Newsletter 09: October 1994
NOAH’S ARK – The Action Years
Ron and Dave Fasold arrived in Turkey on March 20, 1985. Meeting them there was Samran Al Moteri, the Saudi Arabian prince who had come to visit Ron earlier in Madison, Tennessee, and Samran was pretty sick when they arrived. He had heard about Ron’s claim that Mt. Sinai was in his region of Saudi by some of Ron’s captors in ’84, and he wanted Ron to show him the mountain. Perhaps to check out Ron’s veracity, he wanted to see this so-called “Noah’s Ark”, and then he would arrange for Ron and Dave to enter his country. But with him ill, the men couldn’t leave for Dogubeyazit right away.
Their expedition had yielded very positive results, as one of them showed Ron their field notes. They had retrieved several four foot long metal “spikes” which were still intact, but which Ron never got to actually see, as he was told they were taken to the Museum of Mines and Minerals in Ankara. They had also gotten the same pattern of metal readings that Ron had gotten. Dr. Arkugal was provided this information and when Ron spoke with him, in a conversation which Dave videotaped, he stated that “it is, at any rate, a ship”. A professed atheist, he would later state in an interview that it was Noah’s Ark. When asked why, he simply replied, “because there is no other explanation.”
Things were going incredibly well, Ron thought! When Dr. Arkugal presented him with a copy of his book, “Ancient Ruins of Turkey”, he wrote, “To Mr. Ron Wyatt, Congratulations for the successful discoveries.” Not only that, but Mine Unler was arranging a meeting for Ron later in Ankara in which he would meet with all of the pertinent ministries at one time, explaining his research. Things had come a long way in the last seven months, thanks to Jim Irwin. Jim had introduced him to the Guleks, at whose house he had met both Orhan Baser and Mine Unler, and he had referred Dave Fasold to him. And although he had just met Dave, he could already tell that Dave meant business, whatever he did. And he was already excited about the site, even though he hadn’t seen it yet.
Dave had brought both a pulse-induction metal detector, as well as his molecular frequency generator (MFG), which he demonstrated by picking up the metal readings from great distances. The conventional metal detectors were only effective when within a few feet at the most. Samran stood on the ark and spoke in Arabic while Dave videotaped him for his friends back home.
Then Ron took them to see the anchor stones and the village. Dave could not contain his excitement – while Ron was a believer in the ark of the Bible, Dave was a believer in the ark of the Gilgamesh epic, and he was familiar with the Babylonian connections evident on some of the stones. One example was the ziggurat carved on one of the stones.
Everyone was happy, that is, until Ron took them to see the tombstones and house he believed was Noah’s and his wife’s. When they got there, the house was now reduced to a pile of loose rock, and the tombstones were gone!. And right where they once had stood was a partially filled hole – the grave had been robbed! Ron was heartsick.
Finally, they left. Samran was convinced that Ron wasn’t a kook, and arranged for all three of them to fly to Saudi (see newsletter # 6). Ron was in “hog heaven”, if you’ll excuse the phrase. Things were looking bright not only for Noah’s Ark, but he got to actually return to Mt. Sinai legally! He finally had someone to work with on the ark who believed in it as much as he did, and who was in a business that required him to be familiar with the electronic equipment that was so vital to the research.
Their response was very positive and he was assured that they would cooperate with him as much as they could. Dave wanted to bring over sub-surface interface radar and scan the site. This radar system would reveal any structure beneath the surface, much like a cat scan. The radar can be tuned to various frequencies which reflect various depths. Therefore, by scanning the same area numerous times, each time using a different frequency, a three-dimensional picture can be constructed. However, the radar and an operator are very expensive to rent, and the idea of purchasing a system was out of the question. But, it had to be the next step. Excavation was still denied.
A little less than a month later, Ron returned to Ankara for more meetings, arranging for permits. Even employing the metal detectors required a permit, and once the permit was issued in Ankara, it had to then be taken to Agri, the capital of the eastern region, where it was then processed. And this is where many problems come up. Ankara is the head of the government, but the regional governments like to think that they are, in fact, the final word. Ankara is a very long way from Agri and Dogubeyazit- if any problems arise with a permit in Agri, it could mean many days of costly waiting and travel back to Ankara, even then, without the assurance that the problem would be solved. So Ron spent a lot of time in Ankara.
Before long, the shape of a ship could be seen in the pattern of the ribbons. John Baumgardner, skeptical at first, soon began to show his excitement. After all, it was the metal analysis of the specimen Jim Irwin had sent him that had caught his attention. Another Los Alamos scientist would later tell Ron that they suspected that perhaps a satellite had crashed in the region and that Ron, ignorant of these matters, mistook it for Noah’s Ark. John would be a great asset to the team, if he ever became convinced – at least that what’s Ron and Dave thought. He had financial backing and his credentials were certainly impressive.
At one point, when they were doing metal detector scans, John pointed out some metal flakes protruding out from the site of one of the metal readings, “I’d save those frames”, he tells a jubilant Dave Fasold on video. Ron and Dave had an agreement – since it was so time consuming and nearly impossible to work and video everything at the same time, the two agreed to share their footage, an agreement Dave has honored. And so, when the trip ended, the three were all in full agreement that this was Noah’s Ark and that radar scans were imperative.
Ron got the permits, and all seemed to be “go,” except tensions were now building. It was apparent that John wasn’t fond of being a “member of Ron’s team” when he had the credentials and his financier was funding the project. Ron and Dave (who were paying their own way) didn’t have financial backing and it was getting costlier and costlier, especially for Dave who still had children at home.
Ron, John and the others from Los Alamos arrived first, and they did another metal detector scan, laying out red and yellow ribbons. They measured the length of the site using sophisticated surveying devices and arrived at 515 feet and 7 inches- again, 300 royal Egyptian cubits. All was filmed by John’s crew and Ron managed to get some video.
All of John’s team left before Dave arrived with Tom Fenner and the SIR-8 radar system, and the news crew. It seemed like a total loss, a total waste to have the radar and technician so close yet so far. But Dave’s move at getting the “20/20” people there paid off handsomely. The work up to that time was documented in a positive manner and the whole nation had an opportunity to see what was happening on “Doomsday” mountain.
This was another interesting thing Ron and Orhan had learned when they questioned the villagers in Aug. of 1984 – the mountain was called locally, “Doomsday mountain”, which again, is just one more “circumstantial” evidence.
So Ron, (naively, some may consider) enlisted his nephew, Gary Rucker, to build a small version of a radar system with a sensitive “idiot” light that lighted when high levels of reflection (which indicated solid objects) were encountered. Gary is in electronics by vocation and, once he understood the principle, felt he would be able to construct a crude one. And he did. Handheld, it produced a frequency which it sent directionally; when it returned, it was recorded on a wire-type recorder.
On Oct. 23, less than two months later, Ron returned to Turkey with this “radar” scanner and “Mr. T”. When “Mr. T” arrived, Ron noticed he had a very large video camera which looked professional, along with his photography equipment. Ron took him to see the anchor stones in the “Village of Eight” and “Mr. T” was more intent on filming than he was photographing anything, which seemed strange. You can’t use video in a book…
Back at the hotel, Ron overheard “Mr. T”. telling someone on the phone that he had a “deal” with the BBC to do a documentary on the ark. It finally sunk into Ron’s skull that this man felt no bounds to tell the truth about anything. And so, Ron refused to show him the actual ark site, or anything else other than the things he had already seen.
But the trip wasn’t a waste. Ron arranged to make a quick trip to the site without “Mr. T”, and he took the makeshift scanner. Ron scanned the site with it and the results were impressive in his estimation. At least this let him feel better about making further efforts to get the official SIR system to the site. He knew the results of the “makeshift scanner” would be ridiculed.
The entire scene with “Mr. T”. was a fiasco – he raged and insisted that Ron show him everything, but Ron was adamant. At one point, as they were returning from the village, “Mr. T”. became so enraged at Ron’s refusal to show him things, that he got out of the taxi (in the light rain and cool temperatures) and began to walk. Ron had the taxi drive slowly, behind him, until he silently got back into the car, nearly frozen. “Mr. T”. would get his revenge, or at least he would try.
It was shipped to Ron’s home in Madison, Tennessee, and he immediately took it to the customs office at the airport and completed the required forms, which he tucked into the radar case. It was too late to use it that year, but Ron wanted to be ready to go as soon as possible. He wrote his name on the card that came with it and placed it in the glassine window of the large, gray case which held the cables and one of the antennas.
Then, the owner’s office contacted Ron and said they wanted to use it on one of their building projects, so Ron drove it down to their offices.
On the front page were photos of Ron and Jim, with captions that each said pretty terrible things about the other, in Turkish, of course. Well, “Mr. T”. took this opportunity to again try to devastate Ron. “Mr. T” gave a copy of the newspaper to the businessman who bought the radar (he knew him) and provided a translation, convincing the owner that Ron was not to be trusted and was up to no good.
In Dec., Ron received a letter from the owner stating that he needed to find someone else to buy him the radar. This was a tremendous blow to Ron, but he was getting used to it by now. It was as if there was an unseen struggle going on constantly; sometimes Ron’s side won, and sometimes the dark side gained a few points. He prayed about it and still was convinced that he would get to do a radar scan. He was so convinced that he returned to Ankara on May 6, 1986 and again applied for permits. If he didn’t get to do the scan, at least he’d have the permit.
Going to the Kent Hotel to check in for the night, they discovered it was full. They finally found one in the area that had a room and after they checked in, one of the men from the hotel came to Ron to tell him that they had some luggage with his name on it. Knowing he’d never stayed there before, Ron asked to see it. When he got to the luggage room, there sat the SIR-3 with his name still in the glassine window on the gray bag!
It was one of those moments that you want to just shout to the world in amazement, but instead, he called the radar’s owner. He explained to him that he’d found the radar abandoned in a hotel and asked him if he wanted him to bring it home. Of course, the answer was “yes”. Then, he asked if he could go ahead and use it, since he was there and it was there… and again, the answer was “yes”.
It seems that “Mr. T” had convinced the owner to let him bring it to Turkey to do the scan- but apparently something happened, and he had simply abandoned it in the hotel. For one thing, he hadn’t taken it to Customs prior to leaving the US, and the radar was therefore considered by Turkish officials to be an “import”. This meant that in order to take it back out of the country, a large amount of money would have to be paid, exactly like other exports.
Ron and Dave decided to head directly to the site and do the scan without picking up the permit and getting it processed in Agri. It was taking a chance, but they weighed the odds and this seemed like the thing to do. They had little time to waste. Finally, the RADAR SCANS! So, they did the scans, Ron in a state of near – paranoia at having problems, and Dave ecstatic at what was showing up on the printout.
At this time, Ron hadn’t received his training on the system, but Dave had, and so they videotaped several passes as they were being done. The results were so spectacular that they then called John Baumgardner and Bill Shea to see if they could come over. It was decided that they would come if Ron could get the permits. He went to Ankara, got the permits, and soon, John, his financier, his wife, and his film crew were on their way. Bill Shea would get there as soon as he could.
When Dr. Shea arrived, the site was closed and he never even got near enough to see the object of his many years of study and efforts. Ron arrived from Agri to find this situation, and it was to be the last time he, Dave and John ever worked together. He took Dr. Shea to see the anchor stones and the other objects of interest in and near the village, but that was all he got to see.
Back home, Ron delivered the radar back to the businessman’s company and received a signed receipt, which we still have. In order to keep the name of the businessman and his company confidential (he asked to remain anonymous), we’ve left all names out in the following quotation of the receipt:
- “This is to verify that we have received from Ronald Wyatt the SIR equipment brought back from Turkey at the request of [the businessman/owner]. Received equipment on July 21, 1986. The scanner wheels are in the possession of [“Mr. T”] at his home and were not a part of the equipment returned from Turkey. Also received were copies of the SIR scan of the boat formation in Eastern Turkey and a copy of Mr. Wyatt’s permit from the Turkish government under which authority the scan was made. Equipment appeared to be in good condition. [Name] and [Name] met Mr. Wyatt at the elevator and received the equipment.”
It is signed by both Ron and a representative of the owner’s company, and is dated July 21, 1986.
Dr. Shea related to Ron, in his letter, his recent conversation with “Mr. T”, after they had returned from Turkey: ” [“Mr. T”] called the middle of last week. He had heard that we did not get up on the mountain. I did not mention to him that you took a scan anyway or that I had written an article about it. I think he was fishing to find out what happened to the radar. I simply told him that the last time I saw it was in the taxi in Ankara and I did not know what happened to it after that (which is true because we did not discuss it during your last phone call.)
He said that he had imported the radar into Turkey so that anyone taking it out would have to pay the govt 8,000 U.S…. He had a very distorted story of your work in Saudi Arabia. He said that you were contracting with the Israelis to go into Saudi Arabia to photograph their missile sites and then take the photos back to Israel and sell them to the Israelis….” So much for people who say they are friends.
The statement to Dr. Shea about Ron taking photos of missile bases in Saudi confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the one who reported the story to the Saudis originally. And the part about the radar being “imported” perhaps explained why he had left it behind- as an import, even HE would have had to pay the $8,000 to take it out of Turkey, and therefore he simply left it. But unknown to him, Ron’s custom papers were inside both the scanner’s anvil case as well as in the bag which held the cables and the small antenna. Ron had absolutely no problem leaving Turkey with the radar.
There was a great deal of tension between everyone at this point. Everyone was mad at everyone else and this had to stem from the incredible frustration felt by all when the effort was shutdown. But all that anyone could do at this point was either stop or go. Ron wasn’t ready to quit- not by a long shot.
Several years ago, we received a promotional package from GSSI on the SIR systems in which we discovered was an article included from THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH dated August 3, 1986. There was a photograph of Ron holding a radar scan printout, and the title of the article was “Archaeologist Certain He’s Found the Ark.” In the article, is the following: “`It’s up to him to prove it’s the ark,’ Rosetta said of Wyatt. `But this equipment gives us another piece of data.’ Although Rosetta would not reveal his opinion about Wyatt’s claim, he said of the buried object, `You’d never see anything like this in natural geology…. Some human made this structure, whatever it is’.”
The verdict from GSSI was that the scans revealed man-made structure, whatever it was. And they should know – it is their business and they see literally thousands and thousands of scans. Ron was elated, absolutely elated. And with things smoothed out with the radar’s owner, he stayed in Hudson and completed the course in operating the radar. On July 31, about 2 weeks after leaving Turkey, Ron received his certificate:
- “Geophysical Survey Systems, Inc. certifies that: Ronald E. Wyatt Has Completed A Training Course In The Theory And Practice Of Applying Subsurface Interface Radar Technology In Engineering And Geophysical Investigations.”
Finally.
By this time, in fact for several years, Ron had ceased to be a full-time employee at the hospital. The only way he could accommodate his travels was to work as a part-time anesthetist, in which he would take “call” as often as he was needed. This method proved to be the most perfect situation for him, and continues to this day to be so. He would work until he had enough funds to make a trip, and then he was gone.
He did borrow from friends on occasion, when he felt it was important to get something done quickly. (I know, because we’ve repaid numerous of these loans since our marriage in 1988). And sometimes someone would offer to donate to the cause, although this was rare. But when he returned to Turkey in November of 1986, he knew he was going to need some financial help of some type – he was informed that the Turks were to hold a meeting in December 1986 in which a decision would hopefully be made as to whether the site was “officially” Noah’s Ark or not.
Everyone else he had worked with had their own cameramen, but Ron never had. The film taken by these others would never even be seen by Ron, unless it appeared on TV or in a documentary. He began to investigate the possibilities of arranging for a film crew – not to film “Ron Wyatt”, but to document the evidence that he believed would astound the world.
In February 1987, a meeting was arranged between Ron and the Governor of the Agri District, Mr. Sevket Ekinci. The December 1986 decision was positive – it was the official decision of members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of Internal Affairs, and researchers from Ataturk University, among others, that the “boat-shaped formation” did indeed contain the remains of Noah’s Ark!
At the February meeting, plans were discussed for the official dedication of the site, which would include Ron as guest of honor. It had been 10 years since his first trip out there, and 27 years since he first read the LIFE Magazine article. He was being honored, NOT as the discoverer of the site, but as the “discoverer” of the fact that it was truly the remains of Noah’s Ark.
Thus far, Ron had made 1 trip in 1977, one in 1979, two in 1984, six in 1985, three in 1986 and in 1987 he would make five trips. It was beginning to almost seem like home to him. But more importantly, he had accomplished what he set out to do, with the invaluable assistance of Dave Fasold.
But Dave was no longer involved, he said. He had submitted his report independently and would eventually ally himself with one of the researchers from Ataturk University, although he remained a friend.
The picture was emerging of a massive ship with chambers still evident; with one outside door which had a ramp system which led to each level; with long, massive timbers extending out from back of the ship, something which he still does not understand.
He discovered that the hull had a very large void down its center, the same approximate size as the strange section of ground he had found above the ship with Orhan Baser in 1984. Dave had made this determination in 1985 with his MFG, and now the radar confirmed it. The MFG was and still is under constant attack by critics who claim that it is like a “divining rod”, simply because the rods used are similar in appearance. But to Ron, Dave’s discovery of the void in the hull with the MFG proved its reliability – at least, in the hands of a skilled user.
When Ron and Orhan had found the strange section of ground which appeared to be rimmed with petrified wood, and contained a large amount of the strange material scattered over and around it, Ron suspected it was something significant. When the lab analysis of the specimen Ron had taken from this site matched the analysis of the material he had found falling out of the hull, he had theorized that this section of ground above the site with the strange rim of petrified wood was a portion of the hull of the ark.
He believed the ark had originally landed at this higher location and as the water dried, the hull was embedded in the earth. Then, a volcano over what is now the Iranian border to the south, he theorized, erupted and ejected a massive amount of lava which reached the ark, and then ripped it from the embedded portion of the hull, carrying it down the mountainside. When it struck the very large limestone outcropping, which extends into its midsection, the ark swung around in line with the lava flow and was covered completely. This theory was confirmed when the scans also showed a void along a portion of the hull.
In 1985, Ron had taken Dave and John above the site to show them this section, but the immense amount of villagers accompanying them caused him to change his mind. By now, he was paranoid of showing any interest in anything because of fear that the villagers would destroy it as had happened to the tombstones and grave. And without this information, Dave interpreted this void in the hull to be a “moon-pool”, which is a logical conclusion without all the facts.
It has been a constant stream of amazing circumstances which has accompanied Ron’s work here – after all, it was the specimen from the above location that Jim Irwin sent to Los Alamos, which resulted in John Baumgardner’s involvement. The specimen displayed evidence that it was slag, or waste product, from some type of metal production.
They arrived several days before the ceremony and filmed as much of the region as they could, including the “Village of Eight” with the anchor stones. Then came the dedication. There, on the mountainside overlooking the “now – official” ark, were gathered a large number of dignitaries, from the local level to the national level, as well as high ranking military and many journalists. The plans were made public for a visitors’ center to be erected on the spot where they stood.
The governor spoke the dedication in Turkish and then he lifted the first shovelful of dirt – the groundbreaking of the new visitors’ center. Ron was next, and after him, others. Banquet-tables had been set up in the grass beside the ark and they retired here for a while, as Ron conversed with the Governor, Mine Unler translating. As things began to break up, Governor Ekinci asked Ron to do a radar scan on the site to demonstrate for the journalists the unseen structure beneath the earth.
Governor Ekinci issued instructions that the American crew was to stay upon the hill. They were not to film this event- it was his. He allowed some journalists, a Turkish cameraman, some members of the military, and other dignitaries only, to witness the next events. Setting up the radar, Ron made several passes. Explaining the printout to the group with Mine translating, he noted that one particular reading appeared to be very near the surface. The Governor then order one of the soldiers to dig at the location Ron had indicated, which he did. There soon emerged what looked like a flat rock. As more dirt was removed, it could be seen that it was about 18 inches long and it was then removed.
All captured on film, it was obvious that it was a petrified section of a hand-hewn timber! Everyone was stunned, but most of all, Ron. For 10 years, he had wanted to excavate but had never been allowed to retrieve anything that was not on the surface. His dream had come true! Not only was it a section of a timber, but it was almost perfectly preserved, showing the wood grain and perfect symmetry.
The Governor then did something that could only be directed by a Divine Hand – he told Ron to take it to the States and have it tested. He then placed it in the radar case, which would protect the extremely valuable specimen during transport. The entire event was shown throughout Turkey on TRT (Turkish Radio and Television). It was a day Ron will never forget- not in a million years.
Interior walls were seen on the scans, but only to some degree – Ron assumed some symmetry and sometimes reconstructed identical sections when the east portion, for example, was destroyed but the west portion was intact. The bottom deck, however, was better preserved and an immense system of small chambers could be determined. There was a double section which extended along lengthwise, with other chambers along the walls – a walkway separated these.
To the chagrin of the “traditional ark-hunters”, it wasn’t barge-shaped. The upper end was definitely pointed, and the radar indicated that the lower end was at the least, rounded. But even with all the evidence, it still didn’t look like a ship just coming out of the ship-yard, and the “learned men” weren’t about to accept it. The Turks, on the other hand, were very matter of fact – the evidence spoke for itself. What else could it be?
The important thing to determine was if the specimen contained organic carbon. A rock doesn’t, but petrified wood does. To run a test for organic carbon is extremely costly and complicated, so Gail Hutchens, Vice President of Galbraith, suggested another route. They would run an analysis for total carbon content. This would include both inorganic and organic. Then, they would test for inorganic, which is a much simpler test. Then, the two tests would be compared. By subtracting the amount of inorganic from the total amount, the amount of organic carbon would be determined.
The result was that it contained .71% total carbon. Inorganic carbon totalled .0081%. It contained .7019% ORGANIC CARBON- almost 100 times more organic than inorganic! It passed the test – but a new phase was about to be entered.
The main problem is that it was a phenomena that is “one of a kind”- no other object comparable to it has ever existed. A 4,300 year old wooden ship simply could not survive without a means of preservation such as the lava which covered it so many years ago. This lava effectively hid it from the world for perhaps several thousands of years; therefore, there was no knowledge of its location during this time.
Some of the names of various locations in the region still retained the connection to the ark, such as “The Place of the Eight”, “Doomsday Mountain”, etc., but the local inhabitants admitted, when questioned by Orhan Baser in 1984, that they had no idea where these names came from. In the early 1900s, the local inhabitants of the region were attacked and completely removed from the area by people who came in and replaced them. They took over their villages, moved into their homes and plowed their fields. All knowledge that the original inhabitants may have had of the history and legends of the region were lost when this occurred. This war was so bloody and devastating that the museum in Erzurum has an entire floor dedicated to it.
IF the ark had landed on Mt. Ararat, it would have had to have been a much smaller mountain at that time, because it would have been impossible for all of the animals to have walked down off the mountain as it is today. And if THAT did happen, then the ark would surely have been destroyed in the passage of time and numerous explosions of the, at times, extremely active volcano throughout history.
The logical place to look would be in the cretaceous mountains of the region – mountains that were NON-volcanic and within the altitude that scientists have determined would be the maximum depth all of the water in, on and above the earth, would attain if all was on the surface at one time.
When Ron was investigating the site with the radar, he noticed that the internal “lines” all converged at each end, consistent with the timbers of a ship. But to be sure it wasn’t just a very rare geologic “quirk” that he wasn’t familiar with, he took the radar OUTSIDE of the perimeter of the object and performed scans above it, below it and along each side.
He found nothing other than random loose stones in the soil. Earlier, in 1985 when Dave, John and Ron did the metal detector scans, they too checked the adjacent terrain for similar readings. However, they too, found none. In the live interview John Baumgardner did with CBN’s “700 Club” back in August of 1985, he confirmed this when asked if the formation was unique: “We feel that the formation is quite unique. There’s several formations that have a superficially similar shape and we’ve investigated several of them. And they, uh, as we investigate them, we find they do not have the special characteristics we find in the site we’ve been focusing on.”
The world at large doesn’t WANT to know the ark really existed, and therefore that the Bible is true. Just recently, when an Australian film crew visited the site and personally saw the metal detector scans performed, they didn’t even film it. An eye-witness to the event said they only filmed what they thought would serve to discredit the site. It IS possible to twist and omit truths in a way which presents an overall picture that looks convincing, but is, in fact, a lie. Look at all the people who proclaim with a bold-face that men have never walked on the moon.
To make a long story short, in a few weeks, Ron came to my office after Buford had told him that he had some co-workers who were interested in hearing about Noah’s Ark. He spent a couple of hours telling us about the ark and some of his other discoveries, but the thing that stood out in my mind was that I had never heard anyone speak so openly about Christ and “the Lord” as he did. Anyhow, with only a couple of photographs (small ones at that) I was convinced he was telling the truth.
After he left, I decided that evening – I was spending my summer vacation visiting Noah’s Ark. Ron had told us it was official and about the visitors’ center, so I began to call travel agents, only to discover that their reaction was about like mine when Buford told me he knew the man who found Noah’s Ark. So, about a week later, I had Buford call “Mr. Wyatt” for me and get directions to the ark. Buford began writing down strange foreign names of cities, and finally he said, “Here, you talk to her.”
When I got on the phone, Ron was surprised to learn that the person wanting to go was a female, and he told me under no circumstances could I go there by myself. I was crushed – I had a video camera and had planned to tape the ark to use as a means to prove the validity of the Bible to others. But, he hesitantly told me that if I could afford it, if I could take directions and stay out of the way, he guessed I could go with his next expedition, which would go the next month. I was thrilled, and was able to quickly make the arrangements. But NEVER did I suspect how my life was about to change.
The ark in person is incredibly breathtaking. As we walked down to it and got closer, the indentions where the rib timbers were deteriorating away and leaving voids were extremely visible. Ron walked the entire site with us, explaining every feature, showing us the deck joists that extended out from the interior sides where the decks had collapsed. He showed us deck support timbers that were protruding from the earth- timbers that had once held up the decks much like the poles in a basement hold up the floor of the house. He took us around to the side and showed us where the 1960 team had blown several holes in it with dynamite, and from which he had obtained numerous specimens of petrified wood.
Anyhow, Dilaver, the taxi driver and Ron’s long-time friend, smoothed things over and we soon found ourselves inside the crude military building, having terrible tea. The soldiers presented me with a macrame necklace they had made which had a bullet hanging from the intricate pattern of the thread, which reminded me of thick dental floss.
It was raining a bit and we stood outside in the drizzle, just staring down the mountain. The ark was down the mountain, mostly hidden by the rugged hills, while off in the distance we could see the structure which had incorporated in it the broken pieces of the stele. And we weren’t allowed near it. As we stood around, I mentioned to Nathan (Dr. Meyer) that since we were here, where the first rainbow in history was ever seen, wouldn’t it be something if we could see one now? After all, it was raining.
With that, Nathan spoke a most beautiful prayer, requesting that if it was His will, we would like to see a rainbow (I don’t remember the exact words). Within 5 or so minutes, there appeared in the sky a double rainbow which seemed to start at the stele and extended across the sky, ending about where the ark was. I cannot express how that made us feel, and I rarely have told others about it. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but you’ll never convince any of us that that’s the case. We treasure our photos of this rainbow.
Ron had learned about a procedure the Egyptologists used in determining if earlier inscriptions had been removed from monuments and others chiselled on top of them. This involved “painting” the surface with an invisible liquid that is only visible in ultraviolet light. After a length of time, this liquid seeps into the tiny cracks and crevasses which are not visible to the naked eye, but which can be seen with the ultraviolet light.
My brother-in-law works in research and development for Kodak in Rochester, NY so I called him. He referred me to a certain department at Kodak where I explained what we wanted to do. They sent me information on the procedure. We were able to find the liquid and a portable ultraviolet light. With the help of everyone, we painted the crosses on the anchor stone that is standing in the village during the day, as well as a couple of other objects with crosses. We had done a practice run on a head-stone in a private cemetery just outside of Nashville and knew we needed to wait several hours before observing the results.
We returned that night with the light and none of the eyes we had with us could see any evidence of any earlier inscriptions- everything was clean with no small cracks. And the villagers were quite fascinated with the whole thing.
It was also at this time that he made an extremely important discovery, one that put an end to the “Armenian cult stone” theory about the anchor stones. Hasan Ozer showed him an anchor stone that had been buried in the earth, perhaps since the time of the flood itself, and which was now exposed due to erosion. On this stone were NO CROSSES! Ron and Dr. Shea had supposed that since the crosses on the stones were Byzantine and Crusader style, and since the majority of them had eight crosses, that these early Christians somehow had connected these stones to the eight survivors of the flood.
The newly exposed anchor was consistent with this conclusion – after all, they couldn’t carve crosses on a buried anchor stone, could they? Ron would continue to travel to Turkey two to three times a year, sometimes accompanied by me, and sometimes not. By this time, there wasn’t much left to do until the time that an excavation was possible.
At one time, in 1987, he had worked with Ankara in preparing an excavation plan, as well as the building of several hotels in the region. Ron had approached some people in Memphis, Tennessee, who were to finance the project, and all seemed to be going along quite well. The architectural drawings for a covering for the remains were “OK’d” and it looked like nothing could stop it, but then came a financial reversal for the money people. And all came to a dead halt. From this time on, the prospect of getting the funding needed to excavate seemed an impossibility.
When we next heard from him, he was as excited as a person can get. He was convinced it was the ark. But he too felt that it needed to be excavated. He was forming an organization whose purpose was to be to raise the funds to excavate. He asked Ron if this was OK with him, and Ron said sure. Ron was not a member or a part of his organization, but it was founded based on the research Ron had done, which included the part that Dave participated in.
Being very careful not to remove more than just a minute amount of dirt, they soon could see the color difference in the lighter rib timbers as contrasted against the darker soil. It was a very convincing sight, the whole process being videotaped so that no one could accuse him of “cheating”. (See newsletter # 5 for photo.) The rib timbers were now in tiny fragments, but the fragments were still held in place by the surrounding soil.
In earlier years, Ron had photographed what looked like groupings of metal fittings on the sides of the ark, but he couldn’t disturb them by cleaning them off. Now, he felt he knew what these metal fittings looked like- he would know for sure when he had it analyzed.
The metallurgy lab near Richard did some careful analyses on the specimen, taking samples from what appeared to be the washer around the head of the rivet, and then a sample just 1 cm. away from the washer, from the area we were theorizing would have been wood. In the final report, the chemist found it worthy to note in his report:
- ” It is interesting to note that location 1 (presumably fossilized timber members) was found to contain much higher carbon (1.9%) than location 2 (presumably fossilized metal.”
The 4 analyses they ran showed that location 1 yielded a 1.88% and 1.97% carbon content while location 2 yielded a .14% and .13% amount. And this certainly was important!
When an object undergoes the process of fossilization, as its molecules are washed away by flowing water, molecules of objects the flowing water has flowed over prior to reaching the fossilizing object, are washed in to fill the voids left by the washed away molecules. I know that’s a mouthful, but its what occurs. Now, this water carrying new molecules to fill in the empty holes doesn’t play favorites and place lots of “red” molecules in one place, and then very few “red” ones just one centimeter away. This may be noticeable over some distance, but not this close.
So if some carbon molecules were washed in and filled the voids on this rivet, it was a fairly uniform process- we could expect that 14 carbon molecules in one location would equal about the same amount that was washed into the adjacent area just a centimeter away. But to find 13 and 14 in one location, and then 1 cm. over, to find 188 and 197, tells us that a bunch of those carbon molecules in the 2nd location were already there! This is exactly what would be expected to be found if this really was a fossilized metal washer and rivet (non-living matter) attached to a piece of fossilized wood (once living matter).
He kept in constant contact with Ron as to what he was doing, and said he wanted Ron to head the excavation even though Ron was not connected with his organization. To be honest, as much as we loved Dr. Roberts, neither of us believed anything would come of it all. By now even I was used to having people contact us with great ideas and promises of assistance, only to have it dissolve into thin air. And no one was more surprised when Dr. Roberts called to say, “I have the commitment if we can get the permit – let’s go!”
Pretty soon, Ron, Richard Rives, Marv Wilson and Dr. Roberts were in Ankara, ready to make their proposal. I had drawn up a diagram of the proposed excavation which was designed so as not to destroy much of the ark, and to also leave remaining unexcavated sections close by so that no one could say, “They just carved the ark remains out of the dirt”.
The men were members of the PKK, an outlaw group of Kurdish rebels, known to take hostages in order to get their way. They only wanted hostages who were foreign – Americans were “prime pickins’, and so were Britons, so they not only took Ron’s group, they took a poor tourist from England from the bus behind them. And off they went into the brush. It was a terrible ordeal, which I won’t go into here. Dr. Roberts just wrote a book on the ordeal which we have received and found to be quite good. If possible, we will try to obtain it and offer it to you through this newsletter.
The next day, I received a call from one of the very few people whom we had told about Ron’s trip. Bob is a geologist for the State of Tennessee, and when he heard on a Christian radio broadcast about 3 Americans, an Australian and a Briton being taken hostage in eastern Turkey, he called me to see if it was Ron.
When we had talked to him earlier, we told him that the man from the British corporation might accompany them, and so he thought this group sounded like Ron’s. But I had known that the British gentleman hadn’t gone, so my first instinct was that it wasn’t Ron’s group. I also didn’t think they would be in eastern Turkey this soon. But at the same time, I panicked a bit. I called the State Department and I shall never forget the first few words of that conversation:
“Hello, My name is Mary Nell Wyatt, and I just heard about three Americans being taken hostage in eastern Turkey. It probably isn’t my husband, whose name is Ron Wyatt, but could you check on this for me, or have you heard anything?” Those were my approximate words, but HIS words, are exact.
He replied, “Let’s see,…(pause) is your husband’s middle name Eldon?” At that, I went to pieces- that IS Ron’s middle name! When he asked me that, I knew it was true. I don’t know what I would have done without my daughter Amanda there. She had just turned 17 but she’s strong as an ox when the chips are down. I panicked for real this time, and she calmed me down. Within a short while, I remember grabbing her in our hallway and we stood and prayed. I asked the Lord to help us through this, to protect the men, and to use this to His glory.
I was suddenly calm and managed to call the other wives, Elizabeth Rives, Renetta Wilson and Margaret Roberts, and tell them what little I knew, also telling them how I had become very calm after praying for strength and guidance. They were all amazingly calm also. It was Elizabeth that I was most concerned about, as she and Richard had two precious small children not yet school age.
By the time the news had gotten out and the first news team was at our doorstep, about two hours later, Amanda and I were completely calm,- so much so that Ron’s friends at the hospital later teased him, saying his wife sure must not love him much because she sure didn’t appear too upset on the TV!
Oh, sometimes we were met with skepticism, which we in turn countered with facts. But one thing that each of us said in our various interviews, and which was NOT cut out, was that it was because of our faith that we were not panicked. I even had the opportunity to present the evidence for Noah’s Ark in a public high school.
Renetta, living near Dallas, had many opportunities to witness of her faith, as did Elizabeth who constantly amazed me at how well she was holding up. Margaret, being in Australia, was more on her own than we were, but she too exhibited incredible faith and courage through the entire ordeal.
I had our police officer friend, Sgt. Mark Wynn, come over and, with him present (because I wanted a witness to what I said), I called this man at his place of business. I told him who I was and asked him a favor as a Christian – I asked him to please refrain from slandering my husband while he was missing and while I didn’t even know if he was alive or dead. I acknowledged that he had a right to his opinion of Ron and I didn’t mean to deny that, but AS A FAVOR, I asked him to hold off until Ron was home – for MY sake.
He finally agreed to do so, but only after a lengthy conversation in which he flat out told me that Ron had “made” the deck timber himself, and several other claims which I knew as a fact were pitiful lies. I ended up actually feeling sorry for him and told him that after all was said and done, Ron would like nothing more than for all of them to be working together again. This caused a reaction from him which I still do not know how to interpret, except as sadness.
There was a short flurry of more media attention, then all calmed down, almost back to normal. But the sad fact was that it was now too late to excavate – the season was over. And in time, the British corporation, which is a major concern, suffered financial troubles which caused it to withdraw the pledge of financial assistance. Back at square one, we picked up the pieces and got back to normal.
Dr. Roberts, on the other hand, had received a tremendous amount of publicity in Australia and began to suffer horrendous persecution from a well-known atheistic geologist, Ian Plimer. He suffered a terrible ordeal which his wife Margaret told me recently had taken its toll on him. We don’t know the details, but we are keeping him in our prayers and ask you to do the same. He suffered phlebitis during the hostage ordeal and apparently is still not completely well.
Soon after we got back on the bus and headed down the road, a group of soldiers flagged us down, all with the usual machine guns. One boarded who spoke English. After an interrogation, we were told that we couldn’t go any further. The region was still unstable and a bus was too big of a target for the terrorists.
The disappointment on the faces of the people was terrible to me, as I remembered how much I wanted to see the ark back in 1988. But then, Henry Gruver led us in a prayer, and everyone there seemed at peace. It was actually turning into a real adventure.. It was late in the day and we weren’t even allowed to go to a hotel in Dogubeyazit. Orders were to leave the region.
We couldn’t make it back to Erzurum so we headed to Agri. Once there, Dilaver took us to the best hotel he could find, which was pretty terrible. No baths in the rooms. But no one complained and instead everyone seemed to have a terrific time.
Ron met with the police there to see if arrangements could somehow be made to get the folks out to the boat, but all they said that could be done was put everyone in taxis and go there in small groups. Their reasoning was that terrorists would not suspect taxis like they would a tour bus. But with the responsibility of the group’s safety in his hands, Ron decided that this was not an option. The region was becoming too dangerous to even visit the site – would it ever improve?
Meeting with Salih Bayraktutan In July of 1987, one month after the dedication ceremony, John Baumgardner, Salih Bayraktutan of Ataturk University, Tom Fenner of GSSI, and others returned to the site to do their own radar scan under the authority of the Turkish Prime Ministry. We were given a copy of that report by a third party, and to be sure that it was authentic, I took a copy of it to Turkey on that 1992 tour group, and when Ron and I met with Salih Bayraktutan, I showed it to him and asked it if was authentic. He assured me that it was. The reason this report is important is because members of that effort are stating that they were unable to get the same radar results that Ron and Dave did, in an attempt to cast doubt on the accuracy of their scans.
In this highly scientifically written document, full of technical terms and expressions, it states “All of the scans shown in Figure 7 were obtained with the radar operating at a frequency of 120 MHz in order to achieve the maximum possible penetration.” What this means is that they set the radar to reflect NOT what may lie WITHIN the structure, but what IS ON THE BOTTOM. And even then, their results did not nullify the earlier scans, which were done using various frequencies in order to reflect the structure at various depths.
In this official report, it states, “We conclude that the data from our geophysical investigations in no way conflict with the proposition that the unusual boat-shaped site near Mahser village contains the remains of Noah’s Ark.” It went on to state: “However, without actual samples of the subsurface materials we feel that definitive interpretations of our data are not possible. On the other hand, we believe samples obtainable through core-drilling a small number of holes in the site can provide the information required.”
It must have taken a lot of nerve to write such a report, stating that their tests didn’t “conflict with the idea that this was Noah’s Ark” after the Turks had determined that it was. They even got to do their core drill in 1988, and when we spoke to Salih in 1992, he complained that several thousand dollars was still owed by the parties involved for the transporting of the drill rig and building a road to the site. I can write this – I heard it with my own two ears.
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Today, we have a file chock full of articles, etc., criticizing both the site and Ron. But we have a house full of scientific documentation. Ultimately, the decision is yours. If it’s not the ark, what is it? If you can provide another answer to that question, it is to your loss. I can say that, too – because I live with all the evidence, day after day.
If, as we believe firmly, God preserved the ark as evidence of the complete accuracy and validity of His Holy Word, then it’s important for you to know the truth so you can make a thoughtful, informed decision. As Ron says, perhaps God has provided all the evidence He is going to provide that this is the ark. After all, Christ stated: Luke 16:31,.”If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
This concept has been based on the many claimed sightings of the ark on Mt. Ararat – and not a single sighting is accompanied by any evidence.
If you want to research the subject yourself, go to the library and look up “ships and ship-building” and/or “fluid dynamics” or “hydrodynamics”. The “boat-shaped object” is not barge-shaped. It displays the shape of a seagoing vessel. Therefore, from the beginning of its discovery in the stereo-photo, it had this one feature already in its favor.
Again, go to the library and research “volcanoes” and “glaciers”. Read up on Mount St. Helens, whose last eruption was similar to the last eruption which Mt. Ararat experienced, even leaving a similar blown-out hole in the mountain. You will see the total devastation suffered by everything on or around the mountain at that time.
In addition to this, the Turkish military has been training their commandos on Mt. Ararat for many years, and they know every inch of the mountain. They KNOW there is nothing up there.
The lava from that mountain was ejected into the air and carried to the top of the ridge above the ark’s present location. The existence of this volcano is proven by the broken stele Ron found in 1984 upon this ridge which showed the unique limestone ridge with a volcano positioned next to it to the south. Today, this volcano is collapsed and cannot be seen except from the top of the ridge, not from the viewpoint of the artist who inscribed the stele.
If that is so, why wasn’t the ark burned up? There are 2 possibilities as to why it wasn’t burned up – the first is this: assuming the lava was the type which would have caused a wooden object to catch on fire, if the ark was completely covered by lava rapidly, this would cut off the oxygen supply and combustion would not be possible. But, supposing it was covered more slowly. It is a documented fact that lava does not always cause combustion.
Either way you choose, the fact that the ark was covered by lava DOES NOT in any way mean that it had to be burned up. The fact that the decks seem to be uniformly collapsed indicates that it was covered rapidly, which would have cut off the oxygen supply. We do have specimens which display some burning, but it seems to be very limited in extent.
Hawaii is an excellent example of this – their wonderful soil which produces the beautiful exotic flowers we associate with this paradise, are a result of the decayed lava, so rich in the nutrients necessary for perfect growth. But it takes lava a very long time to deteriorate – how long depends on the type, etc., and we cannot know exactly how long the ark was covered. However, over time, as the lava began its deterioration process, it was no longer air-tight.
The Remains Were Fossilized
The ark is situated on a mountain side and it slopes. The front end is at about a 6,350 foot elevation while the lower end is at about the 6,250 foot elevation. The lava deteriorated over time, and being no longer air-tight, it was no longer water-tight. The region experiences several months of snow with the accompanying cold temperatures. In the spring, the snow slowly melts and as it does, the water flows down the mountainside. This means that as the lava began to deteriorate, this water began to flow through the material which covered the ark.
As the water slowly seeped over the preserved structures of the ark, it began to wash away minute particles of the wood and metal fittings of the structure. This took place on a molecular level- molecule by molecule was washed away. But as each molecule broke loose and washed away with the water, it left a “hole” the exact size of the molecule that had broken loose. As the water flowed over the structure, some of the molecules it picked up from materials it had passed over prior to arriving at the ark, lodged in the “molecule holes” left in the structure.. The process I am describing is called “petrification”, or “mineral replacement”.
For an object to become petrified, two things are ALWAYS required- first, that the object be buried rapidly, and second that it have water flowing through it. If it is not airtight and has no water flowing over it, it suffers from decay and is not preserved. The evolutionists will be quick to tell you that petrification takes millions of years to occur, but this is a bald-faced lie. If petrification does not occur at least a rapidly as the decay rate, the object simply decays away.
The deck timber which Ron obtained from the approximate mid-section of the ship contained over 13% iron – iron which came from the metal fittings of the structure above mid-section. The majority of molecules involved in the petrification process are molecules from the natural substances in the earth and the lava. The first analyses Ron had performed on his specimens from the site showed an approximate 51% silica content.
That’s fine. The “Encyclopaedia Brittannica,” 1985 ed., vol. 19, page 506, (under “volcanoes”) states: ” Magma consists of a molten-silicate mass within the earth, of various composition…” In fact, all petrified objects contain a great deal of silica simply due to its abundance in the soil.
When Ron brought the petrified deck timber home, he, as well as all who saw it, knew that it LOOKED like a piece of wood turned to stone (petrified). However, looks CAN be deceiving, so he took it to Galbraith Labs to be analyzed. Chiselling a sample from the specimen (on camera), they analyzed it and found that it did contain inorganic carbon (.0081%). However, it also contained .7019% ORGANIC CARBON, which is over 100 times more than the amount of inorganic carbon!
Every petrified object ever found that was once living, tree branch, bone, sea shell, etc., will show organic carbon in its analysis. So, the deck timber specimen WAS once composed of living matter! Since it didn’t look like a bone or a shell, we feel pretty confident in stating that it is petrified wood. OK, we have decaying lava which is revealing the presence of petrified objects that look like wood and contain large amounts of iron and other metals.
Remember we discussed how the substances found in the petrified object got there by being washed in from flowing water which had first past over other substances? So where did the iron come from? In order for there to be such a high percentage of iron in the petrified wood, the water which effected its petrification had to pass over a large amount of iron prior to reaching the petrifying object. The soil above the ark does not contain that much iron. One control specimen taken from the area OUTSIDE the ark, but within 50 or so yards, revealed a .54% iron and .77% ferric oxide content.
If we are to believe that the petrified wood received its iron content from the naturally-occurring iron in the region above the ship, we would have to believe that the entire iron content of the region was gathered up by the waters and deposited ONLY in the petrified wood. In other words, its impossible. The large amounts of metals in the petrified wood could only come from one place – from the water passing over a LARGE amount of metal in the ark’s structure – metal which we now know, composes the thousands of fittings which held the timbers together.
Keep in mind that the structures of the ark were petrified and now turned to stone. When the soil around the sides of the ark was still in place, the ribs were preserved. We know this even though they are now gone. The way we know is simple- the empty indentations, evenly spaced, are all the evidence we need. Like a footprint in the mud, they wouldn’t be there if a foot hadn’t been there earlier. The weather extremes of the region had accomplished this process of “frost wedging” which fractured the rib timbers which were now turned to stone. They remained in place as long as the surrounding soil held them. But when it fell away, the fractured “turned to stone” timbers fell into pieces and specimens of the petrified wood lie all around the site.
What this means in simple language is that the petrified structure members which are near the surface are more vulnerable to fracturing into small pieces if they lie in an area where surface water stands. In the winters, the water, which has seeped into its tiny cracks and crevasses, subjects the petrified structure to continual expansion due to the water freezing, fracturing it into pieces. Once the soil surrounding and supporting this structure is removed, the fragments collapse into a heap. Voila – no more visibly identifiable petrified structure – only a heap of what looks like rocks. But lab analysis still reveals what these “rocks” once were by the presence of the organic carbon which is NOT present in objects (natural rocks) which were not once living matter.
The “rocks” which displayed the metal readings may have looked like “rocks”, but we now understand why. The exposed timbers which contained the metal fittings were fossilized. When exposed to the elements, they fragmented which left them looking like weathered rocks. But, the metal content is so concentrated at these precise spots that lab analyses revealed the presence of metal in concentrations and forms which is not natural.
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In 1984, Ron and Orhan Baser found what they now are certain is a 120 by 40 foot section of the bottom of the ark, a mile or so above its present location. For a moment, let’s take our thoughts back to the time the water receded and the ark first rested on the earth. At that time, the face of the earth would be extremely muddy. As the water slowly receded and the ark was gently lowered to the earth, it sank into the mud by increments. The very bottom kept extending deeper and deeper into this mud.
The evidence indicates that there was probably a “bilge keel” of some description on the bottom of the ship. A bilge keel is a “fin-like” projection extending downward from the center keel along the bottom, as is seen on sailboats. This “fin” would have provided the ship resistance to sideways tilting, but it would have had another advantage. As the ark slowly sank into the mud, this “fin” would have held the ship in an upright position after it was on the ground. Then, when God “made a wind to pass over the earth”, which caused the mud to dry out, the ship was held fast in an upright position.
Hopefully, we can scan this area with the radar to determine if a bilge keel is present, but for now this is only Ron’s theory. And even it there wasn’t a bilge keel, the ark still would have sunk down in the mud and be held fast. When the lava carried the ship down the mountainside, this section of the hull remained in the earth. This left a very large hole in the hull which David determined existed by his use of the MFG, and which Ron later found to exist with the radar scans. The fact that Dave was able to determine this with the MFG is a tremendous evidence that the device is highly reliable despite the bad name it has received.
The end that made the widest swing outward suffered the most outward collapse, and this is what gives the ship its appearance of being wider than it should be. Keep in mind, however, that the ribs did not fall completely outward, but only splayed enough to give the ship a 138 foot width at the widest point, and the original width was 87 feet. The Biblical width of 50 cubits was found to be the width indicated by the internal structures, such as the bulkheads which displayed this width instead of the full width of the splayed hull.
The metal detector scans done in August of 1985 showed how the internal structure near the surface was literally “wrapped around the rock”, similar to a car that is wrapped around a telephone pole. The pattern (revealed by metal detector scans) shows the broken structure members literally wrapped around the rock.
But what makes us think there was metal production before the flood? Aside from the presence of a great deal of metal at even intervals in the ship, Manganese Manganese, which is found in extremely high concentrations in these ballast specimens, is used in the production of many alloys: “More than 95 percent of the manganese produced is used in the form of ferro alloys by the metal industries, chiefly for steel manufacture…. Produced without manganese, steel breaks up when hot-rolled or forged. Steels generally contain less than 1 percent manganese. Manganese steel (12-14 percent manganese) is used for very rugged service; it presents a hard, wear resistant, and self-renewing surface over a wrought unbreakable core. Manganese produced electrolytically is used mostly in steelmaking but also in the production of nonferrous alloys of copper, aluminum, magnesium and the nickel-base alloys and in the production of high purity chemicals. Practically all commercial alloys of aluminum and magnesium contain manganese to improve corrosion resistance and mechanical properties.” “Encyclopaedia Brittannica, 1985 ed., vol.vi”, page 563 under “manganese”.
On one analysis of the ballast material, John Baumgardner wrote: “tailings of aluminum aloid production” and signed his name and wrote “Los Alamos”. This particular specimen contained 31.44% manganese, 41.95% titanium, no iron, 11.33% silicon, and 7.19% aluminum, among other constituents. This indicates that there was perhaps more than one type of alloy included in these various ballast specimens- and this one was the waste product of aluminum production.
“Aluminum-manganese alloys are popular for cooking utensils, heat exchangers, chemical equipment, storage tanks,… Adding major amounts (about 10 percent) of silicon to commercially pure aluminum yields an alloy with a relatively low melting point…. Because silicon imparts great fluidity to molten metal, this alloy is used in castings. The addition of up to 5 percent magnesium yields an alloy with good tensile strength, weldability, hardness and corrosion resistance in marine atmospheres…. Adding both silicon and magnesium to aluminum produces alloys that are easily formed, machined, welded, and finished, have good resistance to corrosion, and are of medium strength.” “Ibid., vol. 1, page 644, under subject “Aluminum Products and Production”
The ballast materials, under electron microscope, display the appearance of slag and can therefore be identified with confidence. The exact type of metal production they resulted from cannot be stated with precision. But because of the content of the specimens, which are consistent with present day processes of metal alloy production, it can be stated with confidence that these ARE slag. The large amount of manganese was expended as waste product because, although required in the production of the alloy, only a small percentage remained in the resulting product. The excess was spun off as slag, along with a small amount of the other elements used in the alloy production.
The advantage of titanium as a metal is its tremendous strength and light weight, which is why today it is used in medical and space age technologies. The quantitative elemental analyses of the rivet-head Ron found in 1991 revealed 8.62% aluminum, 10.38% iron, 1.33% magnesium, and 2.7% sodium, as well as 1.92% titanium. Interestingly, the process for refining titanium involves SODIUM AND MAGNESIUM and sure enough, there they both were! “The high-purity titanium tetrachloride produced is reduced to metallic titanium by reaction with magnesium or sodium. The Kroll process, which uses magnesium, and modifications that used sodium, as the reducing agents, are batch processes conducted in larger reactors.” Ibid., p. 456.
The combined analyses of the fossilized rivet provide more than ample evidence that it was composed of an alloy which contained aluminum, iron and titanium; an alloy which would be extremely strong, lightweight and resistant to the corrosion of the sea waters. Is all of this coincidence? The ballast contains elements which are completely consistent with that of aluminum, titanium and iron alloy productions. The rivet contains elements which are consistent with a very high-tech alloy.
For further evidence, “The major alloying elements that are added to titanium are aluminum, vanadium, molybdenum, manganese, iron and chromium.” “Ibid.” ) All three analyses of the rivet show iron, aluminum, and manganese, vanadium and chromium. Perhaps one or two of these things could be accepted as “coincidence”, but the entire picture is one that cannot be denied.
The angular bracket was the specimen John had identified as having the appearance of wrought iron. The large iron content of the petrified timbers again verifies the fact that the flowing water which effected the petrification process had travelled over a large amount of iron objects before it arrived at the timber being petrified. Where did this iron come from? Certainly not the surrounding terrain which displayed an only negligible iron content. The evidence indicates that probably various alloys were produced for use in different objects, depending on what properties were required. In fact, the evidence is TOO circumstantial to be interpreted any other way except that it shows conclusive proof of metal alloys used in the ark.
He attacks the analysis of one particular specimen, the one which contains 84.14% manganese dioxide, stating simply that it is nothing but a “manganese nodule”, something that is found all over the ocean floor and is therefore quite common. OK. Let’s look at that claim.
First of all, this site isn’t the ocean floor – it is 6,300 feet above it, and thousands of miles from the Pacific Ocean, which is where these nodules are commonly found. But let’s not take that into consideration. Let’s check into these “nodules” and see what characteristics they have. “…these manganese nodules contain as much as 2.5 percent copper, 2.0 percent nickel, 0.2 percent cobalt and 35 percent manganese. In some deposits, the content of cobalt and manganese is as high as 2.5 percent and 50 percent respectively. Such concentrations would be considered high-grade ores if found in land,…” “Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1985 ed., vol. 13”, page 503, under subject heading “Oceans and Seas”.
OK, 50% manganese content, we have just read, is considered the highest percentage to be found in these nodules, as well as in land ores. The average is considered to be 35%. Yet, our analyses of these ballast specimens show 87%, 84% and 80%- far above what is found in these nodules. Also, the nodules contain cobalt and nickel, yet these are not present in the ballast specimens. In addition, there is the size to be considered. The nodules are stated to be an average of about 4 centimeters (slightly less than 2 inches), yet some of THESE specimens are 10 inches in diameter and more. These factors, combined with the fact that the ballast specimens contain other elements NOT found in the manganese nodules is more than enough evidence to rule out that little theory.
Genesis2:5 “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD GOD HAD NOT CAUSED IT TO RAIN UPON THE EARTH, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But THERE WENT UP A MIST FROM THE EARTH, AND WATERED THE WHOLE FACE OF THE GROUND.”
This Scripture has just told us that there was no rain before the flood, which is probably one of the reasons that the world would not believe there was a coming flood. The laws of nature which would be in effect in order to have no rain, but to have this “mist” which “watered the whole face of the earth” would include a very constant temperature. This temperature would not have varied over more than 10 or so degrees. This relatively small variation in temperature would not have been great enough to cause the water in the air to totally condense into raindrops, but would instead produce an effect similar to a greenhouse or a terrarium.
Each day, in the cool of the evening, dew would appear on the ground. In the morning, this dew would evaporate as the temperature rose. Day after day, this cycle would continue, keeping a perfect balance of moisture both in the air and on the soil.
Sometimes, weather conditions, such as a drought, can result in numerous rings in one season. During a severe drought, the tree is deprived of its water supply and growth halts temporarily. Then, a rain comes along and growth resumes during the same season- and here we have 2 rings in one year. There is no way to determine the number of rings which belong to one year, so this method is not reliable in determining a tree’s age. The petrified wood which contains rings, such as that found in Arizona, is post-flood.
Even the evolutionists admit the absence of growth rings in wood from what they call the “Carboniferous” period: “There was, as we have already said, secondary bark and wood, similar to that of modern trees but lacking the spring and winter rings which correspond to seasonal alternation of moisture and dryness. This is a further proof that the Carboniferous climate was fairly uniform.” (Larousse Encyclopedia of the Earth, p. 369.)
When man rejects God and His Truth as HE told it through His Holy Word, God gives him over to Satan, that he will not be able to recognize truth. He will absolutely not accept it because through his rejection of Truth, he is blind. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Sadly, this is a fact, so don’t ever expect the world at large to accept the evidence God has so mercifully provided.
But for those who DO want the truth, even though they may have been taught lies, their eyes will be opened. John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” It would be foolish to expect a 4,300 year old wooden ship to remain intact today, unless it was buried in the hot, dry sands of Egypt, like Cheops’ sun boat. It could not be expected to survive at all in the extreme seasons present in the Ararat region, if it were left exposed to the elements all these years. The wood would have long ago rotted and the metal fittings would have oxidized.
But protected in the lava flow, its presence was preserved in timbers turned to stone. Then, the simple outline of its shape was the only clue to its nature in the 1950s. At that time, no evidence was visible or understood.
In 1978, the small earthquake dropped the soil from around its sides, revealing on one side, empty holes where rib timbers had fragmented and fallen away after suffering “frost wedging”. On the other side, rib timbers which remained in place in the earth, but which are still fragmented, could be seen by the color difference between them and the surrounding soil.
Its length is exactly 300 royal Egyptian cubits, the only cubit Moses would have known. The “Hebrew” cubit was of varying lengths at different times, and wouldn’t come into use for many years after Genesis was written.
In 1984, metal detectors revealed the presence of a regular pattern of metal readings both along the top and sides of the ark. In 1985 this pattern was plotted out the entire length of the ship, revealing the perfect pattern of a ship.
In 1986 and 1987, radar scans showed internal structures which were completely consistent with the inside of a ship containing rooms and chambers, as well as 3 decks.
Analyses of specimens from the ark show metals which display evidences of being wrought and alloyed. The hull is full of material which is precisely consistent with slag of very advanced metal production- some of whose technology wasn’t known to us until 1936 and 1948.
And, it is in the mountains of Ararat, in a mountain configuration which matched the crescent-shape of Ron’s experiment of building mountains in a stream and floating a miniature boat past it, of almost 30 years ago. Coincidences? No- I’d stake MY LIFE on it.
Not too long ago, a precious Christian lady called and asked if she could bring her father over to visit us- she was concerned because he had trouble believing the Biblical account. It was his 85th birthday and he had come to spend it with his family. When he saw one of the traditional ark hunters on Christian TV claiming to have found the ark on Mt. Ararat, he got excited and told her if someone could prove the ark was real, he would be able to believe the Bible.
Well, they came over and he was a perfectly delightful, educated and well travelled man. We spent the entire afternoon and evening sharing all the evidences with him. He wasn’t the type to be snookered- he was in full possession of all his reasoning abilities. He returned to his home out of the state, and a few weeks later, we received a letter from him with a newspaper clipping. It was a “letter to the editor” he had sent to his local paper. He wrote about the difficulty he had in believing the Bible, his visit with us and the evidences he had seen with his own eyes.
But it was the last 2 lines that brought tears to my eyes: “I now know that the God of the Bible is the one true God and that all that is in the Bible is truth. So I can say that my 85th birthday was the greatest”. Just yesterday, we received a note from his daughter in which she tells of her conversation with him after he returned home. She asked him if he would pray with her and ask Jesus to come into his life. His reply was that he “had already done that.” Thank you, Paul, for sending that article. It makes it all worth while!
A Quest for Integrity
Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, “Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Would anyone have the boldness to go before God and say something that they did not believe to be true? The people that make these claims to God obviously BELIEVE them to be true. They really believe that they worked miracles in the name of Jesus. But Christ, who cannot lie, tells them not only that He “NEVER KNEW” them, but goes further and calls them “ye that work iniquity”. How is it possible for them to be so deceived?
Is it possible that we, who speak so often of the Lord to others, are deceived as to the “lord” we are serving?! Our careful examination of this critical subject will no doubt offend many who claim to be “deliverers” and “healers”, but is it not better to face the truth now, while there is time to obtain Divine help in correcting any delusions Satan has caught us in, than to have Christ look us in the eye and say, “I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART FROM ME YE THAT WORK INIQUITY?!”
Is it possible that there are those who appear to be doing the Lord’s work that are actually NOT of Him? The Word of God not only says its possible, It says it WILL happen:
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
Today is the time of the greatest battle of all time – not a physical battle, but a battle with the unseen. Time is soon to be over and if we are alive when Christ comes again, we will have taken part in the battle which vindicates God’s government. But in order to fight successfully, we must have the “sword” and the “armor.”
Ephesians 6:12-17 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians says that Satan’s ministers will be transformed, or appear to be, “ministers of righteousness”. There is grave danger in allowing ANYONE to “feed” you their version of the Gospel. This is not to say that some are not godly men, led by the Holy Spirit. But today, you CANNOT tell the “good from the bad” without examining every word that comes out of their mouths, as well as examining the example of their lives. 99% truth is NOT good enough. God’s Truth includes EVERY WORD in the Bible, not just the portions various preachers are fondest of.
The danger we are all facing is very real – without our OWN knowledge of the Truth as revealed in the Bible, we are in danger of believing lies and Satan’s deceptions. He has already gotten some of his insidious “interpretations” of what Scriptures “really” mean accepted by a large amount of people. All around, we hear these “interpretations” from the mouths of many who are very popular and accepted by the people without question.
Are these the ones that confront God with their “miracles” and “prophecies” and “many wonderful works?” Have they “like it is said of other liars, come to believe their own lies and deceptions?” Are these the ones who cooperate with “that wicked”described in this next passage?
2 Thessalonians 2:3,4,7-12 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God…. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Am I in that group?! Are you in that group?! Should we not follow Paul’s advice to the church at Corinth?
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? Is it possible that we can know and speak the truth on occasion and yet be an enemy of God?”
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
Years ago, I attended a tent-meeting in Bowling Green, Kentucky, of an evangelist who claims to be a healer. He proceeded to perform such “miracles” as restoring the sense of smell, and other things which elicited praises from the audience. But his finale came when a terribly twisted and gnarled looking man in a wheelchair was wheeled down to the front. After the evangelist pronounced the words to “heal” him, the man began to literally come “ungnarled.”
One at a time, each limb slowly began to straighten out, to the excitement of the people attending. Then, very nonchalantly, the county sheriff who had been quietly watching from the back, began to stroll down front and up to the microphone. “The meeting is closed- everyone leave quietly”. He then told us all that he had known the man in the wheelchair, Old Jake, all his life, and that he was well-known to be double jointed.
Old Jake confessed to the sheriff that he had been travelling with the “healer” and “performing” his miraculous recovery at every meeting. The sheriff gave the “healer” until noon the next day to pack up and get out of the county. Many years later, one of the “healer’s” sons committed suicide, leaving a note to the effect he he could “no longer be a party to his father’s deceptions.” The sad part, friends, is that this same evangelist is still very popular and “performing” today.
Do we punch up stories of our experiences to honor God the more? Do we invent experiences so we can get more invitations to speak, and thereby get bigger and better love offerings? Is there such a thing as a good lie?
Proverbs 6:16-19 “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an ABOMINATION unto him: a proud look, a LYING TONGUE, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth WICKED IMAGINATIONS, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A FALSE WITNESS THAT SPEAKETH LIES, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Carefully note that 3 of the things proclaimed here to be “abominations” are forms of lies! God hates lying for any reason, even exaggerations. And what happens to those that lie, even though they may claim to be of God?
Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL LIARS, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is THE SECOND DEATH.”
Those who “love lies” are much like dope addicts, requiring more and bigger lies as time goes by. Is it possible for us to lose the presence of God from our lives and not be aware of it?
The Bible says of Samson:
Judges 16:20 “And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And HE WIST NOT THAT THE LORD WAS DEPARTED FROM HIM.”
Saul, the first king of Israel, had a similar experience:
1 Samuel 18:12 “And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and WAS DEPARTED FROM SAUL.”
Do we have a pattern (role model) by which to measure ourselves?
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
When we read of the servants of God in the Bible, only those who were kings and queens dressed and lived sumptuously. CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, WAS “LOWLY”. Where, among the professed followers of Christ, do we see those who pattern themselves after Him?
John 13:16 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”
We see many who, by their dress and manner, show that they are seeking the praise of men. These “leaders” praise themselves and those that praise them. They “prophesy” and claim to be doing “many wonderful works”. If these are not those spoken of by Christ, that continually call Him “Lord, Lord”, where, then ARE they to be found?
Christ gave His followers some advice about the “religious leaders” of His day:
Mark 12:38-40;”…Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplace, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive the greater damnation.”
While we have those who perform deceitful healings, like the man Old Jake worked for, we DO have those who appear to be truly healing the sick. But this CANNOT be looked upon as the test of a true man (or woman) of God. Satan has the ability to inflict illness upon men. Job, chapter 2, tells of the boils he caused Job to suffer. There is no doubt that Satan can remove the cause of the illness and thus, “miraculously heal the victim.” Those that come to Christ in Matthew 7 HAVE cast out devils, prophesied, and done many wonderful words. But they did them by the supernatural power of the devil. The proof of this is that Christ “never knew” them.
How, then, are we to “DISCERN” truth from error?
Isaiah 8:20 “TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY, if they speak not according to these, there is no light in them.”
Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are THEY THAT DO HIS COMMANDMENTS, that they have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without [outside] are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, AND WHOSOEVER LOVETH AND MAKETH A LIE.”
Christ asked a very appropriate question of his disciples:
Luke 18:8 “When the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?”
Why would He ask this? Then, Paul gives the warning:
2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Christ should have the last word on any subject. Here is that word:
Matthew 24:24,25 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, THEY SHALL DECEIVE THE VERY ELECT. Behold, I have told you before.”
We think we’re too smart to get snookered by Satan, but don’t be too smug. The time is very near when he will counterfeit the miracles of God. Remember when Elijah met with the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel and fire came from heaven and devoured EVERYTHING, including the heathen priests?
Revelation 13:13,14 “And he doeth great wonders, so that HE MAKETH FIRE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN ON THE EARTH IN THE SIGHT OF MEN, 1And DECEIVETH THEM THAT DWELL ON the EARTH BY the MEANS OF THOSE MIRACLES which HE HAD POWER TO DO… “(See Job 1:16- Satan already did this once.)
