AAP FactCheck - Videos falsely claiming to show a secret labyrinth beneath a suburban Sydney shopping centre have some social media users convinced it really exists.
However, the footage shows historical underground sites in the UK and Italy.
Facebook users have posted links to two separate TikTok videos claiming a secret underground network of tunnels and chambers exists beneath Westfield Miranda in Sydney's south.
Several Facebook posts1 link to a TikTok video2 that purports to show access to the underground tunnels via an out of service lift in the shopping centre car park.
Other posts3 link to a TikTok video4 that claims an intriguing bunker system, complete with wartime radio equipment, exists beneath the same shopping centre.
The first video begins at the car park lifts, where an "out of service" elevator is claimed to be the only one out of three that goes down to the secret site.
"I'm going to go in the lift today, gonna put in the secret code," says the person filming.
"And I'll show you guys what sits under the centre."
The video fades to black, then shows a tunnel system of corridors and rooms with exposed brick and limestone walls, which appear to be long-abandoned.
However, a Google reverse image search is much more prosaic, revealing several sources that identify the tunnels as the Champagne Caves, also known as Oil Mills West and Finnis Hill Caves in Dover, England.
The caves are described on a website called Subterranea Britannica5, and images on the site6 show the same underground corridor seen in the TikTok video.
Urban exploring forum Oblivion State7 also features a discussion and photos from the Dover caves, with one image8 showing one of the same rooms seen in the TikTok video9 (timestamp one minute 32 seconds).
The second TikTok video10, posted in April 2025, features walk-through footage of abandoned military-type equipment in rooms with plaster walls and tiled floors, and long corridors with pipes along the walls.
A Google reverse image search of several screengrabs reveals it is from a video on the Exploring the Unbeaten Path11 YouTube channel showing urban explorers visiting an abandoned Cold War bunker in Italy.
A scene in the YouTube video (timestamp 14:34) from December 2020 matches a segment in the TikTok video (timestamp 00:16).
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