An Australian caver spotted an 11-km scar and uncovered a hidden Nullarbor tornado

An unusual line across the otherwise open landscape of Australia’s Nullarbor Plain might have gone unnoticed if not for a caver looking at satellite imagery. While browsing Google Earth, he came across a long, narrow disturbance cutting through the remote terrain. There were no buildings nearby, no obvious roads and no reports of a storm that could explain it. From above, the feature looked remarkably clear. It stretched for about 11 kilometres, crossing the border between Western Australia and South Australia. Months later, scientists examining the site and comparing older satellite images reached an explanation.An Australian caver spotted the mysterious scar on Google EarthSatellite images showed a scar between roughly 160 and 250 metres across, extending for kilometres through the dry landscape. Its position also helped explain why the discovery took time. The scar is about 22 kilometres north of the Trans-Australian Railway and roughly 90 kilometres east-northeast of Forrest, a former railway settlement. There is very little regular human activity across the surrounding country, meaning a weather event could pass through without anyone nearby to report it.The researcher used sa...