Is recent Noah's Ark claim a hoax ?

[UM-Bot]

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/images/newsitems/noah2.jpg

A former member of the expedition who recently claimed to have found Noah's Ark in Turkey has stated that it was a hoax. Randall Price has claimed that in 2008 the wooden beams and planks from an old structure by the Black Sea were transported up to Mount Ararat in Turkey by Kurdish laborers. Further doubt has been cast by the presence of cobwebs in the corners of a wooden compartment photographed at the site of the alleged discovery.

"It took nearly 5,000 years to unearth Noah's Ark -- and just three days for a serious challenge to the legitimacy of the find to emerge. A former member of the expedition whose sponsors this week claimed to have found the legendary biblical boat buried beneath the snows of Turkey's Mount Ararat says the "discovery" was probably a hoax. "

View: Full Article | Source: AOL News

[GreyWeather]

Noah's ark never existed.

The flood story originates from far earlier sources - Epic of Gilgamesh for one. Not all civilisations had stories of floods from the periods - before, during and afterwards of Sumeria - not so world wide. Besides this, with around 3-30 million speices of animal, we could not even build enough ships to contain each animal in the modern world. The cost of feeding them, maintaining their cells, supplying fresh water, for only 41 days, would be at an excessive cost.

People who believe in an actual ark have no clue on basic economics, and are just fanciful.

The story is what it is, a story. Concerning a childish god who thinks he's perfect, and somehow makes quite a few mistakes, gets angry and commits genocide so people will notice him again. However, despite being all knowing, he leaves a family as the last humans to populate the Earth, and as a consequence humanity dies out due to excessive inbreeding causing high child mortality rates at birth, infertility and physical and/or mental disabilities. (They may have left that part out of the Torah / OT.)

Edit:

Missed a word.

Edited May 3, 2010 by GreyWeather

[voiceofreason]

This has been discussed, at length, on the comments board of the original article regarding the discovery. It's fake.

[Guyver]

If it is a fake, then that really sucks. But, there are many reports about the ark being where it was claimed going back along time. Also, there has been other evidence collected through the years to corroborate the claims. So, here's hoping....

[RedOctober]

If it is a fake, then that really sucks. But, there are many reports about the ark being where it was claimed going back along time. Also, there has been other evidence collected through the years to corroborate the claims. So, here's hoping....

Hoping for the Ark to be found is like hoping that they find Santa Claus.

[keithisco]

Of course it's a hoax. You have to buy into all the OT (Old Testament) bs to even start believing it.

[zenfahr]

Duh!!! like we did'nt see that coming

[shaka5]

If it is a fake, then that really sucks. But, there are many reports about the ark being where it was claimed going back along time. Also, there has been other evidence collected through the years to corroborate the claims. So, here's hoping....

"If it is a fake?".."Also, there has been other evidence collected through the years to corroborate the claims"...are you joking?...if not, what evidence have been found?

[Guyver]

"If it is a fake?".."Also, there has been other evidence collected through the years to corroborate the claims"...are you joking?...if not, what evidence have been found?

Uhm, no - not joking.

http://www.noahsarksearch.com/ararat.htm

There have been hewn wood fragments recovered and carbon dated.

[sam12six]

Uhm, no - not joking.

http://www.noahsarksearch.com/ararat.htm

There have been hewn wood fragments recovered and carbon dated.

From the main page of your link:

Given the extensive research which has taken place on Mount Ararat, it seems fair to say that if Noah's Ark ever survived into modern times and is somewhere on Ararat, there are few new places remaining on the mountain to search unless it is buried under the ice cap or lava. There have been many expeditions, accounts, alleged sightings, anomalies, and claims of discovery involving Mount Ararat. What is lacking is any scientific evidence or photo that shows that Noah's Ark survived until today.

In other words:

Yes - there have been stories of sightings

Yes - there have been expeditions

Yes - some of those who told the stories and went on the expeditions had photos of something or samples of old wood

No - none of them could take anyone back to show them the hugeassed boat they found on a mountain.

[Guyver]

From the main page of your link:

In other words:

Yes - there have been stories of sightings

Yes - there have been expeditions

Yes - some of those who told the stories and went on the expeditions had photos of something or samples of old wood

No - none of them could take anyone back to show them the hugeassed boat they found on a mountain.

That was fast.

[+DieChecker]

One person's story is not evidence of a fake. It can be the beginning of an investigation, but it is not evidence. Clearly the Turkish government needs to go check it out and see if someone has been building something on their government land.

[Astute One]

fake... google chinese ark hoax

[Paracelse]

Every time a group of people experienced a disaster in the past: flood, volcano, earthquake etc... they said it was dog's work or something like that. It's not new. When Lisbon was nearly completely destroyed in 1755, the Portuguese also blamed dog.

[Grimmace]

It's a Fake?!? If we cannot trust the Chinese to prove Biblical stories are true, who can we trust?

There go my 'Summer in Turkey' plans...

[Salami Swami]

It sucks actually, it wouldve been interesting if it were true... bummer

[startover]

If Noah's Ark exists/existed then anything is possible....SCARY

Though, like most claims like this, it's probably another HOAX.

Makes it harder and harder to believe...

[shaka5]

Uhm, no - not joking.

http://www.noahsarksearch.com/ararat.htm

There have been hewn wood fragments recovered and carbon dated.

That really doesn't prove anything at all

[psyche101]

If Noah's Ark exists/existed then anything is possible....SCARY

Though, like most claims like this, it's probably another HOAX.

Makes it harder and harder to believe...

Hoax? Nahhhh, 4th times a charm..... isn't it......

[Farmer77]

The article doesn't actually claim its a hoax, nor does it offer proof that it is a hoax. Wow some of you seem as eager to believe anyone who says its not real as the christians are to believe anyone who says it is real.

[Indiogene]

What a helluva hoax to play on the unsuspecting world , esp. a famous tale right out of the bible. How sad for those in the Ararat mountain region are long told of their ancestry dates back to Noah can hurt ethnonational pride. The Chechen people (self name "Noxci" or "Nokh") had declared themselves descendants of Noah and his family after they embarked in the northern Caucasus after the great flood. The Kurdish workers wanted to make a tale a reality, but c'mon!... nobody should pull one off.

[Fluffybunny]

Earlier this week a group of Chinese Christians held a news conference to announce they were 99.9 percent sure they had found Noah's Ark — the boat the Bible says was built by God's most righteous man before a "sinful" human race drowned in the Great Flood.

Maybe the find on Mount Ararat in Turkey really is Noah's Ark. More likely, it isn't. But if it isn't, that won't stop Ark enthusiasts from believing it is out there somewhere.

Immediately in the wake of the news flash, experts weighed in to shoot it down. "The wood in the photos is not old enough" ... "There are no location pictures to verify the site" ... "No independent experts have looked at the data" ... "There's never been evidence of a great flood."

And the people voicing the loudest caution are biblical archeologists who believe the ark is real and that it can be found.

Dr. Randall Price, head of Judaic Studies at Liberty University, had been a cohort of the Noah's Ark Ministries International team until two years ago. He pulled out of the project, sensing they were being taken advantage of by Kurdish guides, who've turned Ark searching into a cottage industry. "I think we can't rule out the possibility that this is a hoax, because a lot of the things that happen in that region of the world, and especially with the Kurdish guides that are involved, are designed to try to extract money from gullible people," Price said.

But he added: "I'm reserving my opinion at this point until I see how things are developing."

Dr. John Morris, lead archeologist at the Institute for Creation Research, says "I'm leaning towards that the Chinese people have been deceived."

Morris has led 13 expeditions to Mount Ararat looking for the ark. He knows the area well and says of the recent find, "At best, it is an elaborate deception."My link

Considering that the people who are honestly looking for the ark(and dealt directly with the group involved), and feel that it is really out there to be found, believe this to be a hoax...well that speaks volumes. As for the carbon dated wood; there have been cases where wood that is known to be old is doled out to these groups as forms of proof to secure payment for the delivery of the religious group to the site...

As for people in general not believing the story...well that isn't a bad thing in my opinion. In a situation where an amazing story is being told, equally amazing proof needs to be offered to support the story. People should not take claims of this caliber and just say "oh well, it is on the internet, so it must be true..." Unfortunately when it comes to some topics(religion being one of them) some people want to believe so badly that they move past any logical thinking and take claims(regardless of how outlandish or frivolous) as proof.

[Grimmace]

The article doesn't actually claim its a hoax, nor does it offer proof that it is a hoax. Wow some of you seem as eager to believe anyone who says its not real as the christians are to believe anyone who says it is real.

True, but if you look at the original thread for the Noah's Ark find, you'll find the same people already stating that it was a hoax. This revelation had little impact on their view points.

The problem, though, is that the burden of proof always lies with the one who claims something *does* exist for it is nearly impossible to prove something doesn't exist (at least beyond disproving claims individually as they arise).

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

No - none of them could take anyone back to show them the hugeassed boat they found on a mountain.

I LOLed at this!

[Brakzar Break]

What's next? Uncovering a giant skeleton and claim it's Goliath? Oh wait..