Throughout late June 2025, social media users claimed that an ancient city more than 12,000 years old had just been uncovered beneath Wyoming's Horse Peak mountain.
The rumor appeared in numerous Facebook posts, where one user wrote (archived): "BREAKING: Ancient City Discovered Beneath Wyoming's Horse Peak Using LiDAR Scanning."
These posts were shared on Facebook nearly a week after a page called Casper Planet originally made the claim (archived), in which it said the underground city covers several square miles and "contains at least four large pyramidal mounds, dozens of stone foundations, and what appears to be an ancient sports complex."
Casper Planet said the discovery was made during a University of Wyoming project studying erosion patterns. The page also quoted a geologist allegedly named Dr. Ellen Binks and a local rancher, the latter of whom supposedly described the ancient sports complex as "either an alien gym or the first high school football stadium in the Rockies." The post continued:
State officials have cordoned off the site for further excavation, although that hasn't stopped several tourists from rappelling down into badger holes looking for "the treasure chamber."
While carbon dating and further exploration are still underway, early signs suggest the site may be over 12,000 years old, raising serious questions about human history in North America and whether Wyoming has been hiding its own ancient civilization beneath the sagebrush this whole time.
Other Facebook users shared the claim, which simultaneously appeared in numerous X posts. Snopes readers also searched our website to verify whether the rumor was true.
However, there was no evidence of an ancient city being discovered in June 2025 beneath Wyoming's Horse Peak, which is located south of the city of Casper according to Google Maps and the United States Geological Survey's website. Jason Burton, a member of the USGS communications team, said via email that "a summit in Wyoming has been labeled as 'Horse Peak' on USGS topographic maps since 1960."
Searching for the terms "ancient city," "Horse Peak" and "Wyoming" on Google returned no results supporting such a discovery (archived). Likewise, a search for "Horse Peak" on the University of Wyoming's website also produced no evidence that the institution had carried out a study on a mountain with such a name, as of this writing (archived).
Chad Baldwin, from the university's communications team, said via email that "there has been no such discovery" by the institution and confirmed that no one called Dr. Ellen Binks works at UW. In fact, Binks did not appear to be a real geologist, according to Google search results (archived).
Rather, the rumor about the alleged discovery originated from the Casper Planet Facebook page — a social media account that describes its output as satirical. Its Intro states: "Did we say this is satire? Well it is, names/locations are made up." The location of the Facebook page is also listed as "Satire Street."
Jim Stafford, a resource analyst at Wyoming State Geological Survey, said via email that the top picture in the Casper Planet Facebook post does show Horse Peak, "a prominent outcrop of Tertiary age sedimentary rock in Carbon County, Wyoming," but the bottom photo was not from the state. He added: "LiDAR models can show land surfaces in high definition and penetrate vegetation, but do not penetrate the land surface or make subterranean features visible."
Casper Planet regularly posts satirical content, including memes, and has acknowledged that it tries to fool readers.
Snopes has previously addressed other satirical stories about Wyoming. One claim featured a stealth drone that supposedly landed in the state demanding fuel, while another alleged that hundreds, or possibly thousands, of grizzly and black bears formed a blockade at an entrance to Yellowstone National Park in March 2025.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.