Viral, spectacular - and highly controversial Is there a second Sphinx? Why a satellite expert has suddenly gone viral

The theory is explosive: is there a second Sphinx in Giza, Egypt? What is currently causing a stir on social media turns out to be a daring interpretation on closer inspection - with a thin factual basis.

A second Great Sphinx at Giza in Egypt? - An assertion that suddenly seems surprisingly plausible in one of the world's most popular podcasts.

Dramatic music begins.

In a calm, almost solemn voice, Matt Beall announces a sensational revelation in his podcast "Matt Beall Limitless".

The US entrepreneur, CEO of a large retail chain, has created an enormous stage for himself with this format. Big ideas are given space here - often including those that hardly get a hearing in traditional science. In the professional world, such theses hardly cause a stir - in social networks, however, they develop a momentum of their own and reach an audience of millions.

On this day, Filippo Biondi, an Italian "remote sensing scientist", i.e. an expert in satellite data, is sitting in the studio.

Then comes the sentence that sets the tone: In addition to the well-known Sphinx at the pyramids - the iconic, over 4500-year-old statue of a lion with a human head, one of Egypt's most famous landmarks - there is said to be a second one.

A claim that, if true, would rewrite the history of Giza, the famous pyramid plateau near Cairo.

From hype to global story

This is not the first time that Filippo Biondi has attracted attention with spectacular theories.

He became known to a wider audience in March 2025 at the latest, when his claims about alleged structures under the pyramids suddenly circulated worldwide.

First, the British tabloid newspaper "Daily Mail" picks up the story - with big headlines and spectacular graphics. Shortly afterwards, "Focus Online" followed suit in German-speaking countries.

But the real momentum unfolded elsewhere: on YouTube, TikTok and in social networks. There, Biondi's theories spread rapidly, were further sharpened, reinterpreted - and clicked on millions of times.

What Biondi presented last year sounds like science fiction:

With the help of radar and satellite data, his team claims to have discovered evidence of a widely ramified system beneath the Giza plateau - with shafts, passages and chambers. Cylindrical structures are said to extend under the pyramids to a depth of up to 600 meters and lead into large, cube-shaped rooms.

It is a "subterranean megastructure" - perhaps even a hidden city.

Radar theory under pressure: what is really behind it?

The basis of his theories is an approach developed by Biondi to evaluate radar data from satellites.

These transmit electromagnetic waves to the earth, which are reflected by the surface. According to the model, minimal movements of the ground - for example due to natural micro-vibrations, temperature differences or groundwater - lead to measurable changes in these signals. His team wants to use these deviations to draw conclusions about structures deep below the surface - down to a depth of several hundred meters.

He does not use his own satellites, but commercial data from systems such as COSMO-SkyMed or ICEYE. These provide high-resolution images of the Earth's surface and measure the finest movements in the millimeter range. The data is generally freely accessible - but subject to a charge.

Fact check clearly contradicts

But this is precisely where the criticism comes in: A fact check by the German Austrian Digital Media Observatory (GADMO) together with AFP comes to a clear conclusion: there is no scientific basis for the spectacular claims.

On the contrary: experts clearly disagree. Radar waves only penetrate a few meters into solid ground - not hundreds. And the idea of deriving complex underground structures from minimal surface movements is also considered highly speculative. "Radar signals are absorbed as they penetrate the ground," says US radar specialist Lawrence Conyers.

There is also clear criticism from the field of archaeology: French Egyptologist Vincent Rondot criticizes the fact that hypotheses are being presented as facts. The well-known former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass even speaks of "mere inventions".

There is a complete lack of independent confirmation of Biondi's theories: There are neither verifiable studies nor finds on site.

For many experts, it is therefore clear that what is being sold here as a sensation is so far one thing above all - a daring interpretation of data.

Filippo Biondi's foray into Egyptology therefore seems to be exhausted for the time being.

But in the "Matt Beall Limitless" podcast, he now goes one step further: vague, underground "megastructures" suddenly become a much more concrete claim - smaller in scale, but with much greater archaeological explosive power:

A second sphinx.

From the data model to the next sensation

The podcast studio is now quieter, almost solemn. Filippo Biondi sits in an oversized yellow leather chair, weighs his words and uses images from physics to explain his method.

The earth is like a swimming pool, he says, on the surface of which certain waves are amplified.

What follows is a firework display of technical terms, analogies and big words. This hardly makes it any easier to understand. Instead, it creates an impression of complexity - without making it clear how robust the statements actually are.

Podcast host Matt Beall listens, nods - and finally sums up the minute-long presentation with a single word: "Fantastic".

Critical questions? - Not a chance.

Then the real bombshell is about to explode.

In addition to the latest radar findings, there is also archaeological evidence of a second sphinx - the so-called Dream Stele, an inscribed stone tablet between the paws of the Great Sphinx.

Biondi admits this himself: He did not stumble upon this trail himself. It was only a tip that led him to it.

The tipster: Damiano Piras - a YouTuber and self-proclaimed independent researcher from the field of alternative Giza theories. In March 2026 of all months - what a coincidence - he published a book entitled "The Dawn of a New Sphinx - A Hypothesis on the Location of Giza's Twin Sphinx". He has attracted attention on YouTube with videos such as "How I Found the Second Sphinx of Giza".

Regardless, for Biondi, the Dream Stele is the perfect piece of the puzzle.

A classic of Egyptology - reinterpreted

The Dream Stele is one of the best-known relics of Ancient Egypt - a classic that no introduction to Egyptology should be without. It still stands today, albeit badly damaged and restored, between the paws of the Sphinx and was erected around 1400 BC by Pharaoh Thutmosis IV.

Legend has it that the young prince fell asleep there. The sphinx appeared to him in a dream and promised him kingship - on one condition: He had to free it from the sand.

Iconographically, the stele depicts a classic scene: Thutmose IV making sacrifices to the Sphinx.

The depiction is striking: both the pharaoh and the sphinx appear doubled, arranged as mirror images.

This is precisely where Biondi's interpretation comes in. If two sphinxes are depicted, there must also have been two real lion figures with human heads.

This idea is not new. The Egyptian Egyptologist Bassam El Shammaa formulated a similar thesis back in 2007 - also based on the double representation on the stele.

It is still considered unsubstantiated by experts today.

From a research perspective, this conclusion falls short. It ignores a central principle of ancient Egyptian culture: dualism.

Thinking in opposites pervades the entire Egyptian world view. Upper and Lower Egypt were symbolically united, many gods appeared in pairs, even kings were often depicted twice - as rulers over both parts of the country.

This duality stands for order, balance and cosmic harmony. In art, it is often expressed through mirroring and doubling.

The double representation on the dream stele is therefore not a blueprint - but symbolism.

In short: two sphinxes in the picture do not mean two sphinxes in reality.

What's more, there is still no archaeological evidence of a second monument. For experts, the matter is therefore clear: the theory belongs in the realm of speculation.

The alleged discovery site

Biondi locates the alleged second Sphinx at a specific point on the Giza plateau. The starting point is a geometric reflection: he draws a corresponding line from the Pyramid of Cheops, analogous to the known Sphinx, which is related to the Pyramid of Chephren.

The presumed location is to the north-east of the Khufu pyramid - towards the desert.

However, there is no hidden structure on site, just a mound of solidified sand and rock about 50 meters high. A natural elevation, as is often found on the plateau.

The second sphinx is said to be hidden under this hill - completely concealed beneath the surface.

Between science and wishful thinking

Back in the "Matt Beall Limitless" podcast, Matt Beall leans back. "Mind-blowing," he says.

It's a word that explains a lot.

Because that's exactly how these formats work: A strong thesis, a confident appearance - and step by step, a speculative idea becomes a supposed discovery.

Doubts arise, but are rarely explored in depth.

Biondi himself repeatedly emphasizes that he is not an Egyptologist.

He leaves questions about archaeological classification to others - but seeks confirmation not from specialists, but from the world of YouTube research.

Yet archaeology has been showing for years how things can be done differently: new methods, yes - but in close cooperation with established science. One prominent example is the international "ScanPyramids" project: physicists, engineers and Egyptologists have been working together since 2015 to examine the pyramid of Khufu using state-of-the-art technology. With the help of muon tomography - a type of particle scanner - the team discovered a previously unknown cavity inside the pyramid in 2017.

So what exactly remains of the idea of a second Sphinx?

Essentially, only what everything is based on: Radar data - or more precisely, their interpretation by Biondi and his team.

These measurements do not show a new Sphinx, but merely anomalies in the subsurface. Whether these are natural structures, rock differences or something actually created by humans is a completely open question. Researchers emphasize that such data alone cannot prove the existence of monumental structures.

In addition, there is a fundamental problem with the location of the site: the entire complex of Giza is clearly oriented towards the Nile - not by chance, but for practical and religious reasons.

Building materials were transported via the Nile, which provided access to the complex. In the Egyptian world view, the river also marked the border between the realm of the living in the east and the realm of the dead in the west. The temples, walkways and the Sphinx are all part of this system. The latter is also firmly integrated into the mortuary temple complex of the Khafre Pyramid.

A second sphinx behind the Khufu pyramid, in the direction of the desert, would not fit into this logistical or symbolic order.

Filippo Biondi himself dreams of one day getting to the bottom of the matter with excavations. In the podcast, he talks about wanting to test the hypothesis at some point - directly on site, in the sands of Giza.

But that is precisely the point: archaeology follows rules, not intuition.

And so Biondi's Sphinx is likely to remain exactly what it is today - nothing more than a fixed idea.

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