Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 29, 1993                   TAG: 9306290187
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

DID CBS SHOW'S CLAIMS ON NOAH'S ARK HOLD WATER?

In February, the network broadcast a two-hour special that, among other things, seemed to clinch the existence of Noah's ark. In particular, "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark" included an account by a man named George Jammal, who claimed to have seen the ark - and brought back what he said was a chunk of it as proof. But the story was a fabrication, according to the man who said he helped Jammal concoct it. The "relic" was just a piece of wood.

In a brief statement Monday after a Time magazine article labeled the network a "victim to a hoaxer," CBS spokeswoman Beth Comstock said only that the program "was an entertainment special, not a news documentary. We certainly were not aware of any alleged hoax."

Gerald Larue, a professor emeritus of biblical history and archaeology at the University of Southern California, said he helped Jammal, a sometimes actor and an acquaintance, cook up the tale he presented on camera.