the Bible, Noah constructed a large boat to house his family and sets of animals, saving them from flood waters due to 40 days and 40 nights of deluge. Once this Great Flood retreated, as depicted in the Book of Genesis, the ark settled down on the mountains of Ararat.

 

On the lookout trail for the real deal is Porcher Taylor, a senior associate (nonresident) at the prominent think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. He is an expert on satellite intelligence gathering and diplomacy.

 

Taylor has worked for years to compel the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to declassify satellite images and other information related to the unidentified feature perched on Mt. Ararat in Turkey.

 

Indeed, the secrecy wraps have come off a partial set of aerial images taken over that location in June 1949. They do show something at the 15,500-foot level on the mountain's Northwestern Plateau.

 

In later years, Taylor contends, two high-powered intelligence-gathering satellites -- the Keyhole-9 in 1973 and the Keyhole-11 in 1976 -- aimed their cameras at the mountain. What those photo shoots purportedly show created a stir amongst photo interpreters.

 

The anomaly is more than 600-feet long (183 meters), Taylor said, at least the section visible in aerial and satellite imagery. Photo interpretation specialists, he said, do think they perceive actual boat structure in the pictures.

 

Yet those images remain classified at the moment. Remaining unclassified, however, is Taylor's passion.

 

"I want to solve the enduring mystery of the Ararat Anomaly, no matter what it may be," he told SPACE.com

 

Peeking at the peak

 

Thanks to the advent of commercial remote sensing satellites, taking a peek at the object on Mt. Ararat for a fee is feasible.

 

In October 1999 into the summer of 2000, images of the mountain and the object in question were snapped by the IKONOS spacecraft, owned and operated by Space Imaging, based in Thornton, Colorado. Those pictures didn't resolve the issue, one way or the other, however.

 

Now the lenses of another commercial satellite, QuickBird, operated by DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colorado is on the prowl. "QuickBird is capable of shedding more light on what the anomaly may or may not be," Taylor said.

 

QuickBird was lofted in October 2001 and is billed as the world's highest resolution commercial imaging satellite. It can see things 2-feet (61-centimeters) across.

 

"We have acquired four images of Mt. Ararat and all have been cloud covered to date," said Chuck Herring, Director of Marketing Communications for DigitalGlobe. "We continue to task this event and will get Porcher Taylor an image as soon as we get a good image," he told SPACE.com.

 

Clear sailing

 

Taylor is anxiously awaiting clear sailing by QuickBird over Mt. Ararat.

 

"Because of constant cloud cover it's tough. Where this thing is, whatever it is…it's basically a glacier, a permanent ice cap at 15,000 feet up on the mountain. It is a unique and unexplored site on Mt. Ararat. You're going to have to have ideal weather conditions and a lot of luck when you're flying over to see it," Taylor said.

 

Meanwhile, Taylor anticipates that when QuickBird does produce the imagery goods, he'll have more leverage to convince U.S. President Bush and his administration to declassify those earlier Keyhole satellite shots.

 

Taylor may not have to wait too long.

 

Next month, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency unveils a load of vintage Keyhole-7 and Keyhole-9 pictures, declassifying the images and making them available for public scrutiny. He hopes Mt. Ararat photos are among those being released.

 

Imagery team

 

Taylor has at the ready a "world class" imagery team, ready to huddle over any new QuickBird images or older Keyhole photos.

 

A leader in that team is Farouk El-Baz, research professor and founding director of Boston University's Center for Remote Sensing.

 

El-Baz first gained world attention for his work on the Apollo program. He served as secretary of the lunar landing site selection committee, chairman of the astronaut training group, and principal investigator for visual observations and photography.

 

A native of Egypt, El-Baz later served as a science advisor to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and to King Hussein of Jordan.

 

He has been a pioneer in developing the field of remote sensing and is offering his expertise to what's truly resident on Mt. Ararat.

 

"There is absolutely enough hearsay…enough discussion about the topic to warrant looking into this, to see whether there is something tangible or not," El-Baz told SPACE.com.

 

Unveil the truth

 

El-Baz recounted his conversations with former Apollo 15 moonwalker James Irwin. The astronaut, now deceased, mounted six expeditions to Mt. Ararat in a search for the ark. Those treks were done through his High Flight Foundation, a non-profit evangelical organization based in Colorado Springs.

 

"Irwin told me he saw something. He felt it was an imprint on the land of the boat that was turned upside down…perhaps with some soil on top. So there was something there in his mind," El-Baz said.

 

El-Baz himself remains true to his training, waiting for scientific data to become available and help unveil the true nature of the Ararat object.

 

"There is absolutely nothing in all the pictures that we have seen up to now that is questionable in my mind. I can explain each and everything as a natural snow bank…a shadow. There is nothing," El-Baz said. But given the interest and the historical nature of such a find, the search is worth conducting, he added.

 

"From all the points of view, there is definitely enough in this to warrant spending time to resolve the issue, one way or the other. So I don't consider it a waste of time," El-Baz said.

[theist 1]

I have always kinda scoffed at stories like Noah's ark etc.Now I think I'll be quiet until they figure out what is under the ice.

[Gauracandra 1]

I've heard about the search for the Ark before. Apparently many believe it is in a region that is today offlimits due to the existing government. There was a program on Discovery or the History Channel that tried to locate the source of this story. Of course there is the famous Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh that matches very closely to the flood story. Many believe it might have been due to a breaking of a natural dam which flooded a valley suddenly. Wouldn't it be great to know what actually happened in history?

[Guest guest]

Dear Everyone,

Even though I am only a 6th grader I know almost exacty when to go to see the ark. Also I am not a nerd. If you go on the 4th year of a dry time you can see the ark because the ise has reseded. Also you saw the show probly on the history channel.

Amy

[Guest guest]

I believe the reason why governments are collectively holding out on the satellite imagery, is because if the photos were released and they unmistakeably depicted the Ark, just think of the chaos that would ensue. With a topic like that being proven, so many things would be denied and so much would be understood to be true. Do we really want to take a chance and maybe throw the world into a chaotic situation, or leave it all up to just having faith and hope that the Ark is there?

[stonehearted 0]

but, as a former intelligence analyst who spent much of my time in the Navy analyzing aerial reconnaisance photography, I have to say that shot of the Eiffel Tower is amazing. I've often wondered what kind of imagery they have available these days. I'm impressed.

[Gauracandra 1]

I saw the another program a few nights back on this Noah's Ark. There is in fact classified (and declassified) satellite photos of what is called the Ararat Anomaly (or something like that). Its been known about for decades, but nothing concrete. Basically it looks like a long rectangular object protruding from the mountain top. Might not be anything. Could just be a weird rock formation. But it was weird enough for the U.S. government to note it, and classify the documents. Some have been released. Certainly something is there, but you can't tell if it is just a natural phenomenon or not.

 

But it really would shake up the world if it was discovered to be true. I'm not sure what the implications would be, but one could imagine.

[Tarun 6]

What about Noah's Archives? I'd b more interested in them. C if they can b located.

If they're found I'd pay a pretty penny to take a peak.

[Kulapavana 0]

...as far as I know Mt. Ararat has not lifted by much in the last 4 thousand years. It would take an enormous amount of rain (more than all water on Earth) to lift such an object to this height above sea level as existed 4 thousands years ago (and that is a well studied subject). If indeed it is an Ark it must be much, much older. Matsya-sarira and Vaivasvata Manu?

[Guest guest]

Classifed photo's. Yeah right! Why would any muslim dominated country want to give Christianity any ammunition? And even if you were to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was in fact the Ark of the Bible, do you really believe that a wicked and sinful world would turn from sin unto Christ and the Bible. Sadly, I think not!

[Guest guest]

an islamic country would not be giving Christianity ammunition...they believe in the same well know Bible stories as the Christians....the same stories of Noah's Ark in the Bible are in the Quran!

[Guest guest]

Read the Bible's description first! Then you would know that it wasn't just rain. The waters of the deep sprang up. This means 40 day's and night's of rain- plus all the ground water coming to the surface.

[Kulapavana 0]

the amount of groundwater in the earth's crust is actually quite low if compared to the surface water reserves. there simply is not enough water on earth planet to lift a boat this high up. most likely the biblical story of Noah has origins in other oral traditions and depicts a local (as opposed to world-wide) event, possibly related to violent formation of Black Sea.