Are the Pyramids of Giza Hiding a City Underground—Or Are We Just Hoping They Are?

The Giza Plateau has long stood as one of history’s most enduring mysteries, its great pyramids rising from the desert. Over the years, whispers of hidden chambers, sealed passages, and lost knowledge have circulated in both scholarly and speculative circles. But recently, a new wave of claims has stirred public interest once more. Reports of vast subterranean complexes—complete with vertical wells, spiral pathways, and immense underground chambers—have made headlines, sparking hopes of long-lost cities buried beneath the sand. But how much of it is real, and how much is modern myth?

In 2024, a team of researchers from Tohoku University and Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics made a significant find near the Great Pyramid’s Western Cemetery. Using a combination of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), they identified an L-shaped structure buried roughly two metres beneath the surface, measuring about ten metres in length. Below it, their instruments revealed a deeper anomaly—an area with unusually high resistance, possibly indicating a hollow space or chamber filled with gravel.

The find, published in Archaeological Prospection, has generated cautious excitement among archaeologists. It’s not the sweeping revelation some headlines suggested, but it’s genuine—a man-made structure in an area long thought to be empty. Excavations are ongoing, and researchers like Professor Motoyuki Sato believe the anomaly could be more than just a fluke of geology.

It’s a slow, careful step forward. But another study, published two years earlier, has added fuel to far more explosive claims.

In 2022, Filippo Biondi and Corrado Malanga published a study in the MDPI journal Remote Sensing, describing how Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) tomography could be used to peer beneath the Great Pyramid. Using satellite-based SAR and custom software that converts radar data into phononic patterns, they claimed to detect internal anomalies—possible corridors, voids, and other features—within and beneath the pyramid’s base.

These findings were already speculative, based solely on radar interpretation rather than excavation. But a March 2025 press release dramatically escalated the narrative. It suggested that similar scans under the Khafre Pyramid—the second-largest at Giza—had revealed an extensive, symmetrical complex stretching nearly two kilometres in length. According to the release, beneath the surface lay five geometric structures, each with five levels and sloped roofs, interconnected by corridors. Below these were said to be eight cylindrical vertical shafts, each with spiral pathways descending over 600 metres into two enormous cube-shaped chambers.

Co-author Corrado Malanga, a former professor at the University of Pisa, has been closely involved in promoting the findings. In a March 2025 press event, he described the radar results as revealing “a whole world of structures” beneath the Giza Plateau—language that helped fuel the idea of a vast underground complex. While the more dramatic phrasing, such as “underground city,” has largely come from media outlets and conspiracy commentators like Alex Jones, the core claim stems directly from Malanga and his SAR study team. Whether the data truly supports such a sweeping interpretation remains to be seen, but it’s clear that these statements have played a central role in shaping the current narrative.

The 2024 discovery of the shallow L-shaped structure is not in dispute. It was made using accepted geophysical methods and has been published in respected archaeological journals. It offers a rare glimpse into an area once believed to be devoid of activity. Still, its scale is modest. A ten-metre structure, possibly part of a burial complex or a functional feature related to the pyramid’s construction, doesn’t rewrite history—but it adds a new piece to the puzzle.

The claims made in the 2025 SAR press release, however, are far more problematic. For one, SAR technology is not capable of penetrating to depths of 648 metres. Experts like Professor Lawrence Conyers, a specialist in radar archaeology at the University of Denver, note that even under ideal conditions, SAR’s effective imaging depth is typically limited to just a few tens of metres. The suggestion that radar alone could reveal structures more than half a kilometre beneath the Giza Plateau strains credulity and contradicts the known capabilities of the technology.

Moreover, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities has not confirmed any of the more dramatic claims, nor has there been any ground-level excavation to support them. No vertical wells or spiral shafts have been unearthed, and no massive chambers confirmed. What we have are intriguing radar anomalies and a great deal of interpretation.

Despite the lack of physical evidence, the internet quickly embraced the story. Articles appeared in outlets ranging from The Express Tribune to News18, declaring the discovery of a “lost city” beneath the pyramids. Social media lit up with hashtags and speculative diagrams. Familiar figures in the conspiracy community, including Alex Jones, described the alleged findings as confirmation of ancient energy grids, hidden chambers of wisdom, or long-suppressed truths about human history. Jay Anderson, known for his work on Project Unity, has also amplified the claims on X in recent days, calling the data “mind-blowing” and suggesting it could reshape what we know about ancient Egypt. And in a way, that reaction is understandable.

The pyramids, for all we do know, still guard many secrets. How they were built with such precision, why certain chambers remain sealed, and whether additional voids lie undiscovered inside are all legitimate questions. No body has ever been found inside the Great Pyramid. Its original purpose is still debated. And the fact that it has endured for over 4,500 years with so much left unexplained continues to inspire awe.

For some, that mystery demands a bigger answer. The idea that the pyramids were not just tombs but energy generators, or gateways, or markers of an advanced lost civilisation, offers a more thrilling explanation than the findings of archaeologists. So when new scans hint at unknown spaces, the imagination races ahead—sometimes too far.

For now, the future of these claims rests where it always has—beneath the surface. As of March 2025, excavations near the Western Cemetery are ongoing, slowly working to uncover the shallow structure detected in 2024. That’s where the real test lies. Technology, no matter how advanced, can only suggest what might be hidden. Ground truth—the kind that comes with trowels, brushes, and careful excavation—is the only way to confirm or refute what the scans appear to show.

If any of the structures described in the SAR study do exist, they’ll have to be physically accessed and verified. Until that happens, interpretations remain just that: possibilities, not proof.

Whether the theories of vast chambers and deep shafts beneath the Khafre Pyramid hold up or collapse under scrutiny, only the sands of Giza can answer. What happens next will depend not on headlines or hashtags, but on excavation, evidence, and the slow, patient work of archaeology.

There is something beneath Giza. That much is clear. The 2024 study proves that previously unknown structures remain buried in the sand, waiting to be uncovered. The 2022 SAR study and its bold 2025 update suggest there may be more to find—but until there is physical evidence, such as excavated chambers or verified artefacts, these remain interpretations, not discoveries.

The idea of an underground city beneath the pyramids is a powerful one. It speaks to our desire for wonder, our yearning for the extraordinary. But history, no matter how mysterious, demands evidence. And until the sands of Giza give up more of their secrets, the myth of the underground city will remain just that—a mirage shaped by radar waves, imagination, and the enduring enigma of the pyramids themselves.