New Noah’s Ark Scans Stun Researchers

For decades, skeptics have dismissed a massive boat-shaped formation near Turkey’s Mount Ararat as nothing more than an unusual pile of rock.

But new scans are giving researchers another reason to keep digging — and raising the tantalizing possibility that one of the Bible’s greatest mysteries may be buried beneath the Turkish mountains.

An international research team studying the 515-foot-long Durupınar Formation says powerful new radar technology has detected distinct underground layers and unusual subsurface anomalies inside the structure.

That matters because researchers say the new readings complicate the long-held argument that the entire formation is simply one solid, natural mass of rock.

And now scientists want to drill into it.

Could Noah’s Ark Really Be Buried in Turkey?

The Durupınar Formation sits roughly 18 miles south of Mount Ararat, the towering peak long associated with the biblical story of Noah’s Ark.

According to Genesis, Noah built an enormous wooden vessel on God’s command before a catastrophic flood swept across the Earth. Noah, his family and the animals aboard the Ark survived, with the vessel eventually coming to rest on the “mountains of Ararat.”

Researchers investigating Durupınar believe the formation deserves far more scientific scrutiny before being written off.

The latest survey was led by Dr. Khosrow Bakhtar and used BakhtarRadar, a specialized imaging system developed from technology connected to U.S. Air Force research.

The system allowed investigators to probe deeper into the formation than some previous scans.

Noah’s Ark Scans founder Andrew Jones said researchers are still processing the enormous amount of data they collected.

“We believe the Durupınar Formation is the remains of Noah’s Ark, and that is exactly why we want to put it through the strongest scientific testing we can,” Jones said.

But even the team acknowledges the latest findings are not proof.

Radar anomalies can have natural geological explanations, and researchers say physical samples will ultimately be needed to determine exactly what is hiding underground.

Next Step Could Finally Provide Answers

That is where core drilling comes in.

Researchers plan to use the new radar data to identify the most promising spots before boring narrow holes deep into the formation and extracting physical samples.

Bakhtar said his team is carefully examining the subsurface readings to map out the drilling operation.

He said the technology may be capable of helping researchers distinguish between natural minerals and any preserved, petrified or human-worked timber that could potentially remain underground.

A preliminary technical report is also expected to identify the strongest anomalies discovered during the survey.

If drilling eventually uncovers worked wood or other clearly man-made materials, the implications could be extraordinary.

If it instead reveals nothing but natural rock and sediment, it could strengthen the case made by geologists who have long argued Durupınar is simply a bizarre product of erosion, earthquakes and other geological forces.

Either way, researchers appear determined to find out.

Its Size Has Fascinated Believers for Decades

Part of what makes the Durupınar site so intriguing is its striking size.

The formation stretches approximately 515 feet.

According to the dimensions given in Genesis, Noah was instructed to make the Ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.

Depending on the cubit measurement used, that works out to roughly 515 feet long, 86 feet wide and 52 feet high — an uncanny comparison that has fueled speculation surrounding Durupınar for decades.

The site became widely known in the modern era after Turkish Army Captain İlhan Durupınar spotted the unusual formation in aerial photographs in 1959.

Since then, it has become one of the most fiercely debated locations in biblical archaeology.

Researchers Claim Scans Show ‘Rooms’ and ‘Corridors’

And the newest radar work isn’t the first finding to spark excitement.

Previous ground-penetrating radar surveys reportedly detected linear structures, right angles and chamber-like areas beneath the surface.

Jones has described what he believes could be corridors converging around a hollow central area.

Some anomalies were detected roughly 20 feet underground.

That has attracted particular attention because Genesis describes Noah’s Ark as having multiple internal levels and rooms.

Jones previously said researchers examining earlier radar data identified a “series of right angles” deep beneath one portion of the formation.

Previous investigations have also reportedly detected parallel lines and tunnel-like anomalies that researchers argue would be unusual inside a completely random geological formation. The project itself says earlier GPR surveys have produced linear and angular features below the surface, although it acknowledges the evidence could still have a natural explanation.

“This is not what you’d expect to see if the site were simply a solid block of rock or the result of random mudflow debris,” Jones previously told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

“But it is exactly what you’d expect to find if this were a man-made boat, consistent with the biblical specifications of Noah’s Ark.”

Strange Soil Results Add Another Twist

Researchers have also turned their attention to the soil.

Jones and his team collected dozens of samples from locations inside and outside the formation.

According to the research group, testing found substantially more organic material inside the boat-shaped formation than in surrounding areas.

The group has also reported unusual chemical differences and vegetation patterns across the site.

Researchers believe those differences warrant further investigation, although they do not by themselves establish that an ancient wooden ship once sat there.

The team has also employed LiDAR, electrical resistivity testing and other imaging techniques in an attempt to build a detailed picture of what lies beneath the soil.

The Scientific Fight Is Far From Over

Many geologists remain unconvinced.

Critics have argued for years that Durupınar can be explained through natural geological processes involving erosion, faults, sediment and surrounding mudflows.

Some geological analyses have even identified rock layers cutting through the formation in ways critics say would be difficult to reconcile with the remains of a petrified wooden vessel.

That is precisely why core drilling could become so important.

Radar images can be interpreted differently.

Actual material pulled from deep inside the formation is much harder to argue with.

The project received official authorization in Turkey in 2026 for a new program of geological and archaeological investigation, including additional geophysical work and planned core drilling.

For believers, the possibility is enormous.

For skeptics, extraordinary claims will require extraordinary physical evidence.

And for the researchers standing on a mysterious 515-foot boat-shaped formation in the mountains of Turkey, the next holes drilled into the ground could bring the world one step closer to answering a question that has fascinated people for generations:

Is this simply an astonishing trick of nature — or has Noah’s Ark been hiding in plain sight all along?