Ark! What Goes There?

Over there across the pond at the Daily Mail we learn that a bunch of explorers who "...say they found seven large wooden compartments beneath snow and volcanic debris near the peak of Mount Ararat". Yeah, that's right. They think that they've found Noah's Ark.

Now, the whole Noah's Ark thing is an interesting story. And depending on what your views on the Bible are (meaning, you believe it), the prospect of finding Noah's Ark would be very exciting and have great meaning. That's why you can't really be too careful when it comes to believing any claims of finding said ark. After all one of the guys making this claim is a documentary filmmaker from Hong Kong. Finding Noah's Ark would make for a pretty good movie. Claiming that you've found Noah's Ark would make for an equally pretty good movie. I think it's all going to be in how he sells it.

Right now, the filmmaker, a one Yeung Wing-cheung (everybody Wing-cheung tonight) has started selling his "find" by telling the Daily Mail "It's not 100 per cent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 per cent that this is it." Yeah, see, thinking that it's 99.9 percent Noah's Ark doesn't really make it 99.9 percent really Noah's Ark. If they had something to back that 99.9 percent thought up with, I might consider it. But they kind of don't.

Here's what they claim to have: They claim that "...wood taken from the site, which is more than 13,000ft above sea level, dates to 2,800BC." It's a little unclear (ie, they don't say) where and how this testing was done. I don't know if they just gave some of the wood the ol' eyeball test or what, but it would be good to know. There are pictures, though! Oh, but they're not of the exterior of the structure or anything like that. But they're very...uh...um...convincing? Yes. I believe that they are going for convincing. Let's see, shall we? Behold!

What is that? Well, clearly, from the cards, you can tell that from the top and going left to right, a Noah's Ark Crystal, Noah's Ark White Pellets, Noah's Ark Rope and a Noah's Ark Wood Specimen. Was there a Science Fair? What's with the display? It is unclear what is in between the rope and the wood specimen. Further un-clarity would include the question as to what makes a "wood specimen" any different from "a piece of wood". And while I am familiar with the story of Noah's Ark, I don't recall the tale including any crystals. Perhaps that was in the JRR Tolkien version, but not in the regular Biblical version that most folks conjure up in their brains. Yeah, that tale is usually crystal-less. Also, I don't know what to make of the "white pellets". Yes, we see that. But what is the significance? We don't know. But, yay! Pellets?! Something? (Hey, I'm trying!)

Here is a piece of wood up close. I don't know if it's Noah's Ark wood, but I am confident in saying that it is wood.

Yep. That's wood. Definitely wood. I think. Moving on...here is a photo that "...is said to show part of a wall inside the structure found by the explorers."

Hmm. I don't know what that pack-like looking thing is there in the middle, but it does look well preserved. And I don't know about the hay or straw or whatever that is. Would hay or straw still be around some 4,800 years after the fact? I mean, I know it's really cold in this area of Turkey where they claim to have found this, but hay or straw doesn't exactly strike me as the most hardy of all substances to survive that long, you know?

Here's a picture of Wing-cheung standing in front of a lot of rocks with what looks to be some stairs underneath.

Those are stairs. And that is a guy. But whether that's a guy standing in front of stairs on Noah's Ark is yet to be determined. Apparently, this group of 15 fundamentalist Christians exploring the Turkish mountain started looking in this direction after 2006 when a one "U.S. national security analyst Porcher Taylor claimed this satellite image revealed a a baffling 'anomaly' on the mountain's north-west corner that he believed to be the remains of the Ark." Behold!

OK, look, there may be a baffling anomaly there. There might not be a baffling anomaly. It's really hard to tell. The red oval is very distinct. I will admit to recognizing that. As far as anything else goes? I couldn't tell you if there's an anomaly or not. But I will buy into the baffling part, as I have no clue as to what I'm looking at.

Would it be cool if this really was Noah's Ark. Hell, yes, it would be cool. But am I holding my breath? Not hardly. I'm going to need a little bit more than what we've been given. Some external photos would be appreciated. And an explanation as to what the white pellets are. Both of those would help. I'll be waiting.