Google Maps: Why Is Mt Ararat Covered By Clouds?

Ok, I don't know why I never thought of checking this before but I just thought I'd check Mount Ararat in Turkey using google maps for the slightest sign of a possible Ark, but when the page rendered, all I got was a big thick/giant patch of clouds.

Google: Mt Ararat

I thought maybe that was the weather condition at the time the photo was snatched and stitched so I then thought I'd try using Google Earth.
I was expecting to see a newer image of Mt Ararat, since it's my understanding Google Earth images get updated on a regular basis, but lo and behold the image is exactly the same.

Can some explain this to me?

Is something being hidden by Google at someone elses request, or threat?

Appreciate a little Google Earth 101 crash course too regarding image updates since it's my understanding some folks rely on this tool for weather updates.

The images used for Google maps are old (1-2 years or longer sometimes) surveillance satalite images. This area was probably not an important spot for google to pay for updated pics, so it could even be an original for goog maps/earth. The clouds you see are just normal clouds that will form around the mountain peek, an unlucky shot.

Just my 2 cents, I could be wrong on a couple of things but I don't think we can say this was intentional.

[edit on 10-8-2009 by theuhstuf]

Isnt Noah's Arc supposed to be there?

Just sayin'

It's covered because that is where Katherine has taken Michael's body to be buried.





And yep, that is where the Bible states that Noah's Ark is at - but it doesn't say "on top" of the mountain. Just that it came to rest somewhere in the mountains there.

Yup, the ark is there. It's "B", Ararat Anomaly. In fact if you get it on a good day you can still giraffes poking their heads out the windows. You really would have thought Noah would have opened the doors to the arc before leaving. I guess he was anxious.

J/K I'm sorry I couldn't help myself

US intelligence have been taking photos of this area throughout history if you check. Here is some Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by US scholars and news article.

The Ararat anomaly is an object appearing on photographs of the snowfields near the summit of Mount Ararat, Turkey

CNN - Satellite closes in on Noah's Ark mystery

It's not clouds, it's snow you see.

2nd line.

reply to post by MajesticJax


Actually those are clouds. Scroll to the right to see the snow-topped mountains. Quite a bit of a difference in appearance, IMHO.



As for the clouds: The image might not be updated as often as other parts of the world. Urban locations are updated more frequently than rural, I believe.

On a side note, I've tried to sneak some peaks at Ararat before and it is always blurry. In other locations it is crystal clear and you can sometimes see the painted lines in the street. But over Ararat, the images are almost always so blurred that you cannot see detail. Frustrating.

Originally posted by TheNetherlands
Isnt Noah's Ark supposed to be there?

Just sayin'

Wasn't Noah's Arc a giant wooden ship? Wouldn't it have been doomed to water damage, termites, and rotting by now?

Just sayin'

And yes, it is believed that it is supposed to be there. I don't see how an old wooden ship could survive thousands of years when no other ship in the world has. Oh wait, God probably used this:
it al makes sense to me now!

Guess some of you guys never heard of petrified wood. If all wood broke down and disinigrated then why do we have petrified wood?

On topic-

Most likely the images aren't updated as stated before. I don't know how often images are updated, but that sounds like the best explanation.

reply to post by Bushido Kanji


To answer your question...

Petrified wood (from the Greek root "petro" meaning "rock" or "stone", literally "wood turned into stone") is a type of fossil: it consists of fossil wood where all the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (most often a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the wood. The petrifaction process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due to a lack of oxygen. Mineral-rich water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the plant's cells and as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay away, a stone mould forms in its place.

In general, wood takes less than 100 years to petrify.

From the Wiki.

... more on The Petrified Forest