In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood

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65.   Index Fossils

In the early 1800s, some observers in Western Europe noticed that certain fossils are usually preserved in sedimentary rock layers that, when traced laterally, typically lie above other types of fossils. Decades later, after the theory of evolution was proposed, many concluded that the lower organism must have evolved before the upper organism. These early geologists did not realize that a hydrodynamic mechanism, liquefaction, helped sort organisms in that order during the flood.  [For an explanation, see pages 158–168.]

Geologic ages were then associated with each of these “index fossils.” Those ages were extended to other animals and plants buried in the layer of the index fossil. For example, a coelacanth fossil, an index fossil, dates its layer at 70,000,000 to 400,000,000 years old. [See Figure 28.] Today, geologic formations are almost always dated by their fossil contenta—which, as stated above, assumes evolution. Yet, evolution is supposedly shown by the sequence of fossils. Because this reasoning is circular,b many discoveries, such as living coelacanths,c–e were unexpected.  [See “Out-of-Place Fossils” on page 12.]



Figure 28: 70,000,000-Year-Old Fish? Thought to be extinct for 70,000,000 years, the coelacanth [SEE la kanth] was first caught in 1938, deep in the Indian Ocean, northwest of Madagascar. Rewards were then offered for coelacanths, so hundreds were caught and sold. In 1998, they were also found off the coast of Indonesia.c How could two groups of coelacanths, separated by 6,000 miles, survive for 70,000,000 years but leave no fossils?

Before coelacanths were caught, evolutionists incorrectly believed the coelacanth had lungs, a large brain, and four bottom fins about to evolve into legs.d Evolutionists reasoned that the coelacanth, or a similar fish, crawled out of a shallow sea and filled its lungs with air, becoming the first four-legged, land animal. Millions of students have been erroneously taught that this fish was the ancestor of all amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals, including people. (Was your ancestor a fish?)

J. L. B. Smith, a well-known fish expert from South Africa who studied the first two captured coelacanths, nicknamed the coelacanth “Old Fourlegs” and wrote a book by that title in 1956. However, in 1987, a German team filmed six coelacanths in their natural habitat. Were they crawling on all fours in a shallow sea? Did they have lungs and a large brain? Not at all.e

Before 1938, evolutionists dated any rock containing a coelacanth fossil as at least 70,000,000 years old. It was an index fossil. Today, evolutionists frequently express amazement that coelacanth fossils look so much like captured coelacanths—despite more than 70,000,000 years of evolution.f If that age is correct, billions of coelacanths would have lived and died. Some should have been fossilized in younger rock and be displayed in museums. Their absence implies that coelacanths have not lived for 70,000,000 years.

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66.   Humanlike Footprints

Humanlike footprints, supposedly 150–600 million years old, have been found in rock formations in Utah,a Kentucky,b Missouri,c and possibly Pennsylvania.d At Laetoli, in the east African country of Tanzania, a team headed by Mary Leakey found a sequence of humanlike footprints.e They were dated at 3.7 million years. If human feet made any of these prints, then evolutionary chronology is drastically wrong.



Figure 29: Humanlike Footprints with Trilobite. In 1968, 43 miles northwest of Delta, Utah, William J. Meister found these and other apparent human shoe prints inside a 2-inch-thick slab of rock. Also in that slab were obvious trilobite fossils, one of which was squashed under the “heel.” The 10-inch-long shoe print is at the left, and its rock mold is to its right. According to evolutionists, trilobites became extinct 240 million years before humans evolved. Notice how the back of the heel is worn, just as most of our shoes wear today. The heel was indented in the rock about an eighth of an inch deeper than the sole. Others have since made similar discoveries at this location, although this is the only fossil where a trilobite was inside an apparent shoe print.

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67.   Geologic Column

Practically nowhere on Earth can one find the so-called “geologic column.”a Most “geologic periods” are missing at most continental locations. Only 15–20% of Earth’s land surface has even one-third of these periods in the correct order.b Even within the Grand Canyon, 150 million years of this imaginary column are missing. Using the assumed geologic column to date fossils and rocks is fallacious.

68.   Old DNA, Bacteria, and Proteins?

DNA. When an animal or plant dies, its DNA begins decomposing.a Before 1990, almost no one believed DNA could last 10,000 years.b This limit was based on measuring DNA disintegration rates in well-preserved specimens of known age such as Egyptian mummies. DNA has now been reported in supposedly 17-million-year-old magnolia leavesc and 11–425-million-year-old salt crystals.d Dozens of plants and animals have left their DNA in sediments claimed to be 30,000–400,000-years-old.e DNA fragments are also said to be in alleged 80-million-year-old dinosaur bones buried in a coal bedf and in the scales of a 200-million-year-old fossilized fish.g DNA is frequently reported in insects and plants encased in amber, both assumed to be 25–120 million years old.h

These discoveries have forced evolutionists to reexamine the 10,000-year limit.i They now claim DNA can be preserved longer if conditions are dryer, colder, and freer of oxygen, bacteria, and background radiation. However, measured disintegration rates of DNA, under these more ideal conditions, do not support this.j

Bacteria. Even living bacterial spores have been recovered, cultured, and identified in intestines of bees preserved in supposedly 25–40-million-year-old amber.k The same bacteria, Bacillus, are found alive in rocks allegedly 250 million and 650 million years old.l Italian scientists have recovered 78 different types of dormant, but living, bacteria in two meteorites that are presumed to be 4.5 billion years old.m If one accepts these old ages for rocks, then they must also accept that some bacteria are practically immortal—an obviously absurd conclusion. (Because these “old” bacteria and the various DNA specimens closely match those of today, little evolution has occurred.)

Proteins. Evolutionists face similar contradictions with proteins,n soft tissue,o and blood compoundsp preserved in dinosaur bones. As with DNA, these remains should not last 70–150 million years, as is claimed for those bones.  All this should discredit these old ages.

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69.   Human Artifacts

At various times and places, man-made objects have been found encased in coal. Examples include a thimble,a an iron pot,b an iron instrument,c an 8-karat gold chain,d three throwing-spears,e and a metallic vessel inlaid with silver.f Other “out-of-place artifacts” have been found inside deeply buried rocks: nails,g a screw,h a strange coin,i a tiny ceramic doll,j and other objects of obvious human manufacture.k By evolutionary dating techniques, these objects would be hundreds of millions of years older than man.  Again, something is wrong.



70.   Parallel Layers

Because no worldwide or even continental unconformity exists in Earth’s sedimentary layers, those layers must have been deposited rapidly. (An unconformity represents a time break of unknown duration—for example, an erosional surface between two adjacent strata.) Parallel layers (called conformities) imply continuous, relatively rapid deposition. Because unconformities are simply local phenomena,a one can trace continuous paths, which sometimes move horizontally, from the bottom to the top of the stratigraphic record that avoid these time breaks. The sedimentary layers along those paths must have been deposited rapidly and continuously as a unit.b

Frequently, two adjacent and parallel sedimentary layers contain such different index fossils that evolutionists conclude they were deposited hundreds of millions of years apart. However, because the adjacent layers are conformable, they must have been deposited without interruption or erosion. [For an explanation of how conformable layers can have such different fossils, see pages 158–168.] Often, in sequences showing no sign of disturbance, the layer considered older by evolutionists is on top! [See “Out-of-Place Fossils” on page 12.] Evolutionary dating rules are self-contradictory.c

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Most Scientific Dating Techniques Indicate That the Earth, Solar System, and Universe Are Young.

For the last 150 years, the age of the Earth, as assumed by evolutionists, has been doubling at roughly a rate of once every 15 years. In fact, since 1900 this age has multiplied by a factor of 100!

Evolution requires an old Earth, an old solar system, and an old universe. Nearly all informed evolutionists will admit that without billions of years their theory is dead. Yet, hiding the “origins question” behind a vast veil of time makes the unsolvable problems of evolution difficult for scientists to see and laymen to imagine. Our media and textbooks have implied for over a century that these almost unimaginable ages are correct. Rarely do people examine the shaky assumptions and growing body of contrary evidence. Therefore, most people today almost instinctively believe the Earth and universe are billions of years old. Sometimes, these people are disturbed, at least initially, when they see the evidence.

Actually, most dating techniques indicate that the Earth and solar system are young—possibly less than 10,000 years old.  Here are some of these points of evidence.


71.   Helium

One product of radioactive decay within rocks is helium, a light gas. Helium then enters the atmosphere—at a much faster rate than it escapes the atmosphere. (Large amounts of helium should not escape into outer space, even when considering helium’s low atomic weight.)  Radioactive decay of only uranium and thorium would produce all the atmosphere’s helium in only 40,000 years.  Therefore, the atmosphere appears to be young.a


72.   Lead and Helium Diffusion

Lead diffuses (or leaks) from zircon crystals at known rates that increase with temperature. Because these crystals are found at different depths in the Earth, those at greater depths and temperatures should have less lead. If the Earth’s crust is just a fraction of the age claimed by evolutionists, measurable differences in the lead content of zircons should exist in the top 4,000 meters. Instead, no measurable difference is found.a Similar conclusions are reached based on the helium content in these same zircon crystals.b Because helium escapes so rapidly and so much helium is still in zircons, they (and the Earth’s crust) must be less than 10,000 years old.c

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73.   Excess Fluid Pressure

Abnormally high oil, gas, and water pressures exist within relatively permeable rock.a If these fluids had been trapped more than 10,000 to 100,000 years ago, leakage would have dropped these pressures far below what they are today. This oil, gas, and water must have been trapped suddenly and recently.b


74.   Volcanic Debris

Volcanoes eject almost a cubic mile of material into the atmosphere each year, on average.  At this rapid rate, about 10 times the entire volume of Earth’s sedimentary rock should be produced in 4.5 billion years. Actually, only about 25% of Earth’s sediments are of volcanic origin, and much greater volcanic activity existed in the past. No means have been proposed for removing or transforming all the missing volcanic sediments. Therefore, Earth’s sediments seem to be much younger than 4.5 billion years.a


75.   River Sediments

More than 27 billion tons of river sediments enter the oceans each year. Probably the rate of sediment transport was much greater in the past as the looser topsoil was removed and as erosion smoothed out Earth’s terrain. Even if erosion has been constant, the sediments now on the ocean floor would have accumulated in only 30 million years. No process has been proposed which can remove 27 billion tons of ocean sediments each year.  So the oceans cannot be hundreds of millions of years old.a


76.   Continental Erosion

The continents are eroding at a rate that would level them in much less than 25 million years.a However, evolutionists believe fossils of animals and plants at high elevations have somehow avoided this erosion for more than 300 million years.  Something is wrong.


77.   Dissolved Metals

Rivers are carrying dissolved elements such as copper, gold, lead, mercury, nickel, silicon, sodium, tin, and uranium into the oceans at very rapid rates when compared with the small quantities of these elements already in the oceans.  In other words, far fewer metals are dissolved in the oceans than one would expect if a million years had been available for them to enter solution.a There is no known means by which large amounts of these elements can come out of solution. Therefore, the oceans must be much younger than a million years.


78.   Shallow Meteorites

Meteorites are steadily falling onto Earth. This rate was probably much greater in the past, because planets have swept from the solar system much of the original meteoritic material. Therefore, experts have, expressed surprise that meteorites are almost always found in young sediments, very near Earth’s surface.a Even meteoritic particles in ocean sediments are concentrated in the topmost layers.b If Earth’s sediments, which average about a mile in thickness on the continents, were deposited over hundreds of millions of years, as evolutionists believe, we would expect to find many deeply buried iron meteorites. Because this is not the case, the sediments were probably deposited rapidly, followed by “geologically recent” meteorite impacts. Also, because no meteorites are found immediately above the basement rocks on which these sediments rest, these basement rocks were not exposed to meteoritic bombardment for any great length of time.

Similar observations can be made concerning ancient rock slides. Rock slides are frequently found on Earth’s surface, but are generally absent from supposedly old rock.c

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79.   Meteoritic Dust

Meteoritic dust is accumulating on Earth so fast that, after 4 billion years (at today’s low and diminishing rate), the equivalent of more than 16 feet of this dust should have accumulated.  Because this dust is high in nickel, Earth’s crust should have abundant nickel. No such concentration has been found on land or in the oceans.  Therefore, Earth appears to be young.a


80.   Magnetic Decay

Over the past 140 years, direct measurements of Earth’s magnetic field show its steady and rapid decline in strength. This decay pattern is consistent with the theoretical view that a decaying electrical current inside Earth produces the magnetic field. If this is correct, then just 20,000 years ago the electrical current would have been so vast that Earth’s structure could not have survived the heat produced. This implies Earth could not be older than 20,000 years.a  [To understand why Earth’s magnetic field does not flip, as is commonly taught, see “Magnetic Variations on the Ocean Floor” on page 104.]


81.   Rapid Cooling

If Earth had initially been molten, it would have cooled to its present condition in much less than 4.5 billion years. This conclusion holds even if one makes liberal assumptions about the amount of heat generated by radioactive decay within Earth.a The known temperature pattern inside Earth is consistent only with a young Earth.


82.   Moon Recession

As tidal friction gradually slows Earth’s spin, the laws of physics require the Moon to recede from Earth. (Edmond Halley first observed this recession in 1695.) Even if the Moon began orbiting near Earth’s surface, the Moon should have moved to its present distance from Earth in billion’s of years less time than the 4.6-billion-year age evolutionists assume for the Earth and Moon. So the Earth-Moon system must be much younger than most evolutionists assume.  [For details, see pages 347–351.]

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83.   Moon Dust and Debris

If the Moon were billions of years old, it should have accumulated a thick layer of dust and debris from meteoritic bombardment. Before instruments were placed on the Moon, some scientists were very concerned that astronauts would sink into a sea of dust—possibly a mile in thickness.a This did not happen. Very little meteoritic debris is on the Moon. In fact, after examining rocks and dust brought back from the Moon, scientists learned that only about 1/67th of the dust and debris came from outer space. Recent measurements of the influx rate of meteoritic material on the Moon also do not support an old Moon.  [For more details, see pages 352–354.]

(Figure 30 purposefully left out)

Figure 30: Moon Dust and Debris. Concern that astronauts and equipment would sink into a sea of dust was so great that two experimental programs (Ranger and Surveyor) were sent to the Moon for a closer look. The problem, which turned out not to exist, arose from the belief that the Moon is billions of years old.


84.   Crater Creep

A tall pile of tar will slowly flow downhill, ultimately spreading into a nearly horizontal sheet of tar. Most material, under pressure, “creeps” in this way, although rocks deform very, very slowly.

Calculations show that the growing upward bulges of large crater floors on the Moon should occur to their current extent in only 10,000 to 10,000,000 years.a Large, steep-walled craters exist even on Venus and Mercury, where gravity is greater, and temperatures are hot enough to melt lead. Therefore, creep rates on those planets should be even greater. Most large craters on the Moon, Venus, and Mercury are thought to have formed more than 4,000,000,000 years ago. Because these craters show no sign of “creep,” these bodies seem to be relatively young.


(Figure 31 purposefully left out)


Figure 31: Young Craters. Large craters shown here on the Moon have high, steep walls that should be slowly slumping and deep floors that should be bulging upward. Neither is seen, so these craters appear relatively young. Similar conclusions can be made for Venus and Mercury.

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85.   Hot Moon

A surprising amount of heat is flowing out of the Moon from just below its surface, and yet the Moon’s interior is relatively cold.a Because it has not yet cooled off, the Moon seems much younger than most people had guessed.


86.   Young Comets

As comets pass near the Sun, some of their mass vaporizes, producing a long tail and other debris.a Comets also fragment frequently or crash into the Sunb or planets. Typical comets should disintegrate after several hundred orbits. For many comets this is less than 10,000 years. There is no evidence for a distant shell of cometary material surrounding the solar system, and there is no known way to add comets to the solar system at rates that even remotely balance their destruction.c Actually, the gravity of planets tends to expel comets from the solar system rather than capture them.d So comets and the solar system appear to be less than 10,000 years old. [For more on comets, see “The Origin of Comets” on pages 208–237.]


87.   Small Comets

Photographs taken from Earth-orbiting satellites show small, ice-filled comets striking Earth’s upper atmosphere at an average rate of one every three seconds.a [See Figure 32.] Each comet adds 20–40 tons of water to the Earth’s atmosphere. If this influx began when evolutionists say the Earth started to evolve, all our oceans would have come from small comets. Actually, impact rates were undoubtedly greater in the past, because the planets have swept many of these comets from the solar system. Therefore, small comets would have placed much more water on Earth than is here today. Obviously, this did not happen, so oceans look young.  [See also pages 215 and 223.]


(Figure 32 purposefully left out)


Figure 32: Small Comets. The Dynamic Explorer satellite took this picture in ultraviolet light showing small comets (the dark spots) colliding with Earth’s upper atmosphere. The comets begin to break up 800 miles above the Earth’s surface, then frictional heating vaporizes the pieces and their descent stops at an elevation of about 35 miles. The water vapor, which soon dissipates, blocks ultraviolet light from Earth, producing the dark spots. The northern lights are shown by the halo.

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88.   Hot Planets

Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune each radiate away more than twice the heat energy they receive from the Sun.a Uranusb and Venusc also radiate too much heat. Calculations show it is very unlikely that this energy comes from nuclear fusion,d radioactive decay, gravitational contraction, or phase changese within those planets. This suggests that these planets have not existed long enough to cool off.f


89.   Solar Wind

The Sun’s radiation applies an outward force on particles orbiting the Sun. Particles less than about a 100,000th of a centimeter in diameter should have been “blown out” of the solar system if it were billions of years old. Yet these particles are still orbiting the Sun.a Conclusion: the solar system appears young.


90.   Poynting-Robertson Effect

Dust particles larger than about a 100,000th of a centimeter in diameter form a large disk-shaped cloud that orbits the Sun between the orbits of Venus and the asteroid belt. This cloud produces the so-called “zodiacal light.”a Forces acting on these particles should spiral most of them into the Sun in less than 10,000 years. (This is called the Poynting-Robertson effect.) Known forces and sources of replenishment cannot maintain this cloud, so the solar system is probably less than 10,000 years old.

This is how the Poynting-Robertson effect works: Rain falling on a speeding car tends to strike the front of the car and slow it down slightly. Similarly, the Sun’s rays that strike particles orbiting the Sun tend to slow them down, causing them to spiral into the Sun. Thus, the Sun’s radiation and gravity act as a giant vacuum cleaner that pulls in about 100,000 tons of nearby micrometeoroids per day. Disintegrating comets and asteroids add dust at less than half the rate at which it is being destroyed.b

A disintegrating comet becomes a cluster of particles called a meteor stream. The Poynting-Robertson effect causes smaller particles in a meteor stream to spiral into the Sun more rapidly than larger particles. After about 10,000 years, these orbits should be visibly segregated by particle size. Because this segregation is generally not seen, meteor streams are probably a recent phenomenon.c

Huge quantities of microscopic dust particles also have been discovered around some stars.d  Yet, according to the theory of stellar evolution, those stars are many millions of years old, so that dust should have been removed by stellar wind and the Poynting-Robertson effect. Until some process is discovered that continually resupplies vast amounts of dust, one should consider whether the “millions of years” are imaginary.

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91.   Supernova Remnants

In galaxies similar to our Milky Way Galaxy, a star will explode violently every 26 years or so.a These explosions, called supernovas, produce gas and dust that expand outward thousands of miles per second. With radio telescopes, these remnants in our galaxy should be visible for a million years. However, only about 7,000 years’ worth of supernova debris are seen.b  So the Milky Way looks young.


(Figure 33 purposefully left out)

Figure 33: The Crab Nebula. In A.D. 1054, Chinese observers (and perhaps Anasazi Indians of New Mexico and Arizona) witnessed and described a supernova. It was visible in daylight for 23 days and was about as bright at its peak as a full moon. Today, the debris (or remnants) from that explosion comprise the Crab Nebula.

Thanks to radio telescopes, most of these remnants should be visible for a million years. At the rate supernovas are occurring in galaxies like ours, we have only about 7,000 years’ worth of remnants.


92.   Connected Galaxies

Galaxies frequently appear connected or aligned with other galaxies or quasars that have vastly different redshifts. This happens too often for all examples to be coincidences.a If redshifts imply velocities, these galaxies and quasars haven’t been moving apart for very long. If redshifts do not always imply velocities, many astronomical conclusions are in error.


93.   Unstable Galaxies

Computer simulations of the motions of spiral galaxies show them to be highly unstable; they should completely change their shape in only a small fraction of the universe’s assumed evolutionary age.a The simplest explanation for so many spiral galaxies, including our Milky Way Galaxy, is that they and the universe are much younger than has been assumed.

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94.   Galaxy Clusters

Hundreds of rapidly moving galaxies often cluster tightly together. Their relative velocities, as inferred by the redshifts of their light, are so high that these clusters should be flying apart, because each cluster’s visible mass is much too small to hold its galaxies together gravitationally.a Because galaxies within clusters are so close together, they have not been flying apart for very long.

A similar statement can be made concerning many stars in spiral galaxies and gas clouds that surround some galaxies.b These stars and gas clouds have such high relative velocities that they should have broken their “gravitational bonds” long ago if they were billions of years old. If the redshift of starlight always indicates a star’s velocity, then a billion-year-old universe is completely inconsistent with what is observed. If redshifts can be caused by phenomena other than a star’s velocity, much of current astronomical thinking is wrong.

These observations have led some to conclude, not that the universe is young, but that unseen, undetected mass is holding these stars and galaxies together. For this to work, the hidden mass, sometimes called dark matter, must be 10–100 times greater than all visible mass, and the hidden mass must be in the right places. However, many experiments have shown that the needed “missing mass” does not exist.c Some researchers are still searching, because the alternative is a young universe.  [See “Missing Mass” on page 28.]


Conclusion

All dating techniques, especially the few that suggest vast ages, presume that a process observed today has proceeded at a known, but not necessarily constant, rate. This assumption may be grossly inaccurate. Projecting present processes and rates far back in time is more likely to produce errors than extrapolation over a much shorter time. Furthermore, a much better understanding usually exists for dating “clocks” that show a young Earth and a young universe.

This contrary evidence understandably disturbs those who have always been told that the Earth is billions of years old. Can you imagine how disturbing such evidence is to confirmed evolutionists?

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Earth Sciences
The Earth Has Experienced a Worldwide Flood.
Noah’s Ark Probably Exists.a

The precise location of the Ark is an open question. While most sightings point to Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey, consideration should also be given to a few nearby mountains in western Iran. The following are the more credible claimed sightings. Some are undoubtedly mistaken.  The search continues.

(Figure 34 and 35 purposefully left out)


Figure 35: Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey. The 17,000-foot peak of Greater Ararat is just above my head. Even in August, snow and ice cover the top 3,000 feet. For one week in 1990, this Soviet helicopter and its crew flew our eight-man team over and around Ararat. Evaporation from the ice cap produces clouds around the peak for most of the day—complicating the search for the Ark. Another difficulty is the hostility between Kurds who live in this region and the Turkish government. Both sides claim control over the mountain and insist that only their exploration permits are valid.


95.   Ancient Historians

Ancient historians, such as Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian, and his earlier historical sources, wrote that the Ark existed. Marco Polo also wrote that the Ark was reported to be on a mountain in greater Armenia. From A.D. 200 to 1700, more than a dozen other Christian and Jewish leaders wrote that the Ark was still preserved, although few claimed to have seen it.

96.   British Scientists

In about 1856, three skeptical British scientists and two Armenian guides climbed Mount Ararat to show that the Ark did not exist. Allegedly, the Ark was found, and the British scientists threatened to kill the guides if they reported it. Years later, one of the Armenians (then living in the United States) and one of the British scientists independently reported they had found the Ark.

97.   James Bryce

Sir James Bryce, a noted British scholar and traveler of the mid-nineteenth century, conducted extensive library research concerning the Ark. He became convinced that the Ark was preserved on Mount Ararat. Finally, in 1876, he climbed Ararat and found, at the 13,000-foot level (2,000 feet above the timberline), a piece of hand-tooled wood, four feet long, that he believed might be from the Ark.

98.   Turkish Commissioners

In 1883, a series of newspaper articles reported that a team of Turkish commissioners, while investigating avalanche conditions on Mount Ararat, unexpectedly came upon the Ark projecting out of melting ice after an unusually warm summer. They claimed they entered and examined part of the Ark.


99.   George Hagopian

In an unusually warm summer (about 1904), a 10-year-old Armenian boy, George Hagopian, and his uncle climbed Mount Ararat and supposedly reached the Ark. The boy climbed on top of it and described the structure as a flat-bottomed, petrified barge without nails. It had many windows on top, each “big enough for a cow to walk through.” [See Figures 37 and 39.] Two years later, Hagopian again visited the Ark. Shortly before his death in 1972, his detailed testimony was tape recorded. This recording has undergone voice analyzer tests which indicated his account was quite credible.a

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100.   Russian Pilot

A Russian pilot flying over Ararat in World War I (1916) thought he saw the Ark. News of his discovery reached the Czar, who sent two large expeditions to the site. The soldiers found and explored the boat, but before they could report to the Czar, the Russian Revolution of 1917 began. Their report disappeared, and the soldiers scattered. Some eventually reached the United States and Canada. Although a much later magazine account had a few fictional elements, further investigations have confirmed the primary details.a In February 2000, Joseph Kulik, an alleged expedition member, was interviewed. Details he provided duplicate those in other accounts.b


101.   Ed Davis

In July 1943, Ed Davis, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, was stationed in Iran. There he developed a close friendship with some Lur tribesmen who said they knew the location of Noah’s Ark. (The Lurs are related to the Kurds.) When Davis asked to see the Ark, they first took him to their village. There Davis claims he saw items from the Ark: a cage door, latches, a metal hammer, dried beans, shepherd staffs, oil lamps, bowls, and pottery jars still containing honey. This Muslim tribe considered it a religious duty to prevent outsiders from seeing the Ark, even if killing was necessary. However, their close friendship with Davis made him an exception.


(Figure 36 purposefully left out)

Figure 36: Ed Davis with Elfred Lee in 1986. Artist Elfred Lee (right) drew this picture based on the claimed eyewitness account of Ed Davis (left). In 1970, Lee also drew a picture of the Ark in the presence of another claimed eyewitness, George Hagopian. (The Ark depicted on page 46 is based on Lee’s drawing for Hagopian.) Because both Hagopian and Davis were present as Lee made each drawing, they requested many on-the-spot changes. As Lee was completing Davis’ drawing, he suddenly realized that each man was describing the same object. This, Lee said, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.


Tribal leader Abas-Abas and his seven sons took Davis on a three-day climb up the northeast side of what Davis thought was Mount Ararat. (Based on Davis’ description of his trip, he probably was on a mountain in northwestern Iran.)a Steep, slick rocks, made worse by cold rain, prevented them from getting closer than one-half mile from the Ark. Two broken portions of the Ark, lying on their sides and one-third of a mile apart, were visible during moments when fog and clouds lifted. Wooden beams, three decks, and rooms were seen. Abas-Abas told Davis other details: the Ark’s wood was extremely hard; wooden pegs were used in its construction instead of nails; its large, side door opened from the bottom outward (like a garage door); and the human quarters consisted of 48 compartments in the middle of the top deck. In 1986, several dozen Ark researchers questioned Davis extensively, and in 1989 he passed a lie detector test.b  (On two occasions, once in his home, I also questioned Davis.)

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The CIA’s “Ararat Anomaly”

In 1974, during a private meeting with William Colby, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), I asked if he was aware of the claimed sightings of Noah’s Ark. He said he was not. After summarizing several “sightings,” I stated that a dangerous and expensive search, for an object with profound international importance, could be done safely and cheaply with technology Colby controlled. Perhaps the CIA already had information in its files that could help in this search.

Weeks later, I was contacted by a man I will call H.S.  He said that Director Colby asked him to see if any information could be provided. In our discussions, H.S. asked many questions. About a year later he called to say his work was completed and to invite me to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. In his office, H.S. said he had examined all photography of the Mount Ararat region. He could not be sure if an object he was seeing was the Ark or a rock. I asked H.S. if, after studying the information on the various claimed sightings, he thought the Ark was on Ararat. He said, “Yes.”  I asked why, because he had just told me that no photographs clearly showed the Ark. H.S. responded, “There is too much smoke for there not to be fire.”  I had great confidence in his candor. Suggestions that any agency of the U.S. government would (or could for long) withhold conclusive evidence that Noah’s Ark exists are implausible.

[For interesting details on what follows, see Timothy W. Maier, “Anomaly or Noah’s Ark?” Insight, 20 November 2000, pp. 10–14, 25–27.] The CIA calls this object the “Ararat Anomaly.” It was first photographed by a fixed-wing aircraft in 1949 and later by a U-2 in 1956. Satellites photographed it in 1973, 1976, 1990, and 1992. Some of the low-resolution, 1949 photographs have been released to the public, thanks to the efforts of law professor Porcher Taylor. In 1999 and 2000, private funds paid for the best private sector satellite (IKONOS) to photograph the object at a resolution of 1 meter. (Some CIA photographs had a 6-inch resolution—enough magnification to see a soccer ball from space.)

Insight asked seven diverse photo analysts to independently study the available low-resolution photographs. Two analysts said it was likely a rock, four said it could be a man-made object, and one called the evidence inconclusive. Some factors considered were: shape, dimensions, shadows, color, thermal characteristics, nearby snow and rock patterns, and possible movement of the object.

I suspect it is not the Ark, because it has too little in common with the most credible sightings, especially its specific location on Ararat. Nevertheless, whenever the Turkish government finally gives permission, an expedition needs to go to the location of the “Ararat Anomaly” (39.703°N, 44.275°E) and dig into the ice. Unfortunately, during recent years, the Kurdish rebellion in eastern Turkey and the Turkish military’s iron control have prevented access to important areas on Mount Ararat.


102.   George Greene

George Greene, an oil geologist, reportedly took several photographs of the Ark in 1953 from a helicopter. After returning to the United States, Greene showed his photographs to many people but could not raise financial backing for a ground-based expedition. Finally, he went to South America where he was killed. Although his pictures have not been found, more than 30 people have given sworn, written testimony that they saw these photographs that clearly showed the Ark protruding from melting ice at the edge of a precipice.