April 26, 2004
Photo: According to press materials supplied by Shamrock — The Trinity Corporation, this satellite view shows Noah’s Ark jutting out from the snow on Mt. Ararat. Image Courtesy of Digital Globe Satellite photos of Mount Aratat, Turkey taken by commercial imaging satellite company Digital Globe released today are said to contain proof of the existence of the biblical Noah’s Ark.
The images, revealed at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., are said to reveal a man-made structure at the site where the Bible states the vessel came to rest.
The claim was made by Daniel P. McGivern, president of Shamrock — The Trinity Corporation, who according to a press release has been searching for the Ark for several years.
The first pictures of the site were taken by the U.S. Air Force in 1949. The images allegedly revealed what seemed to be a structure covered by ice, but were held in a confidential file labeled “Ararat Anomaly” for years. In 1997, the government released several of these images, but experts deemed them inconclusive.
McGovern’s is not the first satellite search for the Ark. In 2002, Porcher Taylor, a senior associate (nonresident) at the prominent think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., also requested satellite imagery of the area to see if the mythical vessel truly existed.
Photo: Close-up of what Shamrock — The Trinity Corporation’s president, Daniel P. McGivern believes to be a portion of Noah’s Ark. Image courtesy of Digital Globe
The summer of 2003 provided a great opportunity to take a new series of photographs, according to the release, because it was the hottest summer in Europe since 1500. This caused a massive meltdown on Mount Ararat. McGivern used DigitalGlobe’s Quick Bird satellite to collect a new set of satellite images.
According to the press release, McGivern has put together a team of scientists, archaeologists and forensic experts to excavate the object and collect samples beginning in August of this year.
“These new photos unequivocally show a man made object,” McGivern is quoted as saying. “I am convinced that the excavation of the object and the results of tests run on any collected samples will prove that it is Noah’s Ark.”
The field manager for the excavation will be Dr. Ahmet Ali Arslan, a native of Turkey who has traveled up Mount Ararat 50 times in 40 years and formerly worked in the Turkey Prime Minister’s office. According to the release, Arslan plans to discuss the details of the excavation with the Prime Minister next week.