India’s Border Security Force has found a secret tunnel working its way from Pakistan, under barbed wire fencing, into the contested territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It was about ten feet deep, three to four feet high and about half the length of a football field. The tunnelers had not yet broken through to the India-controlled side of the border.

Secret cross-border tunnels are usually built for nefarious purposes, and, indeed, the Indian security forces say the tunnel was intended for Pakistani infiltration of Indian-controlled areas and as a channel for arms and ammunition to cross the border. In particular, they worried that the tunnels intended to disrupt the Hindu Amarnath pilgrimage, in which worshippers travel to a cave shrine high in the mountains to visit the stalagmite that forms there. 

Finding secret tunnels is very difficult, and most are located either by accident or because security forces have been tipped off to their location. This one was found as part of a pre-planned anti-tunnel campaign and is the fourth tunnel that Indian security forces have found in the past four years. 

Bonus finds: The furthest galaxy ever seen, methane snow on Pluto, an albino whale

Every day, we highlight one newly found object, curiosity or wonder. Discover something amazing? Tell us about it! Send your finds to sarah.laskow@atlasobscura.com.