A team calling itself Noah's Ark Scans has begun core-drilling at the Durupinar Formation, a long‑debated, boat‑shaped mound about 29 kilometers south of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey.
The group says a 2025 radar survey revealed features beneath the mound that resemble corridors and chambers, including a passage the team reports extends more than 250 feet. The expedition plans to lower narrow core samplers into those voids and deploy an underground robot nicknamed "Gopher" to investigate spaces too confined for people.
Official Permits and Project Claims. Organizers say they have received official permits and are working with Turkish universities for oversight as part of a formal "2026 Expedition." Lauren Witzke, director of marketing and fundraising for the team, said in a field post that drilling had begun and suggested any findings could have far‑reaching implications for how origins are taught.
This file scan from in 2025 shows possible corridors and rooms within the Durupinar Formation, a large, boat-shaped geological formation located about 29 kilometres south of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. (NoahsArkScans.com via SWNS)
"Core drilling has begun and the Big Bang Evolutionists are already on damage control mode," Witzke wrote. "When we are done, university curriculums will need to be re‑written, and Darwinism will be dismantled. This is the place where creation began anew."
The team also cited what it regards as flood evidence — such as marine fossils found at high elevations and seashells on the Ararat massif — to support its interpretation of a global catastrophic flood.
Context and Caution
The Durupinar Formation has been the subject of debate for decades. While local and amateur researchers have long suggested a connection to Noah's Ark, mainstream geologists and archaeologists generally interpret the formation as a natural geological structure and emphasise that extraordinary claims require rigorous, peer‑reviewed evidence. Observations from core samples, robotic exploration, and independent scientific analysis will be needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.
What to Expect Next: the team plans to extract core samples from mapped voids, deploy the Gopher robot for internal inspection, and publish results. Independent verification and open scientific review will be essential to assess the claims.
