Connective Tunnel Systems
Connective tunnel systems refers to the alleged network of deep underground tunnels linking separate Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBs) and classified facilities across the United States, particularly in the American Southwest and along the East Coast. Distinct from individual DUMB facilities, connective tunnels would allow personnel, materials, and transport vehicles (potentially including maglev rail systems) to travel between installations without surfacing — maintaining the secrecy and security of inter-facility transit.
Evidence Base
The existence of connective tunnel systems is supported by a combination of official documents, witness testimony, and circumstantial analysis:
Official documentation:
- A 1982 US Army/USAF/Navy/DOE workshop report detailed the need for 400 miles of tunnels ranging from 2,500 to 3,500 feet deep for various purposes including housing nuclear missiles, featuring "interconnecting passageways and additional horizontal passageways for storage, living quarters, and other needs." The proposed location was described as "probably in the desert of the western United States."
- The Rand Corporation's 1972 VHST study proposed a continental underground tube transit system at extreme speeds, with a map whose geography corresponds significantly to Bill Hamilton's 1990 DUMB network map.
- A FOIA document obtained by Richard Sauder provided hard estimates for personnel and costs to build and operate a "deeply buried, hundreds-of-mile-long tunnel system": 7,800–8,700 people and approximately $17 billion over 10 years.
Witness testimony:
- An unnamed Army officer in the 2010s told UAP Gerb he traveled via underground train from a fort in Texas to White Sands Missile Range, describing the speed and acceleration as reminiscent of the fear of flying.
- Bill Hamilton's informants described maglev train systems connecting Tehachapi, Helendale, McDonald Douglas, Edwards AFB, and China Lake.
- A source to Hamilton claimed to travel regularly between California desert facilities and the Nevada Test and Training Range.
- Richard Sauder received reports of underground rail systems connecting Area 51 from Mercury, Nevada, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division.
Construction Timeline
UAP Gerb proposes the following timeline for connective tunnel system construction:
- Post-1961: Primary DUMB facilities constructed
- 1972–1974 onward: Connective tunnels begin construction, coinciding with the formation of the National Committee on Tunneling Technology and the publication of major tunnel feasibility studies
- 1980s–1990s: Maglev transportation systems implemented within the established tunnel network, consistent with the timeline of above-board National MagLev Institute research
Bureau of Reclamation Hypothesis
One proposed construction mechanism involves Bureau of Reclamation water conveyance tunnels in the American Southwest as cover for clandestine secondary tunnel boring. Sauder's informants have indicated that TBMs operating within legitimate Bureau tunnels could branch off to bore secondary classified passageways, with excavated material mixed with legitimate tunnel waste and the secondary tunnel's entry point concealed within the primary infrastructure.
Relationship to DUMB Network
The connective tunnel concept is inseparable from the broader Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBs) analysis. Individual DUMBs may be significant on their own as storage or testing sites, but the existence of connecting tunnels would transform the network from a collection of isolated facilities into an integrated underground complex capable of operating as a coherent system.