Richard Sauder
Richard Sauder is an American researcher and author specializing in the investigation of deep underground military bases, secret underground tunnels, and clandestine subterranean installations operated by the US government and military. His rigorous methodology — combining Freedom of Information Act requests, declassified documents, publicly available defense records, and firsthand witness testimony — has produced what UAP Gerb describes as three "dense masterpieces": Underground Bases and Tunnels: What Is the Government Trying to Hide?, Hidden in Plain Sight: Beyond the X-Files, and Underground and Underwater Bases. These works serve as the primary reference material for UAP Gerb's investigation into DUMBs and UFO legacy programs.
| Role | Author and researcher on deep underground bases and underwater military installations |
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Methodology and Research
Sauder's approach to DUMB research is grounded in publicly available documentation rather than speculation. He has obtained FOIA documents confirming underground facilities beneath locations such as Manzano Mountain at Kirtland Air Force Base, cross-referencing witness testimony against official records to establish factual baselines. His research into Los Alamos National Laboratory's underground installations exemplifies this process: after repeated DOE denials of any underground facilities, Sauder eventually obtained a badly blurred copy of an article describing an underground facility built in the late 1940s, confirming earlier denials were false.
Sauder has also documented the testimony of multiple military and government insiders. A Navy veteran stationed at China Lake, for example, confirmed to Sauder that the facility extends one mile deep and contains "weapons more powerful than nuclear weapons." Through informants, Sauder also learned that some Bureau of Reclamation tunnels in the American Southwest have served as cover for clandestine secondary tunnel boring operations.
Bill Hamilton Connection
Sauder spoke at length with researcher Bill Hamilton regarding Hamilton's network map of underground UAP facilities across the American West and Southwest. As of UAP Gerb's DUMBs video (circa 2024–2025), Sauder had spoken with UAP Gerb for approximately two to three hours and agreed to appear on a future collaborative project. Sauder has made statements to UAP Gerb about specific installations that he had not previously disclosed publicly.
Key Findings on Tunneling and Transport
Sauder's research into underground transportation includes documentation of high-speed rail systems allegedly connecting classified facilities. He referenced reports of underground rail systems connecting Area 51 from Mercury, Nevada, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division. An informant told Sauder that approximately 10 men are needed to operate a TBM, and that in good rock conditions a TBM can bore up to 10 miles per year — a rate suggesting that facilities like China Lake and Edwards AFB could be connected by tunnel in as few as five and a half years.
A key FOIA document Sauder obtained from the military-industrial complex provided hard estimates for personnel required to build and operate a deeply buried, hundreds-of-miles-long tunnel system: 7,800 to 8,700 people, at a total cost estimated in the neighborhood of $17 billion over a 10-year period.