---
title: "DARPA Needs a Creepy Underground Lair ASAP"
description: "In an inexplicable tweet, DARPA called all city dwellers to please find them \"commercially managed underground urban tunnels and facilities.\""
date: "2019-08-28"
modified: "2019-08-28"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/darpa-needs-a-creepy-underground-lair-asap"
categories:
  - "DARPA"
  - "Military"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "DARPA"
  - "subterranean tunnels"
  - "the digest"
  - "underground space"
---

# DARPA Needs a Creepy Underground Lair ASAP

![In an inexplicable tweet, DARPA called all city dwellers to please find them "commercially managed underground urban tunnels and facilities."](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/darpa-needs-a-creepy-underground-lair-asap.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Image via NeedPix/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Going Underground

Sounds like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was just kicked out of mom's basement.

In an [inexplicable tweet](<https://twitter.com/DARPA/status/1166736432901308416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>), DARPA asked for help finding "commercially managed underground urban tunnels and facilities able to host research and experimentation."

And nobody knows why.

## Deep Cover

The facilities need to be "currently closed off from pedestrians" and ideally spans "several city blocks with complex layout."

Sound creepy? Well, the accompanying images attached to the tweet confirmed our worst nightmares: DARPA is starting a cult or filming the sequel of "Blade: Trinity" — though we're not entirely sure which.

https://twitter.com/DARPA/status/1166736432901308416

## Short Notice

Making matters even more bizarre, DARPA needs its creepy underground lair by Friday, August 30 — that's just two days from the time of writing, so better call your landlord. Or the [Crypt Keeper](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MrpsjIL58I>).

Jokes aside, our guess is that DARPA's search is related to its upcoming [Subterranean Challenge](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/subterranean-challenge-darpa>), a contest that challenges teams from around the country to create robots that can map, navigate, and search complex underground environments, such as man-made tunnels, natural cave systems, and subterranean urban infrastructure.

An early stage of the competition was held August 15 to 22 [inside mining tunnels](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/robots-explore-caves-distant-planets>) under Pittsburgh — but it sounds like DARPA might not have the next location quite locked down.

**READ MORE:** [DARPA is seeking giant abandoned tunnels for... reasons](<https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/28/darpa-wants-abandoned-tunnels/>) \[*Engadget*\]

**More on DARPA:** *[These Robots Could One Day Explore Caves on Distant Planets](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/robots-explore-caves-distant-planets>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)