Finding Noah's Ark: Hong Kong Filmmaker Claims to Have Found Biblical Treasure

April 28, 2010— -- A new claim by an evangelical Christian filmmaker and Turkish scientists that Noah's Ark has been found encased in ice on Mount Ararat has been met with equal parts excitement and skepticism.

Yeung Wing-Cheung of Hong Kong said he is "99 percent" sure the wooden structure he filmed along with Turkish scientists and archeologists is the remnants of the famed ark God instructed Noah to build to save himself and the world's animals from an epic flood.

"We are not saying that we are 100 percent certain that what we found is Noah's Ark. No one has ever seen the ark, no one knows what it looks like," Yeung said. "We are only 99 percent certain that it is Noah's Ark based on historical accounts, including the Bible and local beliefs of the people in the area, as well as carbon dating."

It would be a discovery for the ages. But skeptics are already questioning Yeung's find, especially since he refuses to say exactly where he found the supposed ark with its wooden chambers still intact.

"I'm not quite 99.9 percent sure it's Noah's Ark, but they've got something," George Washington University's Eric Cline told "Good Morning America." "I'm waiting for them to convince me."

He suggested it could even be a very old shepherd's hut.

"I would want to first of all try to figure out their data, verify it," he said.

Even though the precise location of the latest find has been kept secret, Cline said Yeung and his scientists would need to "parachute in" a large team of independent experts and archaeologists to study the wood and surrounding areas.

"In terms of Noah's Ark, I would have suspected it would have perished long ago," he said. "The wood should just have disintegrated."

Cline said that if Noah's Ark had come to rest atop a remote mountain, as the Bible suggests, it's reasonable that he would have dismantled his ship to use the wood for shelter.

"Instead of Noah's Ark, I would be looking for Noah's first house or something like that," he said.