Although the article was largely secondhand hearsay, British amateur archaeologist Egerton Sykes hoped to organize an expedition to establish that Reshit's discovery was in fact Noah's Ark. Aaron J. Smith, dean of the People's Bible College in North Carolina, joined Sykes in preparing for the operation. The pair received publicity when "Pravda" accused them of planning a surveillance operation for "Anglo-American imperialists," citing the proximity of Mount Ararat to the Soviet border. When Sykes was unable to proceed due to a lack of funding, Smith went on without him.