What is Ararat anomaly and why does it excite scientists and believers

Ararat anomaly! A whim of nature or proof of creationism? Humanity’s search for Noah’s Ark has been going on for so many centuries that Adam and Eve still remember them. Countless attempts to figure out the location of the ark turned into unsuccessful expeditions to this place.

Among those who were looking for the ark, there were tsars (according to unconfirmed rumors, even Nicholas II equipped such an expedition), and astronauts (according to confirmed rumors, the American astronaut James Irwin, the eighth person who went to the moon, went behind the ark twice).

The opinion of mankind is divided: someone considers the ark a whim; someone is convinced that the ark exists, but not on Mount Ararat; someone is sure that the ark exists and is located on Mount Ararat; someone does not doubt that the ark is located on Mount Ararat, but believes that in no case should it be touched.

To be cynical and to quibble, there is no actual evidence of the ark’s existence. But with amazing tenacity, Mount Ararat continues to play its creationist games with people – to tease adherents of the ark theory and incite staunch atheists. One of these games was the Ararat anomaly.

In 1949, an American aircraft, which was part of the US Air Force aerial reconnaissance mission (do not be surprised, at that time the mountain was on the Soviet-Turkish border, and therefore was of particular interest to the Americans), photographed a strange spot at an altitude of about 4724 meters of Mount Ararat, which stands out against the backdrop of a snow-capped peak. The stain looked like a big ship.

Since photography had a secret status, the pictures were made public only in 1995. Before that, several more photoshoots of a suspicious spot were made by the Americans: in 1956, 1973, 1976, 1990, and 1992. In addition, in the 1980s, similar images were taken by the French Spot satellite.

The publication of photographs of the “ark” aroused the interest of not only religious communities but also scientists. In the early 2000s, several studies of the anomaly were carried out, including with the help of the American Ikonos satellite. And although a spot is clearly visible in all the images, scientists are in no hurry to translate the Ararat anomaly into the status of a religious miracle.

Officially, the US Department of Defense Intelligence Agency believes that the anomaly is in fact nothing more than a glacier in which fresh snow has accumulated. But it is known that research into the anomaly continues to this day.

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