by Daniel Phelps

Daniel Phelps is a retired environmental geologist for the commonwealth of Kentucky. He has also taught part-time in Kentucky’s Community College system. Phelps is founder and president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society. His work to expose the pseudoscience behind Ham’s Ark Encounter was featured in the award-winning 2019 documentary, “We Believe in Dinosaurs.” And in 2021 the Paleontological Society – the world’s leading scientific organization devoted to studying invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology, micropaleontology, and paleobotany – awarded Phelps the prestigious Strimple Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in paleontology by someone who does not make a full-time living from paleontology.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Panda’s Thumb. We are grateful for the permission to republish.

Today (1/1/26) the Kentucky Department for Public Health announced that an unvaccinated, out-of-state individual with measles visited the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky, on December 29, 2025. Local and regional health departments are scrambling to warn and inform the public.  See this local news story.

I usually laugh heartily at the buffoonery and ignorance associated with the Ark. This latest news, however, is just sad. I can’t laugh. Anti-science is putting large numbers of people in danger, not just anti-vaxx clowns. If not for the known views of the people running the Ark, one could argue this latest news is an excusable random event. Alas, the audience for the Ark Encounter and its leadership are dominated by anti-science and anti-vaccination advocates.

During the Covid pandemic and lockdown, Ken Ham railed against mask mandates, was involved in lawsuits against OSHA vaccine requirements and was ambivalent about vaccines. When writing about vaccine mandates and Covid lockdowns, Mr. Ham said:

Certainly, people died from the virus, although I think we are all confused at what the actual statistics are. People die every day from all sorts of diseases. But once a person dies, God’s Word tells us they will spend eternity in heaven or hell. So how essential is the church, the body of Christ (of which AiG is a part of), for people’s well-being? It is vital. 

Several prominent creationists died of Covid during the height of the pandemic. Dr. David Menton of AiG definitely died of Covid. It is very likely that Ark Park designer Patrick Marsh died of the same cause. Henry Morris Ill, of the Institute for Creation Research also died of Covid.

It is a good thing attendance at the Ark is so low this time of year and the public’s measles exposure is minimal. Hopefully, Ark tourists, employees, and Williamstown and Grant County locals will be warned about this exposure. Unfortunately, as of 6 pm January 1, 2026, neither Answers in Genesis nor Ark Encounter have mentioned this measles case on their websites or on their numerous social media accounts. Ken Ham was on his Facebook and “X” accounts today, but only posted about Zohran Mamdani and various religious topics, nothing warning about the measles case at the Ark. 

Fortunately, many local media and public health offices have announced the measles case. We will have to see if there are further cases of measles by tourists or Ark employees in the coming days.