Has the site of Noah’s Ark been found? Reports circulating on social media and in mainstream media seem to suggest that’s possible – but a pair of popular Christian apologists are expressing major doubts, urging the faith community to proceed with caution.

The claims by a research group called Noah’s Ark Scans are not new, but they gained renewed momentum in recent days after stories in the New York Post and Fox News highlighted radar scans and soil tests at a boat-shaped formation in Turkey that supporters say reveal tunnel-like chambers, internal compartments and dimensions resembling the biblical Ark.

The boat-shaped location, known as the Durupınar site, has been the subject of debate for decades and first drew widespread attention in the late 20th century through claims by Ron Wyatt, a controversial Christian explorer, that it marked the resting place of Noah’s Ark.

Andrew Jones of Noah’s Ark Scans told Britain’s News Channel that the site’s dimensions match those in Genesis 6 for the size of the biblical boat.

Scans of the location using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) revealed tunnels running down the middle of the site leading to an atrium. The tunnels, according to the theory, would have been traversed by Noah, his family and the animals.

“God told Noah to bring the animals in. And so these animals would have stayed there, plus Noah and his family. What’s interesting is that these voids are lining up below the ground – and they’re not just random,” Jones told Britain’s News Channel.

“These tunnels are also following a pattern. GPR is just a way to look below the soil using radar. There’s also been studies done with IRT, which is another geophysical technique – and they’re showing a ship-shaped hull still preserved deep in the soil.”

Jones says soil collected within the Durupınar formation differs from nearby ground by containing more organic material – findings he believes may point to the decomposition of an ancient wooden structure.

But two Christian thinkers – Wesley Huff and Jeremiah Johnston – are pushing back strongly against the claims.

“So this whole Noah’s Ark discovery … yah it’s not legit,” Huff wrote on X. “If we could deal with reality for just a moment and suspend what a lot of people *want* to be true rather than what is true – pretty much everything about the facts coming out of this story are embroiled in sensationalism and non-credible archeology.

“I believe there was a Noah and an Ark. But the formation in the Anatolian Mountains is almost certainly not the remains of that.”

The soil sample, Huff said, does not constitute proof of a manmade vessel.

“While the ark site has produced wood claimed to date to thousands of years ago, none of these tests meets scientific standards, and the only formal tests show the wood instead appears to belong to the 7th century AD,” Huff wrote. “This discrepancy between claimed age and actual dating undermines the credibility of physical evidence.”

Huff added that many boat-like formations can be found in the region.

Johnston, a professor at Dallas Baptist University, said Christians should resist the urge to embrace claims before more research is done. Johnston is perhaps best known for his recent work defending the Shroud of Turin.

“I understand the excitement. I really do. I have spent my career as a New Testament scholar tracing the archaeological footprints of the Bible – from the Shroud of Turin in Italy to the Pilate Stone in Caesarea Maritima to the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book. I *want* the Ark to be found. Every Christian does,” Johnston wrote on X. “But this isn’t it. It has never been it. And every time we share these stories before verifying them, we hand our skeptical neighbors a loaded weapon to use against the faith.”

Ground-penetrating radar, Johnston wrote, “is a real and valuable tool, but it is notoriously unreliable in rocky volcanic terrain.” Further, he wrote, credentialed geologists and archaeologists “are essentially unanimous” that “Durupınar is a natural geological formation” shaped by “landslide and erosion over thousands of years.”

“In my field, that kind of unanimity is almost unheard of. Scholars disagree about everything. When they agree on something this completely, you should listen,” Johnston wrote.

The official X account of Noah’s Ark Scans responded to the pushback.

“We have never claimed to have found wood ‘from thousands of years ago,’” the Noah’s Ark Scans post said, adding that “our soil samples confirmed high levels of organic matter and potassium, 100% consistent with decomposed lumber.” Further, the organization said, “GPR scans prove this is not just a ‘geological anomaly.’ Our scans revealed a 250 ft corridor, chambers, perfect right angles, and even a possible atrium beneath the soil.”

It added: “Scans of the site show its length is the exact length Genesis 6:15 states the Ark was, 300 cubits.”

Image credit: NoahsArkScans.com