Haunted Undergrounds, Lost Civilizations, and Secret Rail Networks: The Mysteries and Terrors of the Subterranean World!

There are many haunted and indeed haunting locations above the ground around the planet, each offering its own unique blend of spooky goings-on and bone-chilling accounts. There are, though, just as many such locations beneath the ground. When we venture into these subterranean lairs, we find the levels of terror and fright are taken up a notch or two, leaving those who experience these underground encounters with unsettling and disturbing tales to tell.

Perhaps a good place to start our look at haunting – and quite possibly haunted – locations would be with one of the oldest rail networks in the world, the London Underground, which is also claimed by many people to be one of the most haunted locations on the planet, and when we explore just some of these claims and accounts, it is easy to see why. If we look at Piccadilly Station (arguably one of the most well-known in the world), we can find reports of strange Morse-code-like bangs, as if someone is attempting to communicate from beyond the veil. There are also reports of phantom footsteps being heard, as well as strange noises similar to large doors being slammed shut at the Elephant and Castle underground station. One of the most thought-provoking ghosts to haunt the London Underground can be found at Covent Garden, where the spirit of actor William Terriss (who was murdered where the station stands today in 1897) has been seen multiple times wearing a Victorian-style hat and cloak.

Without a doubt, though, one of the most disturbing underground stations of the London Underground is Liverpool Street Station, where multiple strange entities and ghostly figures have been witnessed, with some of these figures even being captured on the station’s CCTV system, and multiple passengers over the years reporting seeing a man wearing overalls walking up and down the platform before disappearing right in front of them.

One of the most disturbing ghosts of Liverpool Street Station is that of a woman who was once a patient at Bedlam Hospital, which once stood on the land Liverpool Street Station resides on today. Many people have reported hearing her bone-chilling screams coming from the tunnels of the station, perhaps resonating with research that suggests when she was a patient at the hospital (thought to be during the 1780s), she was desperately mistreated (something the hospital in question was said to have a reputation for). Furthermore, according to local legend, during her lifetime, she often clung to an old coin as some kind of comfort blanket, physically attacking anyone who tried to take it from her. However, following her death, the coin was removed from her grip, and she was buried without it, as such, her spirit wanders the tunnels of the station, seemingly desperately in search of her most prized and likely only possession.

Just one reason put forward to explain the abundance of ghostly activity at his particular station is that it appears to have been built on what was once a mass grave, most likely from the Black Death era, following the discovery of over 3000 skeletal remains in 2015.

If we turn our attention to London’s East End, we will find Bethnal Green Underground Station, another location that is said to be a hive of strange goings-on. According to many people, strange cries are often heard echoing around the station, with some researchers suggesting these cries come from those who used the tunnels during German bombing missions of the Second World War. In part, because this part of London was poverty-stricken and overpopulated, many residents would find themselves packed into this underground station, often dangerously.

This danger was realized on the evening of March 3rd, 1943, as residents around Bethnal Green station hurriedly made their way underground to escape the German bombs falling around them. One of those making their way deep under the ground was a young woman who was carrying her baby and bedding for warmth. However, as she made her way down the almost completely dark staircase, she tripped, causing a woman behind her, who was also carrying a young child, to fall over her. This had a knock-on effect as more and more people tripped over them. Within seconds, a pile-up of almost 300 bodies had ensued, with 173 eventually being confirmed to have lost their lives, mostly from being crushed or from lack of oxygen.

Reports of the strange cries coming from the station began in the years that followed. There is, though, one particular account that stands out from the rest. One evening in 1981, a station employee was working late on paperwork when he heard the sound of several children crying. As he had locked the station himself, he knew he was the only person there, so the sounds were not only unsettling for him, but they were perplexing. To begin with, he assumed the sounds must be coming into the station from outside, and he did his best to ignore them. The sounds began to increase in volume, however, and then came the sudden sounds of multiple women screaming. At this point, he got up from his desk and ran to the ticket area. There wasn’t, however, anyone there. After around 15 minutes, the sounds suddenly died down and then ceased altogether.

Commuters and employees alike have also reported unsettling screams coming from the tunnels of Farringdon Underground Station, screams which have seemingly been traced to a 13-year-old girl who was murdered and whose body was dumped on the land where the station resides in 1758. The girl in question – Anne Naylor – was an apprentice hat maker who lived in Farringdon at a time when the area was crawling with criminal gangs and general unsavory types. Anne worked for a “sadistic” mother and daughter, who often beat the young girl, as well as forced her to go without food for days at a time. One of these beatings, however, resulted in Anne’s untimely death.

After initially storing the tragic girl’s remains in their attic, the mother and daughter decided to chop up the remains and burn them due to the smell of the decay threatening to expose their crime. However, they soon realized that the smell of burning flesh would also alert authorities to the killing, so they decided to take the remains and dump them near the sewer – the same spot where Farringdon Underground Station sits today. Her remains were discovered a short time later, and despite her death initially being ruled as not suspicious, the mother and daughter – for reasons unknown – turned themselves in and admitted to the killing. Each was hanged shortly after.

Whether the strange screams heard at Farringdon Underground station are Anne Naylor's or not remains open to debate. They do, however, continue to be reported today.

Perhaps what makes the apparent hauntings at the British Museum-Holburn Station unique is that, rather than being the spirit of a local person who died there decades or even centuries ago, they are said to be that of an ancient Egyptian woman.

The British Museum Station opened in the early 1900s, but by 1933, it was replaced by Holborn Station, which was not only just meters away but was also much more modern and passenger-friendly. However, almost immediately, rumors swirled that a secret, or at least, non-publicized line remained open that connected the museum to the new station. It was, according to local legend, along this secret line where many paranormal happenings were reported.

As we mentioned earlier, the most intriguing of these is that of an ancient Egyptian woman named Amun-Ra, after the ancient Egyptian god. The woman’s mummy is said to reside inside the British Museum, with her ghost being seen in this secret tunnel many times, as well as people reported hearing her shrieking in rage. Perhaps of more concern, one account states this ancient Egyptian spirit was even responsible for the disappearance of two women one fateful evening in 1935. On the night in question, the two women simply vanished into thin air somewhere inside the station, and, even more disturbing, on the night of their disappearance, several commuters reported hearing strange, unnerving shrieking sounds coming from the tunnels around the station. In the days that followed, it is claimed that several scratch marks were discovered at the old British Museum Station. Of course, as with most legends, we should be cautious about what is accurate and what is fabricated, not least as there appear to be no newspaper reports of the disappearances, which there surely would have been.

It is, though, interesting to note the fortune, or perhaps more specifically, the misfortune of the person who purchased the mummy in question, Thomas Douglas Murray. Not long after making the purchase and having the mummy shipped to London, Murray was accidentally wounded in a shooting. The wound was such that he had to have his arm amputated. Not long after the mummy arrived in London, two of Murray’s servants who had assisted in its transportation suddenly died. Murray’s bad luck, however, continued once he had arrived back in England, as well as anyone else who had any kind of contact with the mummy. One of these people was Murray’s friend’s sister, who eventually took possession of the mummy so she could have it photographed, which she duly did. However, when the photographer was developing the pictures, he claimed that the face of a “living Egyptian woman” appeared in one of the pictures before his eyes and “stared furiously with an expression of singular malevolence!” The photographer in question, at least according to the legends, died suddenly not long after.

The mummy was eventually donated to the British Museum in the early 1930s – and the strange goings-on continued. Although, once more, there are no official reports or newspaper articles to back it up, it is said that anyone who photographed or sketched the mummy died shortly afterward. Moreover, staff at the museum began to report strange, loud bangs coming from around the building, as well as the sounds of a desperate woman’s cries. Whatever the truth of the matter, these accounts are some of the most unsettling of the London Underground.

While the underground stations of London are undoubtedly some of the most disturbing, there are many others around the world that are worth briefly exploring. If we look at Bisham MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) Station in Singapore, we can find an abundance of strange activity. The reason for this could very well be because the station was built on land that was once home to the Bi Shan Teng cemetery. Reports and accounts of bizarre goings-on began as soon as the station opened in 1987 – reports of unnerving sounds and phantom-like manifestations. Passengers also began reporting hearing footsteps on top of the train carriages, while others claimed to have been grabbed or even pushed by invisible assailants. Perhaps the strangest reports of all, though, came from maintenance workers who worked on the tracks themselves. Many of these workers reported seeing ghostly figures walking along the tracks carrying coffins before disappearing into thin air. There are also multiple reports of a headless figure seen walking on the tracks that also vanishes right in front of shocked onlookers.

Another truly profound underground station is Caobao Road Subway Station in China, specifically, it would seem, Line 1, which not only has many reports of strange activity but is seemingly connected to at least nine deaths. As well as the many strange entities and figures witnessed at the station, many trains inexplicably break down while there, and, much like the reports at the Bisham MRT Station, many commuters have reported being pushed toward the tracks by a pair of invisible hands. Many staff at the station, as well as passengers, have reported hearing the strange and disturbing laughter of a seemingly deranged woman, while multiple people began reporting seeing a young girl dressed in red, only days after a young girl dressed in red had taken her own life at the station. Just what makes this particular station a hub of paranormal activity remains unknown.

One last underground station to explore is the Panteones Metro Station in Mexico City, Mexico. According to reports, many commuters and station staff have reported hearing thunderous banging sounds reverberating around the station, while some people have reported seeing disturbing shadow-type figures that disappear when a person walks towards them. There are also regular reports of unsettling screams heard coming from the tunnels of the station. Similarly to the Bisham MRT Station, the Panteones Metro Station was built very close to an old cemetery, which would, on balance, surely be at least part of the cause of the strange activity reported there.  

If we return to the United Kingdom and north of the England-Scotland border, we find another haunting underground location – the underground vaults of Edinburgh’s South Bridge, where some of the most intense paranormal activity in the United Kingdom ever recorded has unfolded.

Although it took almost two decades to build, the South Bridge opened in 1788 and assisted in connecting the rapidly growing population of Edinburgh with the old part of the city. Almost immediately, on both sides of the bridge, businesses soon appeared, many of which used the arches of the bridge as their premises and storerooms, and so, inadvertently creating the vaults. In the book Hidden and Haunted: Underground Edinburgh, Des Brogan wrote that “by the middle of the nineteenth century, these vaulted areas were being used as workshops by many of the people who lived in the tenements”, businesses that ranged from “cobblers, butchers, wine merchants, bookbinders, and jewelers!”

While these businesses and the premises that had been created provided cheap business and even living premises, to begin with, the harsh Scottish winters soon took a toll on the bridge, particularly the vaults in the lower sections, and after years of leaking rainwater, disease and ill health began to spread around the vaults. As this was happening, many of the business owners, while keeping their businesses in the vaults, had moved to other living quarters in better parts of the city, leaving their living quarters empty. These were usually rented out to those who could barely afford better accommodation, and, in some cases, were taken over by squatters. It didn’t take long for the vaults to turn into a ghetto. It was, in part, because of these worsening conditions that the authorities decided to move out the remaining tenants and rehouse them. Following this, the slums quickly slid into criminal lairs, with illegal bars and brothels operating out of the empty space at the vaults. As we might imagine, the vaults quickly became a no-go area for most residents of the city, with many crimes, including murder, taking place there.

Eventually, the vaults were sealed off completely, but in the 1980s, one-time international rugby player Norrie Rowan, whose land was home to some of the vaults, rediscovered them. He immediately went about installing a modern lighting system in the vaults, suspecting that there was a good business opportunity in reopening them to the public. He eventually arranged for a tour company to give guided tours of the morose but intriguing location. It wasn’t long after these tours began that reports of paranormal goings-on began to surface. Des Brogan was one of two guides who took multiple people into the vaults. He stated that if any of those entering the vaults “were at all sensitive to the other world, they would feel very uncomfortable!”

Many people have reported seeing children running through the vaults, while others have reported seeing ominous, shadowy adult figures. There have also been multiple reports of people hearing strange cries and screams coming from within the vaults, and some people have reported being pushed, grabbed, or even scratched by some kind of invisible presence. Of all the strange entities witnessed in the vault, one stands out from the rest.

Sometimes called “The Watcher” a figure known as Mr. Boots appears to be the most terrifying of the strange entities in the vaults, his name a reflection of the knee-length boots he is often seen wearing. The previously mentioned Des Brogan describes this strange figure as being “unkempt and unshaven, and with very bad breath!” Even more interesting, Mr. Boots almost always appears in the same specific location of the vaults. Even more ominous and concerning, according to many paranormal investigators and psychics, in this same room, there is also the presence of a young girl – a young girl that it is claimed Mr. Boots murdered there.

Many mediums have communicated with Mr. Boots, claiming he tells them that all candles brought into the room must be placed on the floor, and never shined directly towards his face. He also states that he is not happy with the many people who come down to the vaults, and often expresses his unhappiness by blowing out the lights in the room, plunging those who are there into complete darkness. Although Mr. Boots is only physically seen in one particular room, his footsteps can be heard throughout the vaults, as can the jangling of his keys as he walks. Even stranger, many people report being pushed or pulled by the menacing entity, and even being told in no uncertain terms to “get out!”

Those who have researched Mr. Boots might have been suggesting that he was likely a watchman or security officer at the vaults, most likely during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, during a time when criminal activity was particularly rife. Whatever the truth is, many people claim to have seen or interacted with him. One tour guide, for example, recalled being in the vaults after all of the guests had left following the tour. The guide was blowing out all of the candles before they left. As he was doing this, though, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps heading up the corridor in his direction. Several moments later, the footsteps came to a stop right outside the room he was standing in. He stared intensely at the doorway, and although he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, he claimed that he could sense someone – or something – staring at him. Then, several moments later, the footsteps started again, heading away from him up the corridor.

On another occasion, another guide was turning out all of the lights following a tour when she suddenly realized there were two she had missed at the end of the corridor. She immediately headed toward them before noticing that they appeared to dim slightly, something which halted her advance immediately. A moment later, to her absolute shock and disbelief, she witnessed a dark figure pass in front of the lights before the glow returned to its bright state.    

The United States has long had legends and conspiracies of a vast underground tunnel network existing not only under the country but the entire North American continent. In November 2018, in Ybor City near Tampa, Florida, apparent proof of such tunnel networks was made during a development project in the area. According to a report in The Tampa Bay Times, the tunnels were discovered during construction on the corner of 12th Street and Sixth Avenue. One person who took an immediate interest in the discovery was Dr. Gary Mormino, who stated that the “legendary labyrinth” was likely to have been constructed sometime in the 1800s, before the founding of Ybor City in 1886. Moreover, he claimed they were likely used for smuggling and storing “riches” and also offered that they were likely abandoned for unknown reasons before completion.

Although it was 2018 when this tunnel network was discovered, rumors of their presence go back to at least November 2000, when purposely constructed brick walkways were discovered while laying a streetcar system. It was determined by some that the walkways were, in fact, some kind of drainage system. However, with no official records of such a project existing, these claims were dismissed, and the discovery was all but forgotten about. What we might assume from this is that whoever was behind the drainage system was part of some kind of secret order, or it was constructed long before the founding of Ybor City.

As exciting as the discovery in Ybor City was, just shy of a century earlier on the west coast of the United States, there was a similar discovery of an underground network – and this one was much older. According to an article in the January 29th, 1934 edition of The Los Angeles Times, G. Warren Shufelt discovered the remains of an underground city beneath Los Angeles that was 5000 years old and was inhabited by a race of Lizard People, no less. Further, according to the article, Shufelt had mapped out the entire site using X-ray devices and had even managed to excavate around 200 feet below the ground. Then, despite having granted Shufelt permission to excavate the location, the city of Los Angeles suddenly revoked this. They then sealed up the site, and Shufelt was, perhaps suspiciously, never heard from again. Part of the article stated:

“So firmly does Shufelt and a little staff of assistants believe that a maze of catacombs and priceless golden tablets are to be found beneath downtown Los Angeles that the engineer and his aides have already driven a shaft 250 feet into the ground, the mouth of the shaft being on the old Banning property on North Hill street overlooking Sunset Boulevard, Spring Steet, and North Broadway!”

Shufelt also believed that he would discover several golden tablets in the ancient underground city which would detail the history of the human race on Earth, as well as the history of both the American continents (much of which, remember, was lost during the Spanish invasion of the southern continent, and the lost records of many of the Native American tribes following the Pilgrims arrival in the Northern continent). What made him certain of these finds was information he had been given by a chief from the Hopi Native American tribe in Arizona, information, incidentally, that matched much of his own research.

Further according to Shufelt, the ancient subterranean city had been constructed by an ancient technologically advanced race following a meteor impact that had destroyed many of their cities above the ground (with some claiming the Winslow Crater was the result of this impact). Shortly after, this ancient race began to build the underground lair, using a “chemical solution” to melt away the rock to create tunnels and chambers. It isn’t known exactly who these “lizard people” might have been, but some have suggested they could have been the Anunnaki from ancient Sumerian legends, or, at the very least, some kind of reptilian civilization, perhaps one that remains here on Earth deep under the ground.

In a strange twist to the whole affair, several months before Shufelt began his expedition, well-known psychic, Edith Elden Robinson stated in the American Society for Psychic Research newspaper that a “vast city lay under Los Angeles, with massive tunnels that stretch right out to the coast” that had been “constructed by a vanished race who had needed protection from the air and access to the sea!” Was she describing the same underground location that Shufelt allegedly discovered only months later?

As strange as it might sound, there are numerous tunnel networks that have been discovered in the United States. There are said, for example, to be many such cave and tunnel networks in and around Mount Shasta in California, a location that is awash with legends of strange lights and equally strange creatures. Much the same can be said for Brown Mountain in North Carolina, where, as well as the rumors of intricate tunnel networks in the area, there are regular sightings and reports of bizarre, glowing orbs in and around the mountain.

Without a doubt, some of the strangest and most intriguing underground locations in the United States are the alleged ancient tunnel networks of the Grand Canyon, a location, incidentally, that has a long history of strange, supernatural entities and bizarre energies, as well as a place awash with multiple conspiracy theories. Moreover, there are legends and accounts of bizarre lights and unsettling noises coming from the region and even accounts of timeslip events and temporal anomalies.

Perhaps of particular interest to many people regarding the legends of the Grand Canyon are tales of lost cities and tunnel networks that are said to exist under the ground of this area of natural beauty, just one of which is referred to as the Lost City of Supai, said to only be visible to those who had advanced wisdom and spiritual enlightenment.

There is little doubt that one of the most thought-provoking accounts connected to the Grand Canyon is the 1909 expedition of G.E. Kinkaid, during which it is claimed he discovered physical evidence of the underground remains of a mysterious ancient civilization. The main purpose behind the mission – which was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute – was to carry out geological surveys so as to document the natural marvels of the canyon. He would, though, discover much more than he bargained for.

According to a report of the expedition in the Arizona Gazette, Kinkaid noticed a cave opening in the rocky walls that lined the water’s edge of the Colorado River. Immediately intrigued, Kinkaid and his team ventured inside the entrance. As they made their way deep into the cave (eventually discovered to extend approximately a mile under the ground), they could see that the walkway was not a natural formation, with distinct and deliberate chisel markings evident. As they ventured inside further, they discovered various chamber-like rooms on either side of the subterranean walkway. Then, around 100 feet from the entrance, Kinkaid found himself in a grand hall that was around 700 feet in length. This chamber was full of ancient relics, including a statue of a figure sitting cross-legged with a lotus flower in each hand, perhaps, as Kinkaid suggested, an ancient deity worshipped by whoever had once called this location home.

Kinkaid and his team explored the network in full, discovering various pieces of pottery and vases as they did so. Kinkaid later estimated that around 50,000 people could have comfortably fit inside the underground network, and also documented that the underground lair had an intricate ventilation system – all, that is, except for one chamber that they discovered at the lowest level. Moreover, all agreed that an ominous “serpent-like odor” came from this chamber, something which convinced them to abandon any thoughts of exploring this particular room, not least as their lamps appeared to have no effect on the darkness inside. Although this room went unexplored, many other rooms didn’t.

As the team ventured through the network, they noted multiple urns and statues, all decorated with ancient Egyptian-style hieroglyphics. Even more remarkable, these same styles of symbols were discovered carved into many of the rocky walls of the tunnel network, as well as into a large stone table. Incidentally, there is no record of any deciphering or translation of these symbols, although it is worth mentioning that there have been discoveries of similar symbols in a cave along another stretch of the Colorado River in southern Arizona.

The most remarkable discovery, however, came in a chamber at the end of the tunnel that was separate from the others. Kinkaid claimed that as soon as he entered this particular room, he could see evidence of meticulous planning and advanced engineering. Moreover, the room was full of large statues that had been intricately carved, multiple copper vessels, as well as various swords and spears. Most astonishing of all, though, was the discovery of several mummies, each of which was remarkably well preserved and each around nine feet in height. Although these mummies were extremely similar to those found in ancient Egypt, they were wrapped in a strange, dark material as opposed to white linen.

These mummies, along with the strange symbols, were not the only potential connection to ancient Egypt. Rumors began to circulate in the years following Kinkaid’s expedition that they had also discovered a large boat in the same style as vessels discovered in ancient Egyptian locations, leading to some researchers into the case in the years since asking if there was some kind of direct connection between to the ancient Egyptian civilization, or even to the Atlanteans.

Of course, underlying this connection is the fact that the apparent civilization that once called the Grand Canyon home (if indeed there was such a civilization) was the fact that they were, technically at least, giants. Were these apparent giants of the Grand Canyon connected to ancient Egypt through trade, or was this evidence of some kind of unrecorded migration? Or, given their literal stature, were these mummies the remains of ancient Egyptian gods who had, for reasons unknown, retreated to what is modern-day North America?

As we might imagine, many are more than skeptical about such claims. There are, though, many things to consider, perhaps not least that Kinkaid, rather than being some kind of rogue explorer, had been commissioned to undertake the expedition by the Smithsonian Institution (although we should note that the organization has always denied such discoveries were made). We might also ask just why Kinkaid would have risked his reputation by making such claims if they weren’t true, and, given Kinkaid’s experience, it is highly unlikely that he had misidentified such findings.  

Adding a further twist to the whole affair were the claims in the years that followed that the entrance Kinkaid had discovered had been sealed shut by a mysterious government agency group. If this is true, we might ask, what do such dark agencies fear humanity will learn that requires it to be suppressed? Of course, if there was any truth to such claims, then not only would it suggest that advanced human civilization was on the North American continent long before mainstream academics state, but that such legends of “giants” are also true, both of which would force major rethinks on human history.

There are also apparent connections to ancient Egypt. Is it possible, for example, that the ancient Egyptians made it much further – all the way to North America – than is known? And once there, did they encounter a race of giants – each standing around nine feet tall – and is that where legends of giants stem from? It is worth noting that there have been many alleged discoveries of gigantic remains in North America, many of which have been documented in newspaper articles from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century (with alleged discoveries still happening today, albeit fewer and further between). Or might this potential giant civilization have arrived in Egypt, and then taken certain artifacts back with them? Once more, we might ask, was this giant race seen as “the gods” of ancient Egypt, and if so, what is their origin – are they indigenous to our planet or might they have come here from elsewhere?  

Perhaps one of the most intriguing and disturbing underground locations is one alleged to stretch out from deep under Moscow, a product of the Cold War that some insist remains operational today. The location in question is said to reside deep under the Moscow Metro rail network, referred to as Metro-2, and rather than just being one level below the metro system, some researchers have suggested that this secret underground network stretches to 15 levels below the Russian capital.

It is said that this secret rail network was discreetly built at the same time as the public metro system, which, despite plans being in place since the early 1900s, did not start until 1931. According to some sources, many of the workers of the metro system were political opponents of the Stalin regime. There were, though, certain “loyal workers” – often members of the Russian military – who were taken off the project, and directed to another, secret line – Metro 2.

As we might imagine, with such a secretive location, information is sketchy at best. Some believe that the line, while almost certainly built, ceased to be operational upon Stalin’s death. Others, though, believe the work continued for decades, even after the fall of the Soviet Union. One researcher – Yuri Zaitsev – claims there are four main lines to the Metro-2 system, which connect the Federal Security Services to various government departments and buildings, including the government airport at Vnukovo.

Perhaps making such claims of secret rail network existing and still operating deep under Moscow even more intriguing are claims made by the head of the Moscow Metro independent trade union, Yuri Saitsev, in 2008 that there was a “recruiting drive for secret routes” among metro drivers, adding that “entering the midst of these tunnels is only for people with special clearance!” Further details suggest that the trains in operation on the Metro-2 system are “very short”, very often with only one passenger car and operated by an electric battery.

Yuri Saitsev is not the only person to have seemingly confirmed the existence of Metro-2. Also in 2008, Mikhail Poltorani, a former minister under Boris Yeltsin, stated that not only did the secret rail network exist, but that it could “hide a lot of people!” He elaborated that “Metro-2 has branches that go to the suburbs so that the command could move away from the epicenter of a nuclear attack!”

It is also worth our time examining the 1992 book Abyss by Vladimir Gonik, or more specifically, his inspiration for it. The plot of the book is set in an underground bunker in Moscow, although he claimed – after the fall of the Soviet Union, remember – that this plot and the details around it stem directly from information he learned while working for the Soviet Ministry of Defense from the early 1970s to the mid-80s. He stated that it was during this time that the term “Metro-2” began being used, mainly by high-ranking members of the Politburo, as well as high-ranking members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Further details, if we assume Gonik’s claims are accurate, offer that each of these elite, high-ranking members had a personal underground apartment, complete lounge, bathroom, kitchen, and study, with each being large enough to house them and their families.  

Another former Soviet minister – Alexander Muzykantskiy – claimed the Metro-2 system was “gigantic” and was “designed to ensure the stable operation of the senior military and political leadership in times of armed conflict, including nuclear conflict!” Oleg Gordievsky, another researcher and Soviet defector, made similar claims, stating that the main secret of the KGB was “a huge underground city. A whole communications network of such facilities!”

Of course, despite the wealth of people offering that the secret rail system exists, most people dismiss such claims as nothing but conspiracy theories, including the Russian authorities themselves. However, there are other reasons to believe that such claims are true, if only in part – and one of these is a “vacant lot” in the south-west district of Moscow, Remenki, and so named, Remenki-43 According to some researchers, in this seemingly abandoned lot, is an entrance to a huge underground bunker said to be able to house up to 15,000 people, and connected to other similar networks by the Metro-2 rail system.

With those claims in mind, it is worth examining other potential entrance and exit points to Metro-2 at other similar, seemingly abandoned buildings. In 1985, for example, five years after it had begun, work suddenly ceased on the would-be state-of-the-art Khovrino Hospital complex, with the site simply being abandoned. Needless to say, the unfinished complex attracted all manner of unsavory characters, including several apparent Satanic cults. One member of a film crew who was there to film a documentary stated that it was “one of the most feared unfinished construction projects on the planet!” It is also rumored, at least by some, to be another secretive entrance to the equally secret underground network.

It is also worth highlighting another abandoned building, the Rossiya Hotel, right in the heart of Moscow, which was demolished in 2006. The hotel had opened in 1967 and was for the sole use of Communist Party officials, and before its construction, an entire section of the city was flattened to the ground to build it. Following its destruction, though, those on the demolition team made some remarkable discoveries, not least an underground tunnel system that led to some kind of nuclear bunker. The person in charge of the destruction of the hotel and the development of the land was Shalva Chigirinsky. He claimed that shortly after they made the discovery, “mysterious agents” arrived at the site. He later claimed in interviews with the media that “some people in plain clothes are not allowing us access to an area where there is a tunnel from the Kremlin!”

Ultimately, it appears if there is any truth in the claims of a secret rail network connecting a vast underground city deep below Moscow and the surrounding areas, then those secrets continue to be covered up today, perhaps, as the powers on the world stage in the mid-2020s are seemingly in flux somewhat, for the same reasons they were during the Cold War of the second half of the twentieth century. There are, though, other claims regarding the strange goings-on in the alleged underground facilities under Moscow, ones that stretch back to the years immediately following the end of the Second World War, and it is to those we will turn our attention to next.

According to Russian UFO researcher Anton Anfalov, in the summer of 1947, as Soviet soldiers began the rebuilding operation of Kyiv (in modern-day Ukraine), a huge, silver object was discovered around 15 feet under the ground. It is not clear if the object had been purposely abandoned or if it had crashed, but Soviet troops soon cordoned off the area, and the object was discreetly transported to Podlipki (now called Korolyev) just outside Moscow. Further according to the report, once Soviet scientists had examined the otherworldly object, they made some remarkable discoveries.

It was determined that, rather than being a top-secret advanced craft of the Americans or the Third Reich, the object had been underground for approximately 5000 years. Moreover, they eventually managed to gain access to the inside of the craft, which contained multiple advanced technological instruments. They also discovered two small chairs in what was presumed to be the cockpit area of the craft, each presumably for the pilots, which must have been much smaller than a typical adult human, around three to four feet tall. Ultimately, it was determined that the craft was “not of terrestrial origin” and was of “non-human manufacture!” Further examination of the craft led scientists to conclude that this section was only the front part of the craft, with the rest either residing under the ground elsewhere or even destroyed at the time of the impact. There were also discoveries of strange inscriptions in the cabin similar to ancient Sanskrit, which led those studying the object to consider whether it was some kind of Vimana documented in ancient Indian texts.

Anfalov continued that scientists even managed to reverse-engineer parts of the technology they discovered in the craft, with which, they managed to greatly upgrade their own rocket and missile systems. Most of this technology was so far advanced that scientists and engineers struggled to understand the vast majority of it. That said, we might ask whether it is a coincidence or not that the Soviet Union managed to launch history’s first satellite only a decade later.

Whatever the truth, in the book The World’s Weirdest Places, Nick Redfern relays the claims of one-time KGB officer, V L Durov, who claimed that not only was the account of a recovered UFO from Kyiv true, but that in 1987, the vehicle was transported to a secret bunker “far below the Kremlin” – almost certainly on the Metro-2 line.  Durov elaborated that this was done using a “series of very deep underground rail systems” that had originally been designed to “ferry and protect senior government and military personnel in the event of a nuclear strike on Moscow!”

With this idea of advanced vehicles from another world being stored deep under the ground of modern cities, it is perhaps worth our time returning to the United Kingdom and claims of otherworldly craft residing under the grounds of a stately home in the south of England, specifically, Rudloe Manor near the city of Bath. The property and the ground upon which it sits date back to the times of King Henry III in the 1200s, and progressed through the hands of various lords and nobility until Countess Raben sold the entire estate to the Air Ministry in 1940 to aid with the war effort.

Upon purchasing the grounds, the many underground mining tunnels around the estate were modified by the military to accommodate the building of warplanes underground, safe from German bombing missions. This was the case with many such stately homes around the UK during the early 1940s, however, unlike most of these estates, following the end of the war, Rudloe Manor remained in the hands of the British military, and the reason for this, at least according to some, was because deep below the ground in the tunnel network was the remains of a craft from another world.

Here, it is worth mentioning the claims of the late and respected journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. She claimed as far back as the late 1950s that she had been informed by a “British Official of Cabinet rank” that the British government (through their military) had recovered a crashed UFO shortly after the war, with the futuristic vehicle being stored under Rudloe Manor. Further according to Kilgallen’s source, multiple of the United Kingdom’s top scientists had been involved in reverse-engineering projects on the vehicle that had “come from another world!”

As we might imagine, the British military denied the claims, stating that Kilgallen must have been the victim of a hoax. Coincidentally or not, Kilgallen, who was also investigating the John F. Kennedy assassination, died in suspicious circumstances shortly after making such claims. We should perhaps make of that what we will.

Whatever the truth of the matter, Rudloe Manor remains a place of secrecy today, over three-quarters of a century after the end of the Second World War, surrounded by high-security military fencing. With this in mind, it is perhaps also worth mentioning that the entire Wiltshire region is a hotspot of UFO activity. Might this be because of alleged advanced aerial vehicles being housed underground at Rudloe Manor, with subsequent test flights of reverse-engineered technology taking place from there?

What is known is that Rudloe Manor once acted as the headquarters for the RAF Provost and Security Services (PSS), a covert-type organization that deals with “special security needs” and connects to such organizations as MI5 and MI6. We might imagine, then, that if such an organization has its headquarters on the property, it would make sense to house such a possession as a downed UFO in the same place.

There are also claims that the network below the property stretches down several floors, with bunkers for high-ranking government and military officials, and even the Royal Family. There are even claims from some researchers that other bunkers stretch down even further, although these levels are seemingly off-limits to all but a very select few.

Here, it is worth highlighting the work of Timothy Good, who, in his 1991 book Alien Liaison, claimed that a source who worked for the PSS told him that all UFO reports submitted in the United Kingdom are fed through the PSS at Rudloe Manor. From there, they were sent to a Metropole Building on Northumberland Lane in London before being sent to the relevant department of the Ministry of Defense. Interestingly or not, another UFO researcher, Gordon Creighton, had independently claimed that one of his sources was a former United States intelligence officer who worked out of the very same building on Northumberland Lane. Moreover, declassified files since the release of Alien Liaison have proven Good’s claims to be correct. As a demonstration of the discreet nature of the activities at Rudloe Manor, Good’s source claimed that “the activities of this unit are so secret that fellow investigators serving in the Special Investigations and Counter-Intelligence services are not aware of their activities!”

With all of this in mind, it is also worth examining the activities of the Corsham Computer Centre (CCC), an underground facility in Wiltshire. This “data processing” unit employs around 4000 people, all of whom can only enter and leave the building following strict procedures, and who must have their ID with them at all times. According to some researchers, several tunnels lead from this secretive underground facility directly to the underground facility below Rudloe Manor, with some even calling this network an “underground city!”

There are several discreet entrances to the main underground entrance of the CCC building, including through old mining caves and old railway tunnels. Several people have gained access to the outside of the inner facility through these unorthodox entrances and reported seeing extensive and modern lighting systems, as well as fully tarmacked roads. The 24-hour television news channel Sky News received permission to film at the facility in September 2000. Whether it was an error of judgment on the CCC’s part, during that broadcast, huge ventilation fans similar to jumbo jet engines were visible, as well as some kind of nuclear bunkers and a rail network – and it was this rail network, it is claimed by some, that lead directly to the underground facility at Rudloe Manor. Further, according to other researchers, a huge computer network exists at the CCC, which connects to systems at GCHQ and the NSA, with further suggestions that one of the underground rail networks even leads directly to Westminster and the heart of the British government.

As we can see, then, there is a lot more going on under the ground than many of us might think. Whether it is the ghosts of old rail stations, strange creatures in tunnels and sewer networks, ancient discoveries suppressed by the authorities, or even top-secret subterranean lairs for the world’s elites, deep below the ground holds much fascination, as well as, it would appear, many secrets. Indeed, further study of these fascinating subterranean locations could very well tell us much more about the nature of our collective reality.