ANKARA – A Turkish academic has claimed that the Prophet Noah called hisson via a mobile phone shortly before the Genesis flood, a narrativerecounted in both Islam’s Quran and Christianity’s Old Testament holy books.

Yavuz Ornek, a lecturer at the Marine Sciences Faculty of IstanbulUniversity, made the now-viral claim while appearing on Turkish state-ownedTRT television channel last Saturday.

“There were huge 300 to 400-meter high waves and his [the Prophet Noah’s]son was many kilometers away. The Quran says Noah spoke with his son. Buthow did they manage to communicate? Was it a miracle? It could be. But webelieve he communicated with his son via cell phone,” Ornek was quoted inan English translation by Hurriyet Daily News as saying during thetelevision interview.

Ornek further claimed that Noah himself built the ship made of steel platesand that he used nuclear energy to power it.

“I am a scientist and I speak for science” Ornek added.