Evidence Points to Noah's Ark Hoax

Scientist quit group after 'Kurds staged find'
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2010 2:03 AM CDT
Updated Apr 29, 2010 6:20 AM CDT
Evidence Points to Noah's Ark Hoax
Wooden planks are carried by horses in the Dogubayazit valley to built a replica of Noah's Ark in 2007 as part of a project by Greenpeace near Mount Ararat.   (AP Photo/Manuel Citak, Greenpeace, HO)

A purported Noah's Ark discovered by a team of Chinese evangelists in Turkey may be a hoax created with old timber by local Kurds, reveals the Christian Science Monitor. "Proper analysis may show this to be a hoax and negatively reflect how gullible Christians can be," said American ark expert and evangelical Randall Price, who quit the group that announced this week they were "99% sure" they had found pieces of the biblical ark. He believes the wood was hauled to the discovery spot on Mt. Ararat by Kurdish men as a hoax staged for the team.

"The Chinese team went in the late summer of 2009 (I was there at the time and knew about the hoax) and was shown the cave with the wood and made their film," Price writes in an email. Another long-time consultant to the group, Dr. John D. Morris of the Institute for Creation Research in Dallas, refused to be part of the group's announcement because of his doubts, though he believes it's unlikely the wood was hauled to the site. "I’m a scientist. I need to have good evidence,” said Morris. “As of right now, there is none." (More Noah's Ark stories.)

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