Cave Explorers Find Bizarre 'Substance' 700 Feet Underground

Spelunking isn’t for everyone. Entering a cave means leaving the surface world behind while you travel underground for an indeterminate amount of time, relying on headlamps and lanterns for light. And who knows what's hiding in the darkness? But that mystery drives experts from all over the world to pack their equipment and head into the Carlsbad Caverns. And, in the cool damp blackness, one team of researchers found an unidentified substance that resembled "thick lime yogurt." They were told not to let it touch their skin at all costs.

Our six explorers

In 2019, six explorers packed their gear and headed to southern New Mexico, home to the Carlsbad Caverns. Max Wisshak, Shawn Thomas, Hazel Barton, Beth Cortright, Andy Armstrong, and James Hunter had devised an exploration plan and presented it to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park’s Cave Resources Office. The office approved, and the exploration was on.

How it got here

Wisshak and his team knew the stakes of their mission. One of the most famous cavern systems in the U.S., Carlsbad Caverns National Park spans 70 square miles and contains more than 80 caves. The system was created 250 million years ago when enormous marine predators dominated the ever-changing planet.

First people to find it

Native peoples first discovered the caves. Before colonizers forced Indigenous peoples off their lands, the Zuni Pueblo and Mescalero Apaches were exploring the Carlsbad Caverns themselves. Once the tribes were gone, the caves were forgotten for years — who knows what happened after all those years?

Making it official

Once Carlsbad was rediscovered, photographer Ray V. David helped popularize the system in 1923. His pictures of the caverns excited the government, and they declared it a national monument that same year. Seven years later, the system was designated as a national park. With the park protected by bureaucracy, even fewer explorers were allowed inside.