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richly on Mt. Ararat in easterly Turkey , there is a tough mountainside " anomaly , " a feature film that one investigator call may be something of biblical proportions .
Images shoot by aircraft , word - gathering planet and commercial-grade remote - sense space vehicle are fueling an intensive written report of the intriguing oddity . But whether the anomaly is some geologic crotchet of nature , playful shadows , a human - made social system of some kind , or simply nothing at all — that remains to be seen .
DigitalGlobe’s QuickBird commercial remote sensing satellite imaged the Mt. Ararat “anomaly” in 2003. This image has never seen by the public until now. The anomaly is surrounded below by very rugged-looking strato-volcanic rock; however, the texture of the feature in question is relatively smooth and appears to be made of a different substance.
Whatever it is , the anomaly of interest rest at 15,300 feet ( 4,663 metre ) on the northwesterly quoin of Mt. Ararat , and is almost submerged in glacial ice . It would be easy to call it merely a strange rock formation .
But at least one man wonders if it could be the remains of Noah ’s Ark — a vessel say to have been built to save mass and choose animals from the Great Flood , the 40 days and 40 Night of inundation as detailed in the Book of Genesis .
The Genesis design of the Ark detailed the social organisation as 6:1 duration to width ratio ( 300 cubits by 50 cubits ) . The anomaly , as look at by artificial satellite , is close to that 6:1 proportion .
Newfound optimism
Identifying the Ararat anomaly has been a 13 - year - farseeing pursuit of Porcher Taylor , an associate prof in paralegal studies at the University of Richmond ’s School of Continuing Studies in Virginia .
Taylor has been a national security system analyst for more than 30 years , also serving as a senior associate for five age at the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS ) in Washington , D.C.
" I ’ve got new find oneself optimism … as far as my continue push button to have the intelligence community declassify some of the more classic - eccentric imagery , " Taylor toldSPACE.com/LiveScience . He points to a " raw and important developing , " a high - resolution trope take by DigitalGlobe ’s impressive QuickBird satellite and shown here in public for the first time [ alternate reading with no notation ] .
" I ’m calling this my satellite archaeology labor , " Taylor said . It ’s an effort that has now included use of QuickBird , GeoEye ’s Ikonos space vehicle , Canada ’s Radarsat 1 , as well as declassified aerial and satellite images take away by the various U.S. intelligence representation .
Making the mountain transparent
Taylor said his destination is square : unite this imagination to make the Ararat anomaly transparent to the world , as well as to the discerning , dispassionate eyes of scientists , imagery analysts , and other experts .
" I had no preconceived notions or agendas when I commence this in 1993 as to what I was looking for , " Taylor said .
As for the saga of Noah ’s Ark , he is warm to note that there are those who say it is fable while some take it as trueness .
Nevertheless , the anomaly may not be a rooftree line of water ice , snow and perhaps rock , but an artificial ridge occupation , Taylor said . " I maintain that if it is the corpse of something manmade and potentially nautical , then it ’s potentially something of biblical proportions . "
While rebuke the intelligence communities to release more of their closely guard planet imagery , Taylor say that presently - to - fly commercial outside sensing spacecraft are certain to aid his archeological task .
" We ’ve acquire three young birds that are conk out up . I ’m using all my clout , rapport and lobbying to , hopefully , have them at least fly calibration runs over Mt. Ararat , " Taylor sound out . Those images would make the mountain even more transparent , he said .
Will it float ?
Meanwhile , Taylor has an ever - boom web of experts to serve tease out the Sojourner Truth about the anomaly .
For example , satellite imagination analyst Rod Franz of SunTek Media Group / RiteImage , Inc. , located in Henderson , Nevada , has taken a feeling at imagery provided by Taylor of the Ararat anomaly and bear out extra analysis of the area . As director of training for the business firm , Franz sharpened his skills by help almost 25 years as a military intelligence imagery analyst .
For the anomaly assessment , the same software tools used for studying government and commercial distant sense data were employed , Franz toldSPACE.com/LiveScience . Ground space and scales of the anomaly were determined . That software also has the ability to adjust luminousness , haze , pungency , contrast and other factor of the area of interest , he say .
" Along with many other double handling routine … I also used the pseudo - color role essay to determine if I could detect anything under the ice and snow , " Franz said .
The face of the anomaly measure 1,015 feet ( 309 meter ) across , Franz said . " I also found the shape of the anomaly come out to fit on a circle . I am not indisputable what this have in mind , if anything , but I discover it rum . "
Given that distance , Taylor pointed out , the anomaly dwarfs the Titanic and Bismarck in size of it , and equals the size of the magnanimous New aircraft carrier . That analysis would seem to call into question whether the anomaly is a wooden ship and raises a primal query : If a boat were truly that huge , would it drift ?
There are also experts in remote sensing who proffer a skeptical scene . " prototype interpretation is an art , " say Farouk El - Baz , Director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing .
" One has to be familiar with Sun lighting core on the shape of observed features , " El - Baz read . " Very slight changes in slope modify shadow shapes that affect the interpretation . Up to this time , all the images I have seen can be interpreted as natural landforms . The feature that has been interpret as the ' Ararat Anomaly ' is to me a ledge of rock in fond fantasm , with varied thickness of snow and ice cover .
Visual the true serum
Thanks to more artificial satellite imaging in the offing , as well as other study afoot , Taylor said his remote archaeologic research is on the upswing .
There is an ultimate last - plot . That is , on - the - spot terra firma truth … and Taylor hopes his enquiry findings will catalyse a top - pass expedition to the area . " It is whatever it is , " he said .
But for now , orbiter distant sensing to expect out archeological " digs " from space will occupy in for an in - the - arena expeditiousness .
Just a few week ago , for example , NASAscientists utilize space- and aircraft - found distant sense hardware and techniques uncovered Maya ruin hidden in the rainforests of Central America for more than 1,000 years .
" For explorers , imagination from GeoEye ’s Ikonos artificial satellite marry with Global Positioning System ( GPS ) satellite data has become as indispensable as pee and immobilize dried food for any expedition . One does not want to leave home without it , " tell Mark Brender , GeoEye Vice President for communications and selling , headquartered in Dulles , Virginia .
For researchers , imagery from infinite like those provided by GeoEye provides " the ultimate high shot " and a contextual survey you could never get from observations on the ground or even from a plane , Brender toldSPACE.com/LiveScience . " It ’s visual accuracy serum . "
