A caver who was looking at Google Earth images of the Australian outback was stunned to see evidence of a rare weather phenomenon.

Scientists investigated photos of what appeared to be a ‘scar’ etched across the dusty landscape of the Nullarbor Plain in southern Australia, and discovered a powerful tornado caused it.

Tornadoes do happen in Australia – but only between 30-80 happen each year, compared to the well over 1,000 which happen elsewhere, like in the United States.

Matej Lipar, Adjunt Research Fellow at the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University explained that tornadoes have been reported on every continent except for Antarctica.

Mr Lipar was alerted to the tornado scar and began investigating it to determine when the tornado happened, to better help alert communities in case another forms in the future.

With their research, they were able to find out the tornado happened between November 16 and 18 in 2022.

The massive ‘scar’ stretches for 11 kilometers and reached 250 metres wide – most surprisingly, it bore signs of a very strong tornado, with winds above 200km/hour.

Mr Lipar explained in the Mail: ‘The tornado probably lasted between seven and 13 minutes. Features of the scar suggest the whirling wind within the tornado was moving in a clockwise direction.

‘We also think the tornado moved from west to east – which is consistent with the direction of a strong cold front in the region at the time.’

The tornado is just one of three that have been documented in the Nullarbor Plain, a remote area with few residents.

It’s not the first time Google Earth has revealed some rather odd happenings. Earlier this month, a mysterious jet flying over the wilderness with its distinguishing marks blacked out was spotted on Google Earth.

The aircraft was caught in satellite imagery flying above a vast state park in Alaska with black marks obscuring its identifying features.  

The riddle sparked a lively online discussion among mystery enthusiasts intrigued by the black marks covering areas on the 747-400 where logos and registration numbers are usually placed. 

A red shadow and light from one of the aircraft’s engines can also be seen in the imagery taken over the remote Chena River State Recreation Area, a 254,000-acre park in the US state.  

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