Researchers searching for the remains of Noah’s Ark in Turkey are claiming another significant find: pieces of charred wood buried nearly 30 feet below the surface. They made the discovery at the Durupinar formation, a boat-shaped geological structure about 18 miles south of Mount Ararat.
Within the roughly 515-foot-long, boat-shaped formation, Dr. Khosrow Bakhtar, a longtime U.S. defense scientist and creator of the BakhtarRadar system used at the Durupinar site, reported seeing organized patterns, chambers, and corridors, and he claimed that the features are not geological.
The Noah’s Ark researchers claimed in 2025 that their preliminary findings provided “compelling evidence of a unique, potentially man-made structure beneath the surface, distinct from the surrounding mudflow.”
Now, according to a new statement from Noah’s Ark Scans, the group recovered the wood during drilling as part of its ongoing investigation into whether the formation could be the remains of the biblical vessel.
“Khrosrow Bakhtar and BakhtarRadar confirmed this same massive tunnel that runs dead center through the formation, with organized patterns, corridors and three layers,” Noah’s Ark Scans wrote in a recent social media update. “He said the structure beneath the surface was ‘extraordinary.’”
The update added: “Every day the evidence leads us closer and closer to Noah’s Ark. Help us see this mission to completion with third-party lab testing.”
The samples have now been sent for carbon-14 dating and identification.
Researchers Claim New Evidence Supports Noah’s Ark Theory
The researchers announced their discovery at a Noah’s Ark symposium in eastern Turkey earlier this month.
“This is the most significant finding of 45 years of my career,” Bakhtar said. “It’s not geologic related, because we masked all the geologic features.”
Archaeologist Dr. Cenker Atila of Sivas Cumhuriyet University also revealed that the new radar scans detected what researchers believe could be three distinct levels beneath the formation. The Bible describes Noah’s Ark as having three decks.
“In our Holy Books, Noah’s Ark had three levels. In our radar studies, we also identified a formation with three levels,” Atila told the media at the Noah’s Ark Symposium last week.
However, researchers acknowledge that the charred wood doesn’t necessarily prove anything about Noah’s Ark.
Andrew Jones, founder of Noah’s Ark Scans, offered another possible explanation, admitting, “It’s also possible that we have found the charred remains of a shepherd’s campfire.”
In other words, finding wood buried underground is one thing. Proving it came from a boat described in the Bible is something else entirely.
The Search For Noah’s Ark Has Produced Other Intriguing Discoveries
In May 2025, these same researchers also claimed that ground-penetrating radar revealed what appeared to be a 234-foot central corridor and several room-like structures buried beneath the Durupinar formation.
Soil samples also reportedly contained higher concentrations of organic matter and potassium than samples collected outside the formation.
Scientists unrelated to the project previously argued that Durupinar is simply a natural geological formation.
In March 2025, Mount Ararat was also the same site that scientists from Istanbul Technical University, Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, and Andrews University in the United States claimed to be the location of fossilized remains of a massive vessel.
Interestingly, the U.S. government has also investigated whether Noah’s Ark might be located near Mount Ararat.
Declassified CIA documents revealed that American intelligence agencies examined the area using satellite and reconnaissance aircraft imagery between the 1950s and 1980s. The government also repeatedly refused to release certain photographs, citing their classified status.
Now, researchers are awaiting laboratory results that could help establish the age of the newly discovered wood. Until then, the claim that Noah’s Ark has finally been found remains exactly that: a claim.