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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2004
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Claim CH502.1:

A 1949 USAF aerial photograph of the Western Plateau of Mount Ararat shows an elongated box-like object which could be Noah's ark.

Source:

Maier, Timothy W., 2000. Anomaly or Noah's Ark? Insight 16(43) (20 Nov.). http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=208686
Morris, John D., 2001. Noah's Ark remains in the news! Acts & Facts 30(2) (Feb.): 1-3.

Response:

  1. It is not uncommon for natural features to resemble man-made objects, especially when the object is as simple as a box and the resolution is rather poor. Some of the experts who examined the satellite photos identified the anomaly as a geological feature. The photo of the "Ararat Anomaly" with the article by Morris resembles a shadowed snow escarpment similar to others in the same picture.

  2. An ark-sized box on Mount Ararat would not be consistent with what we would expect to find if the biblical account were true. First, the Ararat referred to in the Bible is a region, which biblical scholars think was further north than the mountain called Ararat today. Second, glacial activity in the region photographed almost certainly would have reduced Noah's ark to lumber, had it been there.

  3. To evaluate photographs, it is important to know the conditions under which the photograph was taken, including distance and type of camera. Such conditions are not even considered in this case.

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created 2001-2-17, modified 2003-10-4