Founder, Noah's Ark Scans · Person
Founder of Noah's Ark Scans, a US research group investigating the Durupınar formation.
6 claimed · 8 disputed
Newsweek reported footage from Noah's Ark Scans that the group says shows a possible cavity and a distinct band matching a wooden hull at the lower end of the Durupınar formation.
Baptist Press reported that Jim Parker of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary backs the drilling approach but wants peer review before any claim, while Ken Ham said Answers in Genesis does not accept the site.
On NewsNation's Unreported, Andrew Jones and Lauren Witzke said the buried wood strengthens the case for Durupınar, with Jones comparing the evidence to a court case built from several lines.
Noah's Ark Scans founder Andrew Jones discussed the Durupınar site, the charred and uncharred wood and death threats he says he has received in episode 40 of Austin Lostroh's X broadcast.
In a Charisma interview Andrew Jones said the case for Durupınar is strong but "not at 100", described threats and a break-in, and said he expects excavation permits sooner rather than later.
In a GlobeNewswire press release, Noah's Ark Scans said charred wood was recovered almost 30 feet deep in the Durupınar formation and sent for carbon-14 dating and species identification, and that Prof. Cenker Atila had reviewed and confirmed Khosrow Bakhtar's preliminary radar results.
Andrew Jones told the Jerusalem Post that none of the 16 boreholes hit bedrock, which he sees as favouring the Ark view, while Prof. Cenker Atila said a radar void "can be a geological hole" and declined to call it a corridor.
↳ responds to Sivas Cumhuriyet University and Noah's Ark Scans run a 2026 field season at Durupınar
Nate Loper argued that the reported radar, soil and drilling observations remain compatible with the site's natural geology, and that the 1979 Galbraith analyses look closer to rock and carbonate than petrified wood.
Jones told Fox News the team drilled over 60 ft and found no solid rock block, which he said should give skeptics pause; on "Saturday in America" he said he expects confirmation after this winter's soil analysis.
A ministry-approved project led by Prof. Cenker Atila mapped the formation, ran GPR and core drilling, and sent soil samples to Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University for analysis; reported sample counts differ and results are pending.
Noah's Ark Scans said September 2024 soil samples showed higher organic matter and potassium inside the formation and re-analysed 2019 GPR showed right angles and corridors.
The Daily Mail reported plans to excavate the boat-shaped mound, while quoting Andrew Jones that excavation would come only after non-destructive tests and a preservation plan.
Andrew Jones published a book chapter comparing 1987 and 2019 field studies, integrating ground-penetrating radar and LiDAR data from the Durupınar formation.
AİÇÜ vice rector Faruk Kaya said initial İTÜ lab results found clayey and marine materials and indicated human activity since the Chalcolithic, adding dating alone cannot show the ship is there.