Beneath Durupınar: Deep Radar, Core Samples and the Ark of Noah
For more than sixty years, a vast, boat-shaped formation in the mountains of Ararat in eastern Türkiye has been waiting for its moment. Its moment has arrived. As of 26 September 2026, core samples drilled from the Durupınar formation have been sent off for animal DNA testing, and new deep radar scans show something man-made and non-geological beneath the surface, in the shape and precise dimensions of Noah’s Ark as given in the Bible.
These findings were laid out on NewsNation’s Unreported (5 October 2026), where host Meagan Medick spoke live from the site with Andrew Jones, founder of Noah’s Ark Scans and vice president of the scientific project, who has spent around 30 years studying Durupınar, and Lauren Witzke, director of fundraising for the project. What they reported is nothing short of extraordinary.
The First Permitted Study in History
This is not another set of photographs from a hillside. In the spring of 2026 the Turkish authorities voted unanimously, within a month of the application, to grant a group of American Christians permits to study the site under the oversight of Turkish universities, with Prof. Dr Cenker Atila of Sivas Cumhuriyet University directing the work. As Witzke put it, this is “the first legitimate study under Turkish oversight ever to happen in history at the Durupınar formation with the most advanced technology to date.”
The Radar: A CAT Scan of the Earth
In early August, Dr Khosrow Bakhtar, a US defence scientist and rock mechanics expert, brought his BakhtarRadar to the site. Jones describes it as “a CAT scan of the Earth”: a two-metre-wide slice reaching almost 95 metres deep in places, compared with only 13 metres for traditional radar in 2019. The system masks out natural geology (rock, dirt and voids) and isolates only the anomalies, the things “that shouldn’t be there.”
What did it find? In Jones’s words, “there’s organized structure below the surface.” Witzke, relaying Dr Bakhtar’s findings, put it even more plainly: “we don’t have a pile of rocks out here, we have a man-made structure with organized patterns, chambers, corridors beneath the surface and a giant tunnel running right through the dead center that everything’s connected to.” Dr Bakhtar, she said, states that “it is not geological. This isn’t a natural formation.”
This is the same scientist, Witzke notes, whom the US military calls to find bombs underground and whom the Department of Defense uses to identify cartel tunnels beneath the surface of the earth.
The Drill Bit That Shattered
Then came the drilling. Between 23 and 26 September 2026 the team core-drilled into the formation, without the cooling water that contaminated samples in the 1980s. The drill ploughed through soil, “no problem,” until, about four to five metres down, it struck a layer “so hard that [it] shattered the bit.”
According to Witzke, Dr Bakhtar says whatever lies in that structure “is harder than limestone,” and the team believes it could be petrified wood. Even Dr Bakhtar was “dumbfounded”: “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life.” Witzke draws the connection to Genesis 6:14, where God told Noah to coat the Ark inside and out with pitch, a substance that over thousands of years becomes almost stone-like.
Sent for Animal DNA Testing
The material from that hard layer has been sent to the lab, and the soil samples are on their way. The team is going further still: Jones is working with scientists to test the floors of the structure for ancient animal DNA, the evidence of the creatures who lived aboard for over a year. As Witzke said, “we’re going to make the proof irrefutable by the time it’s done.”
Every Point the Researchers Raise
Here is every line of evidence presented in the interview, as the researchers present it:
- First permitted study ever. The Turkish government voted unanimously to approve the project, under the oversight of Turkish universities. (Witzke, Jones, 1:55–4:11)
- Uncontaminated core drilling. This is the first core drilling at the site without water to cool the bit, so the samples are not contaminated as they were in the 1980s. (Witzke, 2:51)
- Cameras and robots underground. Boreholes of 6.7 cm, and 20 cm for robots, allow cameras and the underground drone into the structure. (Jones, 4:17, 7:39)
- Deep, high-resolution radar. BakhtarRadar reaches almost 95 metres deep in a two-metre-wide slice, against 13 metres for the 2019 scans. (Jones, 5:09)
- Geology masked out. The radar removes natural rock, dirt and voids to reveal only anomalies. (Jones, 6:47)
- Organised structure below the surface. (Jones, 7:23)
- No solid rock. Drilling shows “there’s no rock there… It’s not a complete one solid block of rock. It’s soil.” The syncline, bedrock and mudflow theories fall away. (Jones, 8:02)
- Man-made, not geological. Dr Bakhtar says what the radar shows “is not geological. This isn’t a natural formation.” (Witzke, 8:40)
- A world-class scientist. Dr Bakhtar has helped the US military locate underground bombs and cartel tunnels, holds multiple doctorates and has written some 200 papers. (Witzke, 8:19, 9:00)
- Chambers, corridors and a central tunnel. “Organized patterns, chambers, corridors… and a giant tunnel running right through the dead center that everything’s connected to.” (Witzke, 9:13)
- Hallways almost five metres tall, designed for giraffes and elephants to walk through. (Witzke, 9:39)
- Three tiers. The structure possibly has three tiers. (Witzke, 14:50) The radar shows “layers… you can call decks,” matching the 2014 electrical resistivity scans by John Larsen, which showed three decks, as in Genesis 6:16. (Jones, 30:14)
- The leading Turkish geologist’s verdict. Prof. Salih Bayraktutan, who has studied the site since 1985, called it “the best candidate for Noah’s Ark.” (Jones, 12:00)
- A hard layer that shattered the drill bit four to five metres below the surface. (Witzke, Jones, 13:15)
- Harder than limestone, possibly petrified wood. Dr Bakhtar had never seen anything like it. (Witzke, 13:44)
- Pitch, inside and out. Genesis 6:14’s pitch coating becomes stone-like over thousands of years. (Witzke, 14:00)
- Samples to the lab. The hard-layer material and the soil samples have been sent to the lab. (Witzke, 14:39, 15:22)
- Ancient animal DNA. The floors are to be tested for ancient animal DNA. (Witzke, 15:05)
- Twenty-six drogue stones. Twenty-six massive drogue stones have been found near the site, used to keep the vessel’s nose into the waves and stop it capsizing. (Witzke, 14:24, 20:34; Jones, 21:26)
- Landed in the mountains of Ararat, the ancient region named in Genesis 8:4, not on the summit of Mount Ararat. (Witzke, 19:58)
- Mashar. The mountain and old village name means judgement day, linking to Christ’s words: “As in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man.” (Jones, 22:35)
- “Where the blackbird won’t land.” A nearby village bears this name, echoing the raven Noah released. (Jones, 23:08)
- The village of eight, preserving the memory of the eight people on the Ark. (Jones, 23:30)
- Ancient maps going back to the 1500s mark the site as the resting place of Noah’s Ark. (Witzke, 24:36)
- Unearthed in 1948. An earthquake and mudslide uncovered the formation in 1948, preserved for the generation that would need it. (Witzke, 24:53)
- Silk Road travellers detoured to the Ark to take pieces of its wood and pitch as good-luck charms. (Witzke, 25:21)
- Crosses on the stones. Armenian Christians later reused the drogue stones as headstones. (Jones, 26:05)
- Exactly 300 cubits long. By the Egyptian royal cubit of 20.62 inches the formation measures 515 feet, as measured on site, on 3D models and on Google Earth. (Jones, 28:44)
- The width is within a metre or two of the 50 cubits given in Genesis 6:15. (Jones, 29:29)
- A possible altar. Square boulders and a natural amphitheatre near the village of eight recall Genesis 8:20. (Jones, 31:40)
- The 2024 soil study. Eighty-eight samples were taken at 22 locations. Inside the Ark’s outline the soil has three times more organic matter, 38% more potassium and an eightfold difference in pH, exactly what a decayed wooden vessel would leave. (Jones, 33:48)
- No limestone block. Lime levels are the same inside and out, and drilling found no limestone beneath. (Jones, 35:12)
- “We know it’s not geological.” (Witzke, 33:26)
- Same place, same dimensions. “It’s shaped like a ship. It’s not geological… same place, same dimensions that the Bible says.” (Witzke, 36:24)
- Deep, comprehensive sampling. Samples were taken at depths down to 60 feet across the site, with Dr Bakhtar’s full report due by the end of November and the scientists’ final report in the spring of 2027. (Jones, 6:26, 37:16)
The Shape and Dimensions of the Bible’s Ark
Genesis 6:15 records God’s instruction to Noah: “The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.” Jones reports that the Durupınar formation is “exactly 300 cubits long using the Egyptian royal cubit,” the standard measure of the ancient world, and that its average width is within a metre or two of the 50 cubits given in the Bible. With the radar now revealing organised, man-made structure beneath the surface, in layers that match the three decks of Genesis 6:16, the boat on the hillside matches the Bible’s own blueprint.
Jones himself is in no doubt: “I believe it’s Noah’s Ark… everything lines up.” Witzke goes further: “It’s an ark, baby. That’s a ship under there.”
Why It Matters
As Witzke observed, “Had we been studying the Titanic, nobody would be questioning our findings.” The resistance comes from what this discovery means. If the Ark stands on that hillside, then Genesis is history. Every person alive traces their ancestry to the eight souls who stepped off that vessel, and every land animal to the pairs that walked aboard. We are not an accident of chance. We were made in the image of God.
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:37)
Source Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9sZC8UlX8o&t=1183s