Since the first one surfaced in 1971, Arks have had a tremendous impact on everything from government policy to pop culture. Scroll through highlights from this history, including those from the American Arkology Society’s own timeline, below.
Arks and History
Arks and History
Since the first one surfaced in 1971, Arks have had a tremendous impact on everything from government policy to pop culture. Scroll through highlights from this history, including those from the American Arkology Society’s own timeline, below.
1971
First Ark discovered
The first ark is uncovered by a construction crew as they expand the J.H. Campbell power plant in West Olive, Michigan. Dubbed the Pigeon Lake Ark due to its proximity to the plant’s water source, the discovery launches over four decades of scholarship and speculation.
1974
“Time” magazine cover
Time magazine features a cover story on the ark phenomenon that reflects the uneasiness many feel about the arks at the time.
1976
Ark Protection Act signed
Michigan Governor William Milliken signs the Ark Protection Act into law. The APA, the first of its kind in the US, preserves Michigan Ark discovery sites and guarantees access to accredited researchers and scholars.
1977
“Toward the antipode” released
British progressive rock band Terra Nullius releases the Ark-themed concept album “Toward the antipode,” riding a wave of public fascination with the discoveries.
1978
First French discovery
Phillipe Malraux, mayor of Troyes, announces the first discovery of an Ark on French soil. Arkologists would go on to find over 300 Arks in France.
1980
Thad Bass bounty announced
Millionaire Thad Bass announces a $200,000 bounty for anyone who can deliver to him an Ark, “in totum and undisturbed.” The nascent American Arkology Society condemns the offer as interfering with academic research.
1982
Vatican makes statement on Arks
Though the Catholic Church takes no official stand on the arks, Pope John Paul II calls the materials inside “an opportunity for humanity to contemplate the bend of its progress in accordance with God’s will.”
1983
Christopher Act signed into law
Seven-year-old Ohio boy Christopher Kowalski is killed by an explosive device encased in an Ark he unearths in a field near his home lot. Widespread concern about the Arks leads to Congress passing the Christopher Act, which prohibits tampering with discovered Arks and provides federal funding to educate the public. Watch a video about the Christopher Act.
1984
Reagan-Mondale debate
The ark artifacts feature prominently in the first US presidential debate when President Ronald Reagan accuses Democratic candidate Walter Mondale of supporting policies that will put the country on the path to disintegration and ruin. “The United States they find in those boxes is not the country I know, and it is not the country I want to live in,” he says.
1987
Ark Technologies Treaty signed
Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan sign the Ark Technologies Treaty, which bans the weaponization of technologies found in the arks.
1990
AAS accepts Medal of Freedom
American Arkology Society President Sarah Bradderick accepts the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President George H.W. Bush in recognition of the Society’s contributions to the study of the Arks.
“Boxed In” tops best-seller list
Paul K. Fuller’s thriller “Boxed In,” a novel about a family that unleashes a plague when they unearth and open an Ark, is a runaway success, inspiring a feature film and countless “ark fiction” knock-offs.
1993
“The Arks” television show premieres
Spurred by the success of Paul K. Fuller’s “Boxed In” and the hit show “The X Files,” NBC debuts “The Arks,” a show about three arkologists attempting to uncover mysteries while being pursued by a shadowy government agency. The show runs for three seasons.
1995
World Arkology Organization established
The United Nations establishes the World Arkology Organization, headquartered in Bern, Switzerland. The Organization is tasked with studying the role of ark artifacts in international relations.
1996
Cloned sheep renews Ark fears
Scientists successfully clone Dolly, a female sheep in Scotland. The discovery renews the debate over the ethical implications of Ark research and the danger of unintended consequences.
1997
Heaven’s Gate mass suicide
Inspired by messages he claimed to have received through intense arkology research, cult leader Marshall Applewhite and 38 other members of the Heaven’s Gate cult take their own lives in a Rancho Santa Fe, California, mansion. The group believed that in dying they would rendezvous with a spacecraft located behind the Hale-Bopp comet.
1999
Ark discovery triggers dispute
The Jammu/Kashmir discovery leads to five days of border skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani forces.
2003
Arks factor into invasion of Iraq
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell address the United Nations Security Council to urge intervention in Iraq. Powell argues that Saddam Hussein’s regime is illegally using Ark technologies to develop weapons of mass destruction.
2006
Ark tech fuels N. Korean missile tests
US intelligence agencies reveal that North Korean short-range missile tests have likely drawn upon classified Ark technologies stolen by an analyst who defected from the US in 2003.
2007
iPhone launches
Apple launches the iPhone, based upon touchscreen technology found in the Arks.
2009
H1N1 fears
An outbreak of the H1N1 “swine flu” virus sweeps through Asia. Initial reports that the virus was released from a Shanghai Ark research facility provoke an intense backlash against the arkology community and spark ongoing internet conspiracy theories.
2011
Ark research funding slashed
The US Congress slashes Ark research funding from its 2012 budget as part of a last-minute effort to avert a government shutdown. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley praises the measure, calling it “simple common sense to focus our energy on the America of today instead of some fictional future.”
2015
Russian, Ukrainian forces spar over Ark sites
Political protests in Kiev serve as a pretense for the Russian military incursion into the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Both sides rush to secure the multiple Ark research sites that dot the area.
2021
“Future Tense” debuts
The PBS program Frontline features arkology in the documentary “Future Tense,” renewing interest in the field.
