Remember those grandiose claims about the pyramids and the supposed mega structures found beneath them that went viral in March of 2025? Me neither, so, what happened?

In March of last year a small team of Italian and Scottish researchers claimed to have used a special radar technique (a form of Synthetic Aperture Radar combined with Doppler analysis) to detect “very large underground structures or a “city-like” network” extending 100’s of meters beneath the Pyramids of Giza, primarily under the Khafre pyramid.

Using satellite-based radar signals bouncing from the surface below, they claimed that tiny Doppler shifts from natural movement of the pyramid would be affected by the underground layout, structures, and cavities. While SAR can penetrate a few feet to meters of surface depending on the material, the claims of it mapping structures under stone pyramids hundreds of meters deep seemed fantastical from the get-go.

But it didn’t take long for conspiracy websites and accounts to pick up the news and make it go viral. The claims were extraordinary, but brought with an air of absolute confidence in the techniques used, and results gotten. It had going for it a large amount of technical looking graphs and visuals ripe for imaginative interpretations.

And thus started a long line of (mostly ai generated) speculation about what these structures were, ranging from an underground city, to claims of an ancient powerplant used to generate electricity. Claims all made on little more than the radar like scans like the one above, without any additional evidence, many times “ai enhanced”, and directly contradicting everything known about ancient Egypt and the pyramids. If anything, the thumbnails and visuals were equal parts bonkers and cool-looking:

Experts and scientists, along with many commenters online, were quick to reject the claims made, because it appeared impossible for the SAR radar technique used to be able to map structures so vast and deep underground, both in theory as well as from the limited tests done in practice. Convincing explanations or supporting evidence remained absent.

I predicted in March that the story would remain on top of the conspiracy news cycle for a bit but would wane eventually, without ever seeing any serious follow-up or confirmation of the claims made. It now seems that was the correct conclusion.

A familiar story

It feels familiar. A wild story containing fantastical claims that would uproot centuries of human history if true, amplified in every echo chamber that thrives on clicks and engagement. But ultimately, like so many of these types of stories, the evidence just wasn’t there. The scientists involved lacked the proper background and the technique was simply unable to substantiate the claims under scrutiny.

I can only speculate as to what the motive of the involved scientists was. Maybe they really did believe they had made an astonishing discovery, maybe they knew they were stretching credulity. The important lesson is that in the end, stories like this will fall apart when examined by experts. Truth prevails, as long as we stay skeptical.