A ‘groundbreaking’ discovery beneath the Egyptian pyramids has taken the world by storm.
Italian researchers claim to have uncovered ‘a vast underground city’ which stretches more than 4,000 feet directly underneath the Pyramids of Giza, making them 10 times larger than the pyramids themselves.
The bombshell claim – which many experts claim to have already debunked – comes from a study that used radar pulses to create high-resolution images deep into the ground beneath the structures, the same way sonar radar is used to map the depths of the ocean.
The paper, which has not been peer-reviewed by independent experts, found eight vertical cylinder-shaped structures extending more than 2,100 feet below the pyramid and more unknown structures 4,000 feet deeper.
A press release described the findings as ‘groundbreaking’ and if true could rewrite the history of ancient Egypt. However, independent experts have raised serious concerns about the study.
Professor Lawrence Conyers, a radar expert at the University of Denver who focuses on archaeology, told DailyMail.com that it is not possible for the technology to penetrate that deeply into the ground, making the idea of an underground city ‘a huge exaggeration.’
Professor Conyers said it is conceivable there are small structures, such as shafts and chambers, beneath the pyramids that existed before they were built because the site was ‘special to ancient people.’
He highlighted how ‘the Mayans and other people in ancient Mesoamerica often built pyramids on top of the entrances of caves or caverns that had ceremonial meaning to them.’
Scientists used advanced technology to see beneath the three pyramids, finding evidence of a ‘vast underground city’
The work by Corrado Malanga from Italy’s University of Pisa, and Egyptologist Armando Mei and Filippo Biondi with the University of Strathclyde in Scotland has only been released during an in-person briefing in Italy this week and is yet to be published in a scientific journal, where it would need to be analyzed by independent experts.
Despite the skepticism, Professor Conyers added that the only way to prove the discoveries to be true would be ‘targeted excavations.’
‘My take is that as long as authors are not making things up and that their basic methods are correct, their interpretations should be given a look by all who care about the site,’ he explained.
‘We can quibble about interpretations, and that is called science. But the basic methods need to be solid.’
He also told DailyMail.com that he could not tell if the technology used actually picked up hidden structure below the pyramid.
‘They are using all kinds of fancy proprietary data analysis software,’ said Professor Conyers.
The Giza complex consists of three pyramids, Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, built 4,500 years ago on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River in northern Egypt.
Each was constructed in the name of a pharaoh. The northernmost and oldest of the group was built for Khufu. Also known as the Great Pyramid, this structure is the largest, at 480ft tall and 750ft wide at its base.
The middle pyramid was built for Khafre, which the team studied, and Menkaure is the southernmost and last built of the group.
Malanga is a UFOlogist and has appeared on YouTube shows about aliens, where he has discussed his more than decade-long career of studying UFO sightings in Italy.
Biondi, on the other hand, specializes radar technology.
And Mei is a researcher in pre-dynastic Egyptology.
Malanga and Biondi’s published a separate peer-reviewed paper in October 2022 in the scientific journal Remote Sensing which found hidden rooms and ramps inside Khafre, along with evidence of a thermal anomaly near the pyramid’s base.
The team claimed they discovered eight cylinder-shaped structures below the Khafre, which travel more than 2,100 feet below the pyramid’s base. They identified spiral structures on the sides of the shafts
The team also found a hidden chamber in the pyramid that contained five identical structures with sloped roofs and five levels
The new study used similar technology, but got a boost from a satellite orbiting Earth.
The new radar technique works by combining satellite radar data with tiny vibrations from naturally-occurring seismic movements, to construct 3D images of what lies beneath the surface of the earth, without doing any physical digging.
Nicole Ciccolo, the project’s spokesperson, said: ‘A vast underground city has been discovered beneath the pyramids,’
‘[The] groundbreaking study has redefined the boundaries of satellite data analysis and archaeological exploration.’
She shared a short clip of the press briefing held on March 15, saying the full video of the event will be released on March 25.
The cylinder-shaped structures, which Ciccolo referred to as ‘shafts,’ were arranged in two parallel rows and surrounded by descending spiral pathways.
The shafts were said to be connected to larger, cubic structures. The team said there could be a hidden city below all three pyramids
Ciccolo said the cylinder structures were found underneath each of the three pyramids and appeared ‘to serve as access points to this underground system.’
The team explained the system as other chamber-like structures interconnecting under all three of the pyramids.
‘The existence of vast chambers beneath the earth’s surface, comparable in size to the pyramids themselves, which have a remarkably strong correlation between the legendary Halls of Amenti,’ Ciccolo said.
‘These new archaeological findings could redefine our understanding of the sacred topography of ancient Egypt, providing spatial coordinates for previously unknown and unexplored subterranean structures,’ she added.
The news has gone viral this week, with X flooded with posts about the potential discovery.
Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna shared a post about the structures on her X page.
The team plans to continue their research throughout 2025.
