smkwon@athena.mit.edu (Samuel M Kwon) (05/30/91)
During the summer of 1990, I borrowed a documentary about the ark, on videotape, at the Conrad Sulzer regional branch of the Chicago Public Library system. There were many pieces of evidence the tape provided concerning the existence of the ark. There was a section about a man and his son going up that mountain with a video camera and finding wooden planks in a region far above the timber line. The planks being too large to carry, the man chopped them up into smaller pieces and brought some down to be analyzed. The results indicated that the wood had been exposed to water for a prolonged period of time. (Other things were mentioned, but I can't remember all of them. The important parts of his adventure was recorded on film.) The last thing the documentary showed was a photograph of half of the ark resting on the side of the mountain. Apparently something like an earthquake had torn the ark in two. The shaped was clearly recognizable; even the horizontal lines made by the planks on the side of the ark were visible! I guess one could claim that the photographs (and everything else they said) were phoney, but if the film makers were lying, they sure made themselves very vulnerable to careful scrutiny by making it public. Samuel Kwon
allenroy@eecs.cs.pdx.edu (callen roy) (06/03/91)
smkwon@athena.mit.edu (Samuel M Kwon) writes: > During the summer of 1990, I borrowed a documentary about the >ark, on videotape, at the Conrad Sulzer regional branch of the Chicago Public >Library system. There were many pieces of evidence the tape provided concerning >the existence of the ark. This video is probably the 1978 film 'In search of Noah's Ark'. It is a psudo- documentary, with much reenactment. While it did give a fairly accurate account of the reported sightings and current expeditions for its time, the film ended with misleading if not outright false conclutions. > There was a section about a man and his son going >up that mountain with a video camera and finding wooden planks in a region >far above the timber line. The planks being too large to carry, the man >chopped them up into smaller pieces and brought some down to be analyzed. >The results indicated that the wood had been exposed to water for a prolonged >period of time. (Other things were mentioned, but I can't remember all of them. >The important parts of his adventure was recorded on film.) This is the story of Ferdnand Navarra. In 1954 (or 1955) Navarra filmed with a movie camera (not a video) pieces of wood he found on Ararat. However, most Arkologists feel that where ever the wood came from, it is unlikely to have anything to do with Noah's Ark. Some even accuse Navarra of fraud. The wood is white oak, a common tree in Eastern Turkey. All samples of the wood are Carbon dated to no later that 1100AD (thats AD not even BC!). I believe Navara did find wood on Ararat, but it most certainly has nothing to do with Noah's Ark. > The last thing the documentary showed was a photograph of half of the ark >resting on the side of the mountain. Apparently something like an earthquake had >torn the ark in two. The shaped was clearly recognizable; >even the horizontal lines made by the planks on the side of the ark >were visible! The photo of the 'Ark' with the horizontal lines is a fraud. The Holy Ground Mission lead by Tom Crotser, invented this 'Ark', by altering a photo of a well known geologic feature on Ararat.(well known among Arkologists anyway). This is one point where the movie banked on the ignorence of the masses to get away with 'proof' of the Ark. >I guess one could claim that the photographs (and everything >else they said) were phoney, but if the film makers were lying, they sure made >themselves very vulnerable to careful scrutiny by making it public. The film ends on a false positive note. They show impressive footage of satalite photos and find a singular event which they speculate could be the Ark. John Morris, of the Institue for Creation Research in San Diago, was quick to point out the the location of that pixel indicates that what was observed was the shiny new corrogated steel roof of the school in the town of Ahora; the only one around for hundreds of square miles! So much for advanced technology The film proposes the 'Broken Ark Theory'. This idea is so abserd, that only the (unintentionally) ignorent general public could buy into it. The only way this 'theory' could work is if the aft end of the rock 'Ark' (remember the altered photo above) could slide 1500 feet down on side of the Ahora Gorge, then climb 3000 ft. up the otherside of the Ahora Gorge, and then traverse a mile or so around Ararat, deposit some pieces (the only traces to be found), then retrace it's path to the bottom of the Gorge to be hidden from view. If the last 20 minutes of that film were cut off, it could be considered an informative and entertaining film. But the pure specultaion at the end, makes the whole film a waste. I suggest that one should not take everything you hear, as truth. The Bible says to test all spirits (persons) and hold fast to truth. This film has been tested and found wanting. See you on B-deck (of the Ark); Allen Roy