What’s Hiding Beneath Sedona? The Legend of the Secret Military Base
Sedona, Arizona, is no stranger to the unexplained. UFOs. Strange lights. Energy vortexes. Alleged portals. Unmarked helicopters. And, of course, Bradshaw Ranch...a property outside Sedona that has accumulated enough paranormal stories to earn comparisons to Utah’s Skinwalker Ranch. But one of the stranger Sedona stories isn't about something coming from the sky. It's about what might be underneath the ground.
For decades, rumors have circulated that somewhere beneath the mountains and canyons northwest of Sedona lies a secret military installation possibly connected to an extensive underground tunnel system. There is no publicly confirmed military base beneath Sedona. But the story didn't appear out of nowhere.
The Secret Mountain Rumors
One location repeatedly mentioned in the legend is appropriately named Secret Mountain, northwest of Sedona.
By the 1990s, stories were circulating about unusual military activity in the region. A 1997 report later reproduced in an Arizona MUFON newsletter collected claims from local residents describing black helicopters, armed personnel, restricted areas and possible military operations around the Secret Mountain wilderness. One witness claimed he and friends encountered a fenced installation while exploring the area and were ordered to leave by armed men dressed in military-style clothing. Other accounts described hikers allegedly being confronted or turned around. None of these stories proves the existence of a base.
But they helped establish a legend that has survived for nearly three decades.
Then There's Bradshaw Ranch
Anyone who has followed The 918 Files for a while probably already knows about Bradshaw Ranch. Located outside Sedona near Loy Butte, the ranch became famous during the 1990s for reports of UFOs, glowing orbs, unusual creatures and other unexplained phenomena.
But there is another part of the Bradshaw story that receives less attention: claims of underground activity. According to stories attributed to former ranch owner Bob Bradshaw, vibrations were sometimes felt around the property during periods when alleged tunneling operations were supposedly occurring in the surrounding region. Over the years, that story evolved into a much larger theory. What if Bradshaw Ranch wasn't simply located near a paranormal hotspot? What if it was sitting above, or near, something underground?
The Underground Tunnel Theory
Modern versions of the Sedona base theory generally involve a network of tunnels running beneath portions of the region. Researchers and paranormal investigators have suggested possible connections between Secret Mountain, Bradshaw Ranch and locations farther west toward Clarkdale.
Some versions of the theory become considerably more extreme, involving enormous underground installations, advanced aircraft and even non-human intelligence. Those claims require an enormous amount of evidence. At the moment, that evidence simply isn't publicly available.
But the underground component of the story received renewed attention after investigators associated with Beyond Skinwalker Ranch examined the Bradshaw Ranch area. Investigators have claimed their measurements suggested underground structures or anomalies, although interpreting those findings as a secret military tunnel system remains speculation. The show's investigators also reported unusual interference during their work. However, they acknowledged that they did not encounter uniformed military personnel at the ranch. That distinction matters. Something unusual on an instrument isn't automatically a secret government installation.
The Government Really Does Own Bradshaw Ranch
Here's where the story gets interesting. The federal government actually does own Bradshaw Ranch. But the documented history isn't quite as mysterious as some versions of the story suggest. The ranch remained in private ownership until 2000. It subsequently passed through private and nonprofit ownership before being purchased by the U.S. Forest Service in 2001. That contradicts one persistent version of the legend claiming the government seized the ranch through eminent domain because officials wanted to investigate its paranormal activity.
Today, part of Bradshaw Ranch is used by Northern Arizona University's Southwest Experimental Garden Array, where researchers study how plants respond to changing environmental conditions. Researchers working there have said they haven't witnessed paranormal phenomena and aren't aware of secret tunnels or a military base beneath the property.
So we have a perfectly mundane explanation for at least some of the equipment, fencing and government presence around the ranch. But that hasn't killed the legend. Not even close.
The Military Activity Question
Military aircraft appearing over Arizona isn't particularly shocking. The state has a significant military presence, training areas and some of the largest stretches of relatively empty airspace in the country. Seeing a military helicopter near Sedona therefore isn't evidence that a classified installation exists beneath Secret Mountain. But that's also why the story is difficult to completely dismiss.
If classified testing were taking place somewhere in northern Arizona, strange aircraft and military activity could easily become mixed together with UFO sightings, paranormal stories and local folklore. Eventually it becomes almost impossible to determine where observation ends and mythology begins. Maybe someone really saw an unusual military aircraft. Someone else remembers an unexplained light. Another person hears a story about underground blasting.
Twenty years later, those separate stories become:
There's a secret military base underneath Sedona.
That's how legends are built. But occasionally legends begin with something real.
So…Is There Actually a Base?
At this point, there is no publicly verified evidence establishing the existence of a secret underground military installation beneath Sedona. No authenticated government documents have surfaced confirming it. No independently verified entrance has been documented. And the researchers actually working at Bradshaw Ranch have offered much more ordinary explanations for what's happening on the property. That should carry significant weight. At the same time, the history of the rumor is real. People have reported unusual military activity around the Sedona backcountry for decades. Stories involving helicopters, restricted areas, vibrations, convoys and underground facilities existed long before today's YouTube videos and paranormal television programs. And that makes the Sedona military-base legend worth investigating. Not because we should automatically believe it. But because we shouldn't automatically dismiss it either.
The 918 Files Verdict
Confirmed: The federal government owns Bradshaw Ranch.
Confirmed: Northern Arizona University conducts research on part of the property.
Documented as claims: Residents and researchers have reported unusual military activity around the Sedona region for decades.
Unconfirmed: A large underground tunnel network beneath the area.
Unconfirmed: A secret military installation beneath Secret Mountain.
Very unconfirmed: Claims that the facility houses UFOs, non-human beings or technology recovered from somewhere other than Earth.
So what's beneath the red rocks? Probably geology. Possibly infrastructure we don't know much about. Maybe something classified. And, according to the most extreme version of the story, something considerably stranger. Until somebody produces evidence that can withstand serious scrutiny, the alleged Sedona underground base belongs exactly where we like things at The 918 Files:
In the file marked UNEXPLAINED.
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