High in Turkey’s rugged mountains, a mysterious boat-shaped formation has become the focus of a long-running investigation into whether it could be the remains of Noah’s Ark.
The Bible describes the enormous vessel as having protected Noah, his family and pairs of animals from a devastating flood, which some biblical chronologies date to more than 4,300 years ago.
An international research team studying the Durupınar Formation near Mount Ararat now says it is “100 percent confirmed” that the mound is not a natural geological formation, but instead a “man-made object.”
Recent ground-penetrating radar surveys reportedly identified structural layers, straight lines, right-angle junctions and large cavity-like spaces at several depths beneath the surface.
Researchers say the scans appear to show possible chambers, corridors and tunnels, as well as a thick underground layer divided into three sections. They compared the finding with the Book of Genesis, which says God instructed Noah to construct the Ark with three decks.
Core samples taken during physical drilling also revealed a layer containing abundant organic material. The material is now being analyzed to establish whether it includes remnants of decayed wood.
Andrew Jones, an independent researcher and founder of Noah’s Ark Scans, has studied the site for almost 30 years. He told the Daily Mail that neither the radar data nor drilling carried out within the formation found limestone or solid bedrock.
“This destroys the theory the site is a solid limestone block shaped into a boat by glaciers and weathering after coming down the mountainside, and it also refutes the theory that this is bedrock around which mud flowed to form the shape,” he said.
A group of researchers think a formation in Turkish mountains could be remains of Noah’s Ark
The team recently drilled into the formation, collecting samples that may contain vital evidence
Jones stressed that the findings have not conclusively established that the formation is the biblical Ark.
Nevertheless, he said: “I firmly believe the Durupınar Formation represents the buried remains of Noah’s Ark.”
He called the newest scans a “compelling new line of evidence” that the site may contain structures created by humans, while acknowledging that the results do not amount to definitive proof.
The team’s first major radar survey, conducted in 2019, detected linear and angular anomalies that researchers interpreted as possible walls, passageways and separate compartments.
A more extensive investigation in 2026 was led by Dr Khosrow Bakhtar, who used an advanced radar system developed through US Air Force research. The equipment can probe considerably deeper than the technology used in earlier surveys.
The system recorded extensive layered reflectors—underground boundaries that send radar signals back toward the surface—as well as features the researchers interpreted as cavities filled with sediment.
Five prominent anomalies appeared to form a potential tunnel network stretching for about 151 feet, with an average structural height of more than 14 feet.
An international team are ‘100 percent confident’ that the formation is a ‘man-made object’
Two additional major anomalies measured roughly 26 feet and 39 feet in height, while another separate underground feature reached approximately 23 feet.
In several areas, the radar identified a layer between 16 and 20 feet thick located about 16 feet below the ground surface.
That layer appeared to contain three separate sublayers.
But the readings are not photographs of exposed rooms or passageways. They instead show how radar waves reacted to different materials and boundaries beneath the ground.
Those anomalies must be physically investigated before researchers can determine what produced them.
The team is using the measurements as a road map to select the most promising locations for further drilling.
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The site was formally identified in 1959 by a shepherd and has sparked intrigue ever since
The samples (pictured) will be tested for signs of decaying wood, which may prove the theory
Lauren Witzke, director of marketing and fundraising for Noah’s Ark Scans, claimed the formation’s uppermost section is deteriorating.
‘The top, and most exposed, tier is decaying, and the hardened mudflow encasing the rims of the boat are basically the only thing holding it together,’ she said.
‘It’s very fragile, as to be expected with 4,300-year-old wood. But beneath the surface, the bottom two layers appear to still be intact, and we believe we have hit a floor of petrified wood.’
However, researchers have not confirmed the material is wood, nor have they scientifically dated anything recovered from drilling to 4,300 years ago.
Jones stressed the figure represents a proposed biblical time frame for the flood rather than an established scientific age.
The team must isolate suitable organic material from its core samples and submit it for radiocarbon dating before it can determine whether the site fits that timeline.
Researchers have also discovered pottery outside the formation dating from the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, through the Iron Age.
The team said the pottery helps establish people occupied or visited the mountainside across a long period of ancient history and identifies areas that may warrant further archaeological investigation.
The radar captured ‘a series of right angles’ about 20 feet down, which researchers believe could be rooms that held animals on the ark
Further studies using infrared thermography (IRT) may show a ship-shaped hull under the soil
‘It’s quite possible this pottery was used to store food and supplies on the Ark, and was used as Noah’s family exited the Ark and set up camp (the Bible says Noah was living in a tent),’ Witzke shared in a statement.
However, Jones acknowledged pottery alone cannot establish that the formation is the Ark or demonstrate that the people who left the artifacts were connected to it.
The Durupınar Formation lies about 18 miles south of Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest peak.
Local accounts claim heavy rain and earthquakes exposed its unusual outline in 1948, when it was reportedly noticed by a Kurdish shepherd.
The site was formally identified in 1959 after Turkish Army Captain İlhan Durupınar spotted its ship-like outline in aerial survey photographs.
The team found pottery which they say predates what biblical scholars call the Great Flood
The Durupınar Formation lies about 18 miles south of Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest peak
Much of the fascination surrounding the mound stems from its elongated shape and dimensions, which researchers say closely resemble the biblical description of the Ark.
Scripture describes the vessel as roughly 515 feet long, 86 feet wide and 52 feet tall. Yet the formation has divided investigators for decades.
Early researchers who surveyed and excavated the site reported finding only soil and rocks, concluding it was a naturally formed geological feature rather than remains of a vessel.
Most geologists continue to favor a natural explanation, while Ark researchers argue the new radar readings, core samples and nearby pottery justify another investigation.
‘What excites me most about this phase is that we are transitioning from remote imaging to collecting physical samples deep within the site, allowing us to scientifically evaluate hypotheses that have been debated for decades,’ Jones said.