Researchers scanning a boat-shaped hill in eastern Turkey say new radar images indicate the presence of a large, organized structure beneath the surface rather than natural rock alone.
On Wednesday, the private research group Noah’s Ark Scans published a preliminary report on its investigation of the Durupınar Formation in Turkey’s Ağrı Province. The team said the 515-foot boat-shaped mound contains what appears to be a “man-made object.”
The survey was carried out by Dr Khosrow Bakhtar, an engineer who spent decades developing detection systems for US defense agencies, including the Air Force, Navy and NORAD.
Bakhtar used a system he developed called BakhtarRadar. Originally designed to detect buried tunnels and concealed structures, the technology was deployed beneath the Durupınar mound to determine whether it consisted of solid natural rock or something built by people.
The completed analysis led the team to conclude that the feature beneath the mound is not simply a geological formation. Instead, researchers say it is a large, organized object containing possible corridors, chambers and hallways.
In a statement sent to the Daily Mail, Dr Bakhtar described the finding as extraordinary.
“Whatever the object is beneath the surface is extraordinary,” he said. “In forty years of this work, I have never seen anything like it. It could be a ship. It could be a spaceship. What I can say from the radar is that it is organized, it is structural, and a solid geological mass would not have returned such a strong signature.”
According to the Bible, the enormous vessel preserved humanity and every kind of animal from destruction during a catastrophic flood, which some biblical chronologies date to more than 4,300 years ago.
The ship-shaped mound believed to be the resting place of Noah’s Ark in Turkey
New scans of the Noah’s Ark site revealed material the team said was not ordinary geological matter such as rock
Bakhtar said the latest radar images do not resemble ordinary rock, mudflow or a solid natural hill beneath the Turkish site.
Instead, the scans appeared to show a series of organized internal features, including repeating lines and angles, open passageways, corridors, chambers and hallway-like spaces extending along the length of the alleged vessel.
Bakhtar told the Daily Mail that BakhtarRadar is designed to filter out typical geological features and identify buried structures, cavities and man-made materials.
Because the complex patterns remained prominent in the images, the researchers concluded that the feature was unlikely to be a natural formation. They said the results support the longstanding belief that the site may contain the ship described in the biblical account of the Great Flood.
“Natural ground does not organize itself into corridors, chambers and hallways,” Dr Bakhtar said.
KEEP READING: Ole Miss Students’ Toxicology Reports Pending; Families Will Be Notified First, Officials Say
“The system was built to separate buried structure from host geology, tunnels, voids, worked materials, discontinuities. That is what it is seeing here. A solid geological mass would not have returned this signature.”
An earlier major radar survey conducted in 2019 detected linear and angular anomalies that the team interpreted as possible walls, passageways and separate compartments.
Core drilling to collect samples from the structure began in late September 2026 as part of a field program led by a Turkish university.
The Durupınar Formation in Turkey, believed by some to be the resting place of Noah’s Ark from the biblical Great Flood
New scans of the Noah’s Ark site appeared to show passageways and other chambers resembling the interior of a ship
The first holes drilled struck a very hard layer about 12 to 15 feet down inside the Durupınar Formation. Those samples are being sent to outside labs for further testing.
The team previously revealed to the Daily Mail that those drilling samples of rich in organic material were being tested to determine whether it contained decayed wood.
The full radar scan is expected to be completed by November 2026, with more lab results coming later.
The next major step in this ongoing investigation will be testing for animal DNA inside the structure.
In the Bible’s Book of Genesis, chapter 6, verses 19-20, the flood story says God told Noah to bring male and female pairs of each kind of animal onto the ark so they could survive.
Noah’s Ark Scans revealed that they are in talks with scientists who specialize in recovering and reconstructing ancient and extinct animal DNA from pieces of deteriorating material, such as old bones, teeth or other remains that have been buried for millennia.
An international team are ‘100 percent confident’ that the formation is a ‘man-made object’
New scans of the Noah’s Ark site revealed material that was determined to be something other than natural geological material such as rock
Andrew Jones, Vice President of the Noah’s Ark Research Project and founder of Noah’s Ark Scans, said in Wednesday’s announcement: ‘We now know we are looking at a massive, 515-foot, boat-shaped man-made structure with organized patterns and corridors in the Mountains of Ararat, where Genesis places the Ark.’
‘The challenge is how we prove this is the vessel that preserved living creation through a catastrophic flood. That proof will not come from another scan. It will come from identifying and confirming ancient animal DNA inside the voids Dr Bakhtar mapped inside the structure.’