1990- A Call From Australia

In 1990, we were contacted by a man from Australia who had become interested in the research after reading Dave Fasold's book, "The Ark of Noah". As we have always done whenever a serious researcher inquires, we sent him a package of material documenting Ron's research. Dr. Allan Roberts was anxious to visit the site and we tried to arrange to meet him there in August of 1990 while we were there with Marv and Renetta Wilson. But circumstances didn't work out, and we missed him by about a week or so.

He arrived just after we had left. When we next heard from him, he was as excited as a person can get. He was convinced it was the ark. But he too felt that it needed to be excavated. He was forming an organization whose purpose was to be to raise the funds to excavate. He asked Ron if this was OK with him and Ron said sure. Ron was not a member or a part of his organization, but it was founded based on the research Ron had done.

Sadly, Dr. Robert's interest in Noah's Ark would change his life, but not in a good way. More on that later.

Oct. 1990- A Mini Excavation

Meantime, frustrated at being unable to excavate, Ron conceived an idea which he felt would visually show the structure, or at least a little of it, without damaging it. In October of 1990, with our new friend, Richard Rives, he again headed to the site to implement his idea.

In 1985, Ron and Dave Fasold had used metal detectors to mark the locations of metal reading on the east side of the front of the ark. Ron's idea was to shave a bit of the matrix from that area and see if the color difference in the color of the ribs would be better visible.

They purchased some shovels and had the blades bent and sharpened to form a crude giant razor. They then began to simply smooth the side of one badly eroding section of exposed rib timbers. Being very careful not to remove more than just a minute amount of matrix, they soon could see the color difference in the lighter rib timbers as contrasted against the darker soil.

This was at the front of the ship on the uphill part. The fossilized ribs were a lighter color on this end because the structure members were fossilized with material from the uphill end of the ark, which was mainly silica. The further downhill fossilized members were of a darker color because they were minerally replaced with iron and other metals from the fittings of the ship.

It was a very convincing sight, the whole process being videoed so that no one could accuse him of cheating. The rib timbers near the surface were now in tiny fragments, but the fragments were still held in place by the surrounding soil.

The ‘mini excavation’ provided a confirmation of another important feature of the massive ship. Ron believed the ancient ark had five ‘keels’ or ‘keelsons,’ as he called them, which were revealed by the radar. Now, as they smoothed this section, the outline of one of them could be seen curving upward toward the front of the vessel or the prow. It was faint but it was visible. Another one could be seen below the first one, just below the section they had smoothed. It was near the ground level and was visible when they swept the loose material that had fallen from the sides and collected along the bottom edge. These can be seen in the model he built in 1987.

Now he had a more visible evidence of this important feature. The ‘mini excavation’ was considered by Ron to have provided some of the most important evidences for several reasons. First, it visually showed a consistent pattern of material that was a different material from the matrix. Since this was the uphill end of the site, Ron believed the structure members were replaced with minerals from the soil above and outside the site which were light in color, such as silica, when the internal structures underwent fossilization or mineral replacement.

Specimens from the lower end of the site are of a darker color and contain large amounts of iron. This is consistent with the belief that the structure members on the lower end of the site were replaced with substances such as iron from metal fittings that the water picked up as it flowed over the structures of the ship on the upper end.

The work completed, the color difference wasn’t very noticeable in the shade of the afternoon. In the direct sunlight of the early morning, the color differences can better be seen.

 

Discovery of a Very Strange Object

After they completed the work, the two men examined the ark carefully, more carefully than could be done with a large group of people around. Ron pointed out to Richard a very interesting object attached to the same side of the ship that they had performed the ’mini excavation’ on. Perhaps twenty feet above the ground, this strange object appeared to be a part of the structure, but it featured a very unique wear-pattern which looked to Ron like groove marks.

The strange structure object seen from ground level(© Mary Nell Lee)

He theorized that these grooves were either worn into it from use or purposefully prepared to hold a web of some sort of roping material which could have once been attached there.Ron had an idea as to what it was although it seemed unlikely that it could ever be proved. His belief was that the massive drogue stones were attached to the ship by ropes which were attached at intervals along the sides. He theorized that the strange object was the fossilized section of a large timber or post that the drogue stones’ ropes were attached to via a web of ropes which would have held the drogue stone securely.

Both men were pleased with the results of the ‘mini excavation.’ It did provide a visual picture of the remains as Ron had hoped. He tried to explain to people that the ship remains were fragmenting. Now perhaps people could see with their eyes what he kept trying to explain.

June 1991- A Fossilized Rivet

Our first tour group arrived in Turkey June 12, 1991. At the ark site, as Ron approached it from the south end which is the uphill end, a rock caught his eye, which he picked up. The tour group witnessed this and was astonished when Ron showed it to them. One side bore the shape of a very large head of a rivet with a washer around it.

In earlier years, Ron had photographed what looked like groupings of metal fittings on the sides of the ark, but he couldn't disturb them by cleaning them off. Now, he felt he knew what these metal fittings looked like. He would know for sure when he had it analyzed.

Analyses of the “Rivet”

Richard Rives met some people who worked at an international corporation with a local office near his home that had its own metallurgy laboratory. This company specializes in titanium and offered to do lab analyses for us which we were allowed to videotape. We had already had another analyses run on the rivet at Galbraith Labs which revealed the presence of a very strange mixture of elements which included iron, aluminum, titanium and vanadium, to mention a few.

This metallurgy lab did careful analyses on the specimen, taking samples from what appeared to be the washer around the head of the rivet and then a sample just 1 cm. away from the washer, the area we were theorizing would have been wood. In the final report, the chemist found it worthy to note in his report:

"It is interesting to note that location 1 (presumably fossilized timber members) was found to contain much higher carbon (1.9%) than location 2 (presumably fossilized metal."

The 4 analyses they ran showed that location 1 yielded a 1.88% and 1.97% carbon content while location 2 yielded a .14% and .13% amount. This was an important distinction. When an object undergoes the process of fossilization, as it's molecules are washed away by flowing water, molecules of objects the flowing water has flowed over prior to reaching the fossilizing object, are washed in to fill the voids left by the washed away molecules. I know that's a mouthful, but it’s what occurs.

This flowing water carrying new molecules to fill in the empty holes doesn't play favorites and place lots of "red" molecules in one place, and then very few "red" ones just one centimeter away. So if some carbon molecules were washed in and filled the voids on this rivet, it was a fairly uniform process. We could expect that 14 carbon molecules in one location would equal about the same amount that was washed into the adjacent area just a centimeter away. But to find 13 and 14 in one location, and then 1 cm. over, to find 188 and 197, tells us that a large amount of those carbon molecules in the 2nd location were already there- they were part of the original material. This is exactly what would be expected to be found if this really was a fossilized metal washer and rivet (non-living matter) attached to a piece of fossilized wood (once living matter).

 Aug. 1991- The Permit to Excavate

Dr. Roberts had earlier met a gentleman on an airline flight who was with a very large British corporation which was known for funding projects of major interest. In conversing with this gentleman, he had interested him in Noah's Ark.

By August of 1991, he had obtained a commitment from the British firm, British AeroSpace, to fund an excavation and had made all the proper contacts with the Turks through their Sydney Embassy. He kept in constant contact with Ron as to what he was doing and said he wanted Ron to head the excavation even though Ron was not connected with his organization. To be honest, as much as we loved Dr. Roberts, neither of us believed anything would come of it all. By now even I was used to having people contact us with great ideas and promises of assistance, only to have it dissolve into thin air.

And no one was more surprised when Dr. Roberts called to say, "I have the commitment if we can get the permit- let's go!" than Ron and I were! Pretty soon, Ron, Richard Rives, Marv Wilson and Dr. Roberts were in Ankara, ready to make their proposal. I had drawn up a diagram of the proposed excavation which was designed so as not to destroy much of the ark and to also leave remaining unexcavated sections close by so that no one could say, "They just carved the ark remains out of the dirt".

On Thursday, August 29, the men met with officials in Ankara and presented their proposal. Ron discovered that one of the men whom he had worked closely with in past years, but who had been sent to the Turkish Embassy in Egypt for a while, was back, and he was very excited to see Ron again after such a long time. After presenting his request, Ron was told that the permit would be issued.

However, it was a Moslem Holy Day and offices would be closed until Monday. They were told to return Monday and pick up the permit. I can only imagine the excitement among the group of men because by the time they returned home, the excitement they had felt that day had long been forgotten.

Killing Time until Returning for the Permit

With 3 1/2 days to kill, they decided to head to Erzurum the next day and then head a bit south to the region Ron had suspected that the tower of Babel was located. That's a whole different story, which I won't get into here, but suffice it to say that all present were eager to go look.

They arrived in Erzurum Friday and arranged for Dilaver to get a mini-bus to take them south. It was nearing dark but they decided to go on anyhow since they didn't have a lot of time.

Friday August 30, 1991- Kidnapped!

Pretty soon, the bus came to halt and out of the woods came a swarm of men with machine guns who quickly unloaded them off the bus. The men were members of the PKK, an outlaw group of Kurdish rebels known to take hostages in order to get their way. They only wanted hostages who were foreign. Americans were "prime pickins', and so were Britons, so they not only took Ron's group, they also took a poor tourist from England from the bus behind them. And off they went into the brush.

At home, I discovered what had happened almost immediately. They were taken about 8:00 pm. Turkish time, which was about 12:00 noon on Friday, my time. And it's funny the sort of details you remember during crisis situations. I remember I was at a mattress company about that time purchasing a king-sized bed as a surprise for Ron when he got home.

The next day, I received a call from one of the very few people whom we had told about Ron's trip. Bob is a geologist for the State of Tennessee and when he heard on a Christian radio broadcast about 3 Americans, an Australian and a Briton being taken hostage in eastern Turkey, he called me. When we had talked to him earlier, we told him that the man from the British corporation may accompany them and so to him, this group sounded like Ron's. But, I had known that the British gentleman hadn't gone, so my first instinct was that it wasn't them. Plus, I thought, "What would they be doing in eastern Turkey this soon?"

But, at the same time, I panicked a bit. Amanda, my daughter, then took over. She called her father who found out how we could call the State Department. Then, I called them and I shall never forget the first few words of that conversation:

"Hello, My name is Mary Nell Wyatt, and I just heard about 3 Americans being taken hostage in eastern Turkey. It probably isn't my husband, whose name is Ron Wyatt, but could you check on this for me, or have you heard anything?"

Those were my approximate words, but HIS words, are exact. He replied,

"Let's see,...(pause) is your husband's middle name Eldon?"

At that, I went to pieces- that is Ron's middle name! When he asked me that, I knew it was true. I don't know what I would have done without Amanda there. She was about to turn 17 in October but she's strong as an ox when the chips are down. I panicked for real this time and she calmed me down. Within a short while, I remember grabbing her in our hallway and we stood and prayed. I asked the Lord to help us through this, to protect the men, and to use this to His glory.

I was suddenly calm and managed to call the other wives, Elizabeth Rives, Renetta Wilson and Margaret Roberts, and tell them what little I knew, also telling them how I had become very calm after praying for strength and guidance. They were all amazingly calm also.

By the time the news had gotten out and the first news team was at our doorstep, about 2 hours later, Amanda and I were completely calm, so much so that Ron's friends at the hospital later teased him, saying his wife sure must not love him much because she sure  didn't appear too upset on the TV.

We wives collectively discussed what our husbands would want us to do in a situation like this, and we decided to take advantage of the media coverage suddenly thrust upon us to tell about Noah's Ark. I recalled how in 1984, when Ron had been falsely accused of stealing artifacts from Turkey, how that incident had served to publicize the research on the site.

And media coverage we got! Daily. Sometimes we were met with skepticism which we in turn countered with facts. But one thing that each of us said in our various interviews, and which was not cut out, was that it was because of our faith that we were not panicked.

I even had the opportunity to present the evidence for Noah's Ark in a public high school. Renetta, living near Dallas, had many opportunities to witness of her faith, as did Elizabeth who constantly amazed me at how well she was holding up. Margaret, being in Australia, was more on her own than we were, but she too exhibited incredible faith and courage through the entire ordeal.

Critic Turns on Ron When He is Kidnapped

One unpleasant part of the whole affair was coming from the usual critics. A reporter told me that he had just talked to a former associate-turned-critic, Dr. John Baumgardner, who was claiming that Ron was dishonest and had fabricated the evidence. This man, along with others, was also claiming that the whole hostage affair was staged. With that, I met my limit.

I had our police officer friend, Sgt. Mark Wynn, come over and, with him present (because I wanted a witness to what I said), I called this man at his place of business, Los Alamos National Labs. I told him who I was and asked him a favor as a Christian. I asked him to please refrain from slandering my husband while he was missing and while I didn't even know if he was alive or dead. I acknowledged that he had a right to his opinion of Ron and I didn't mean to deny that, but as a favor, I asked him to hold off until Ron was home, for my sake. For a while he just kept ranting and raving that Ron was a liar and made up or falsified all the evidence. He finally agreed to hold off, but only after a lengthy conversation in which he flat out told me that Ron had made the deck timber himself and several other claims which I knew as a fact were pitiful lies.

I ended up actually feeling sorry for him and told him that after all was said and done, Ron would like nothing more than for all of them to be working together again. This caused a reaction from him which I still do not know how to interpret, except as sadness.

Dave Fasold Wants to Help

Dave Fasold was a different story. He called and was furious at what had happened. No matter if he and Ron were working independently, he was ready to go over and rescue them. He talked about going to the head of the PKK and working out a deal for their release. I'm not sure what Dave planned to do, but he eventually realized that he really couldn't do anything. However, I will always remember with gratitude his willingness.

Finally FREEDOM

When the whole affair was over and Ron came home, then I fell apart. It was the first time I had ever seen him in a weakened state. He had lost over 20 pounds and was limping, an injury that it turned out wasn't serious. He still had the makeshift walking cane the Kurdish guerrillas had fashioned for him out of a branch. I surprised him with the new bed, but he was so used to sleeping on the cold ground that he couldn't enjoy it for a week or two. Habits are a funny thing.

There was a short flurry of more media attention, then all calmed down, almost back to normal. But the sad fact was that it was now too late to excavate. The season was over. And in time, the British corporation, which is a major concern, suffered financial troubles which caused it to withdraw the pledge of financial assistance.

Dr. Roberts Persecuted

Back at square one, we picked up the pieces and got back to normal. Dr. Roberts, on the other hand, had received a tremendous amount of publicity in Australia and began to suffer horrendous persecution from a well-known atheistic geologist, Ian Plimer. Dr. Roberts suffered a terrible ordeal which his wife Margaret told me recently had  taken its toll on him. He suffered phlebitis during the hostage ordeal and apparently is still not completely well.

Aug. 1992- Machine Guns Again

In August of 1992, we took our second tour group to Noah's Ark. As we neared Dogubeyazit, there extended across the sky a beautiful rainbow, and we had the bus pull over to the side. Everyone got out and photographed and videoed the beautiful sight. Some were saying it was a sign- and it may have been. But if so, it wasn't a sign of what we expected. Soon after we got back on the bus and headed down the road, a group of soldiers flagged us down. All with the usual machine guns, one boarded who spoke English.

After an interrogation, we were told that we couldn't go any further. The region was still unstable and a bus was too big of a target for the terrorists. The disappointment on the faces of the people was terrible to me, as I remembered how much I wanted to see the ark back in 1988. But then, Henry Gruver led us in a prayer, and everyone there seemed at peace. It was actually turning into a real adventure.

It was late in the day and we weren't even allowed to go to a hotel in Dogubeyazit. Orders were to leave the region. We couldn't make it back to Erzurum so we headed to Agri the capital of the province. Once there, Dilaver took us to the best hotel he could find, which was pretty terrible. No baths in the rooms. But no one complained and instead everyone seemed to have a terrific time.

Ron met with the police there to see if arrangements could somehow be made to get the folks out to the boat but all they said that could be done was put everyone in taxis and go there in small groups. Their reasoning was that terrorists would not suspect taxis like they would a tour bus. But with the responsibility of the group's safety in his hands, Ron decided that this was not an option. The region was becoming too dangerous to even visit the site.

 Meeting with Salih Bayraktutan

In July of 1987, one month after the dedication ceremony, John Baumgardner, Salih Bayraktutan of Ataturk University, Tom Fenner of GSSI, and others returned to the site to do their own radar scan under the authority of the Turkish Prime Ministry. We were given a copy of that report by a third party, and to be sure that it was authentic, I took a copy of it to Turkey on that 1992 tour group when Ron and I met with Salih Bayraktutan, I showed it to him and asked it if was authentic. He assured me that it was.

The reason this report is important is because members of that effort are  stating that they were unable to get the same radar results that Ron and Dave did in an attempt to cast doubt on the accuracy of their scans. In this highly scientifically written document, full of technical terms and expressions, it states:

 "All of the scans shown in Figure 7 were obtained with the radar operating at a frequency of 120 MHz in order to achieve the maximum possible penetration."

What this means is that they set the radar to reflect not what may lie within the structure, but what is on the bottom. And even then, their results did not nullify the earlier scans, which were done using various frequencies in order to reflect the structure at various depths. In this official report, it states,

"We conclude that the data from our geophysical investigations in no way conflict with the proposition that the unusual boat-shaped site near Mahser village contains the remains of Noah's Ark."

It went on to state:

"However, without actual samples of the subsurface materials we feel that definitive interpretations of our data are not possible. On the other hand, we believe samples obtainable through core-drilling a small number of holes in the site can provide the information required."

It must have taken a lot of nerve to write such a report, stating that their tests didn't "conflict with the idea that this was Noah's Ark" after the Turks had determined that it was. They even got to do their core drill in 1988, and when we spoke to Salih in 1992, he complained that several thousand dollars was still owed by the parties involved for the transporting of the drill rig and building a road to the site. I can write this- I heard it with my own two ears.

Continue to Noah's Ark 10 pt 1