The only way to prove the discoveries are true is through targeted excavations
Researchers used satellite radar to detect eight vertical shafts with spiral staircases and cube-shaped structures extending 2,100 feet below the Khafre Pyramid. Dr. Zahi Hawass and radar expert Lawrence Conyers called the claims 'fake' and 'huge exaggeration,' questioning the technical feasibility of radar penetrating that deep.
- Eight vertical shafts with spiral staircases detected 2,100 feet below Khafre Pyramid
- Researchers used satellite-based synthetic aperture radar from 676 km above Earth
- Dr. Zahi Hawass called findings 'completely wrong' and 'fake news'
- Study has not undergone peer review by independent scientists
Italian and Scottish researchers claim radar technology revealed a vast underground city beneath Egypt's Giza pyramids, but prominent archaeologists dismiss the findings as exaggerated and unvalidated.
A team of Italian and Scottish researchers announced in March that they had used satellite radar to detect what they describe as a vast underground city buried beneath Egypt's Giza pyramids. The discovery, they claim, includes eight vertical shaft structures with spiral staircases spiraling around them, extending more than 2,100 feet below the surface of the Khafre Pyramid. These shafts span across an area wider than 6,500 feet and connect to two cube-shaped structures roughly 80 meters on each side. The team, led by Corrado Malanga from Italy's University of Pisa and Filippo Biondi of Scotland's University of Strathclyde, used synthetic aperture radar—a non-invasive technology that bounces signals off the earth to reveal what lies beneath—transmitted from satellites positioned 676 kilometers above the ground. The radar signals were converted into sound waves and then into high-resolution images, which the researchers compiled into a rough three-dimensional model to support their claims. Project spokesperson Nicole Ciccolo told media outlets that these structures likely served as access points to an underground system, and that additional unidentified structures may exist roughly 4,000 feet below the pyramid's base.
The researchers framed their work as potentially revolutionary. Malanga suggested that when the images are magnified further, they will reveal what amounts to a true underground city. Ciccolo drew connections to legendary accounts, stating that the vast chambers beneath the surface correlate with the mythical Halls of Amenti from ancient Egyptian tradition. She argued that the findings could fundamentally reshape how scholars understand the sacred geography of ancient Egypt and provide coordinates for previously unknown subterranean structures. The team also reported that the radar technology helped them locate five small room-like structures inside the pyramid itself, including one containing a sarcophagus once thought to be a pharaoh's burial chamber.
But the announcement immediately faced sharp skepticism from established archaeologists and technical experts. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former minister of antiquities and a prominent figure in Egyptology, dismissed the research outright as "completely wrong" and "fake news." He challenged the fundamental premise of the study, stating that the claim of using radar inside the pyramid is false and that the techniques employed lack scientific approval or validation. Lawrence Conyers, a radar expert at the University of Denver, went further in questioning the technical feasibility. He argued that radar pulses simply cannot penetrate that far underground, calling the claims a "huge exaggeration." Yet Conyers acknowledged a middle ground: while the dramatic scale of the claims seems implausible, smaller structures such as shafts and chambers could plausibly exist beneath the pyramids, particularly given that the Giza site held special significance for ancient peoples. He drew a parallel to Mesoamerican cultures, which often constructed pyramids atop caves and caverns that held ceremonial importance.
The research has not undergone peer review by independent scientists, leaving the claims unvetted by the broader academic community. The team has expressed hope of continuing their investigation, but securing approval for physical excavation—the only method that could definitively prove or disprove their findings—faces substantial obstacles. Conyers emphasized that direct archaeological investigation remains the only reliable path to verification. Without it, the underground city remains a claim suspended between technological imagery and archaeological skepticism, neither confirmed nor fully refuted.
Citas Notables
The claim of using radar inside the pyramid is false, and the techniques employed are neither scientifically approved nor validated.— Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former minister of antiquities
Radar pulses penetrating that far in the underground is not possible. This is a huge exaggeration.— Lawrence Conyers, radar expert at University of Denver
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What exactly did these researchers actually find, versus what they're claiming to have found?
That's the crucial distinction. They used radar from satellites to create images of what might exist below the pyramids. They're interpreting those images as evidence of shafts and chambers. But they haven't dug anything up or physically verified any of it.
So the radar technology itself—is that legitimate, or is that part of the exaggeration?
The technology is real. Synthetic aperture radar works. The question is whether it can actually penetrate 2,100 feet down through solid stone and still produce meaningful images. The experts say no—that's where the skepticism gets sharp.
Why would established archaeologists be so quick to call this fake rather than just skeptical?
Because they've seen this pattern before. Sensational claims about hidden chambers and lost cities attract attention and funding. But when you actually dig, you find nothing. Hawass especially has spent his career separating real archaeology from speculation.
Is there any chance they're right and the experts are just protecting their turf?
Possible, but unlikely. Conyers actually admits smaller structures could exist. He's not saying they're lying—he's saying the scale of what they're claiming exceeds what the technology can actually show.
What would it take to settle this?
Excavation. Physical digging. But that requires permission from Egyptian authorities, and after this kind of public claim without peer review, getting that permission is nearly impossible. So we're stuck.
Stuck how?
The researchers can't prove it without digging. But they've made such big claims without evidence that no one will let them dig. The credibility gap works against them now.