Below is the online edition of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood,
by Dr. Walt Brown. Copyright © Center for Scientific Creation. All rights reserved.
Click here to order the hardbound 8th edition (2008) and other materials.
100. Ed Davis
In July 1943, Sergeant Ed Davis (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 38: 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 51 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 felt 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 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.)
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 (with obvious reference to the many consistent, but unverified, claims of Ark sightings), “There is too much smoke for there not to be fire.” I had great confidence in his analytical rigor and 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 details on what follows, see Timothy W. Maier, “Anomaly or Noah’s Ark?” Insight on the News, 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 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, surface texture, thermal characteristics, nearby snow and rock patterns, and possible movement of the object.
This is probably not the Ark, because it has too little in common with the most credible sightings, especially its specific location on Ararat. However, if the Turkish government gives permission, an expedition could go to the location of the “Ararat Anomaly” (39.703°N, 44.275°E, 15,300 feet elevation) and dig into the ice. Unfortunately, the Kurdish rebellion in eastern Turkey and the Turkish military’s tight control have prevented access to important areas on Mount Ararat.
Figure 39: Is the “Ararat Anomaly” Noah’s Ark?