A split between two researchers behind last year's Giza discovery has erupted into a public row over claims of a hidden second Sphinx.

Radar engineer Filippo Biondi stunned the world last week when he announced on the Matt Beall Limitless podcast that satellite radar scans had revealed what he believes is a mirror image of the Great Sphinx buried beneath Egypt's Giza Plateau.

But now his former colleague, Egyptologist Armando Mei, who previously worked alongside Biondi on research into underground structures at Giza, has rejected the claim, exposing a deep divide between the once-aligned researchers.

'From both a personal and scientific standpoint, I do not believe that a second Sphinx exists on the Giza Plateau,' Mei told the Daily Mail.

He said this conclusion was based on multiple lines of analysis, including archaeological, geometric, geological and tomographic evidence, which he argued do not support the existence of a second monument.

The dispute marked a dramatic turn between the two men, who were previously part of the Khafre Research Project that announced in March 2025 the discovery of massive shafts and chambers beneath the pyramids and the Great Sphinx.

Biondi, however, has insisted that his analysis of ancient imagery and geometric symmetry points to what he believes is a hidden twin monument beneath the plateau. 

'We have recently gathered some extremely satisfying experimental results that offer a different perspective,' he told the Daily Mail, adding that final results will be presented at a conference in Bologna on June 21.

Biondi has also pushed back against online critics who have challenged his findings, saying recent comparisons made using Google Earth imagery lacked the scientific rigor required for professional aerial analysis.

Despite the ongoing debate, Biondi expressed respect for leading Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass, who has previously dismissed the claims.

'I want to express my deepest and most sincere respect for him and his immensely important academic standing,' Biondi said.

Mei, however, has described the second Sphinx claim as unsupported and inaccurate.

'Speculative announcements are altering the nature of the research and are placing what remains of the team in a position of opposition, rather than convergence, with the Egyptian authorities,' he said.