Case file · Folklore / legend
Death Valley 'giant mummies'
In August 1947 newspapers reported a Los Angeles speaker's claim that a retired doctor, F. Bruce Russell, had found tunnels under Death Valley holding mummies of men eight to nine feet tall and relics 80,000 years old.
1947 CE · 36.46, -116.87 · status: hoax
The account
The story linked to older desert tales of a hidden underground city. Russell reportedly vanished soon after, and the find was never shown to anyone.
The sceptical view
No tunnels, mummies or artefacts were produced; the story appears tied to a scheme to raise money from investors.