Ararat-Anomalie

The Ararat Anomaly is a name given by Noah's Ark researchers and conspiracy theorists to some interpretations of aerial photographs of Mount Ararat.

Vessel-shaped features interpreted in aerial photographs of Ararat have caused a stir in some sections of the United States population since the late 1950s (see pseudoarchaeology). An object was first spotted and pictured by US Air Force photo reconnaissance plane on a secret mission in 1949. Since then, the CIA had classified the photos as "secret" until 1995 when it released some of them after Porcher Taylor, a scholar at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies specializing in satellite intelligence and diplomacy, asked for their release under the Freedom of Information Act.

A joint research project between Insight magazine and Space Imaging was established later, using IKONOS satellite. In addition to an August 5, 2000 image, IKONOS captured the anomaly a second time on September 13, 2000. The Mount Ararat area also has been imaged by France's SPOT (satellite) in September 1989, Landsat in the 1970s and NASA's Space shuttle in 1994, as well as military satellite images captured by the CIA's KH-9 (Keyhole 9) in 1973 and KH-11 (Keyhole 11) in 1976 and 1990-1992. No conclusion has been reached so far.