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Gravity hill

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A gravity hill (also known as a gravity road) is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces the optical illusion that a very slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope. Thus, a car left out of gear will appear to be rolling uphill. There are hundreds of known gravity hill locations around the world.

File:Ladakh - Magnetic Hill 1.jpg
Magnetic Hill in Ladakh, India
Magnetic Hill in Ladakh, India

Explanation

The slope of a gravity hill is an optical illusion. Local guides may claim unexplained natural or even supernatural forces are at work, but the reality is less exotic. The most important factor contributing to the illusion is a completely or mostly obstructed horizon—without a horizon, judging the slope of a surface is difficult, as a reliable reference is missing. Objects one would normally assume to be more-or-less perpendicular to the ground (such as trees) may actually be leaning, offsetting the visual reference.

These "paranormal sites" also tend to have names like "Haunted Hill", "Magnetic Hill", or "Anti-gravity Hill", reflecting attribution by local folklore of the unusual properties of the area to such "mysteries" as the supernatural or magnetism. However, as the names also suggest, these areas are typically found in hill country, suggesting to skeptics that the actual effect being experienced is optical illusion due to mildly sloped ground being interpreted by the eye as horizontal, particularly where no distant horizon is visible as a reference.

While humans also have a sense of balance to determine the inclination of the ground, visual cues can override this sense, especially if the inclination is shallow. Many may try to take advantage of the basic flaws in human perception by claiming unnatural and unexplaned behaviors occurring in that area.

Locations

Australia

  • Woodend, Victoria: Straws Lane, near Hanging Rock. Hanging Rock was made famous by the 1967 book Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, which depicted the unexplained disappearance of three young schoolgirls and their teacher. This optical illusion has contributed to the mystery surrounding the area.
  • Forrestfield, Western Australia: Holmes Road, halfway between Whistlepipe Gully and Crempet Creek, locally known as "Gravity Hill"
  • Toowoomba, Queensland: A part of Prince Henry Drive--known locally as Gravity Point--appears to be on a slope, but your car won't move when placed in neutral.

Belize

  • Hummingbird Highway: Halfway between Dangriga and Belmopan there is a gravity hill on the scenic Hummingbird Highway.

Brazil

Canada

Dominican Republic

England

Google Maps Link: http://www.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=51.7941+-0.6996&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=51.792904,-0.699434&spn=0.011785,0.054245&om=1

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Ireland

  • Comeragh mountains, Co. Waterford Located on the road to Mahon falls
  • Cooley Mountains, Co. Louth. Located north of Dundalk. Known locally as "Magic Hill."

India

Italy

  • At the edge of Lago Albano, 60 km south of Rome, a hill along SS218 between Rocca di Papa and Ariccia, coordinates 41°44′05″N 12°41′30″E / 41.73472°N 12.69167°E / 41.73472; 12.69167Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function.
  • On the way up the mount of Castellamare dell golfo Province of trapani in Sicili

Poland

Philippines

  • Piccard in Los Banos, Laguna
  • 52km signpost on the Bacolod to San Carlos highway, Negros Occidental

Portugal

  • Braga: A road in a wood near the church of Bom Jesus
  • Cascais: A road on a hill near Malveira da Serra and Guincho beach

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

East Coast

Midwest

Kirtland, Ohio; King Memorial Road

The South

  • Helena, Arkansas: Sulphur Springs Road
  • Fayetteville, Arkansas
  • Princeton, Kentucky: About one mile west of Princeton is a gravity hill on a side road to the right. Something unique about this one is that it passes under an old bridge, and comes with a horror story.
  • Covington, Kentucky: Located near the circle overlooking Cincinnati near Devou Park
  • Iuka, Mississippi: Located about 3 miles north of Highway 25 after passing the Tennessee River in Burnsville, Mississippi traveling east.
  • Bartlesville, Oklahoma: E0240 Road and N3940 Road. Face East at the first white fencepost near the corner on E0240 Road.
  • El Paso, Texas: Thunderbird Drive facing south.
  • San Antonio, Texas: At the corner of Villamain and Shane Roads. Travel west on Shane Road to a flat area before a railroad track just east of the right turn onto Villamain. Putting your car in neutral will cause the car to roll up and over the railroad tracks. Urban legend has it that the ghosts of children killed at the intersection are pushing your car over the tracks, and that powdering the back of your car will reveal their handprints. When performing this experiment, any handprints that might appear on your car were probably already there; the powder simply allowed them to show up.
  • Huntsville, Alabama: Big Cove Road
  • Dyer, AR: Ridge Road

West Coast

  • Antioch, California: On Empire Mine Road.
    • From East/West:
      • Exit Highway 4 at Lone Tree Way. Turn right on Deer Valley Road. Turn right on Empire Mine Road.
    • From South:
      • Take Ygnacio Valley Road. Right on Clayton Road. Clayton Road becomes Marsh Creek Road. Left on Deer Valley. Left on Empire Mine Road.
  • Antioch, California: Black Diamond Mines Park
    • Exit Highway 4 at Sommersville South. Follow it until the road runs out. The mine road begins approximately 1.5 to 2.0 miles into the park after passing the information booth.
  • Livermore, California On Patterson Pass road, between Livermore and Tracy. Allegedly on road marker 127.
  • Moorpark, California There is an alleged "Gravity Hill", north of Moorpark, near California State Route 23. Legend says that in the 1940s a school bus broke down at the bottom of a hill, and the children got out of the bus to help push it back up the hill. A tractor from a nearby farm ran over some of the children by accident and killed them, so today, if you put your car in neutral at the bottom of the hill, the ghosts of the children should push you back up the hill. (This is a dangerous thing to do, as the hill is near a rock quarry, and there is a chance of getting hit by a semi truck carrying the rocks).
  • Moreno Valley, California Naison Street exit off of CA-60. Four-way cross street at bottom of overpass.
  • Santa Cruz, California The Mystery Spot at 465 Mystery Spot Road is a spot about 150 feet in diameter located in a redwood forest.
  • Santa Paula, California On the CA 126 headed West. Make a right on the road just before the little red school house.
  • Sonoma County, California From US 101 Freeway, take Rohnert Park Expressway east to Petaluma Hill Road. Petaluma Hill Road south to Roberts Road. Roberts road east to Lichau Road. When you reach an iron gate with the words, "Gracias Santiago," you are the start of the gravity hill section (located on the western slope of Sonoma Mountain near the Fairfield Osborn Preserve).
  • Spring Valley, California La Presa St. north of Jamacha Rd. Not as good as before houses were built there.
  • Vallejo, California Lake Herman Road off of Columbus Parkway. Spot is at the bottom of the first hill where the road merges into single lanes.
  • Gold Hill, Oregon: The Oregon Vortex
  • Klamath Falls, Oregon: Near Old Fort Road and the alleged haunted old Oregon Institute Of Technology campus.
  • Salt Lake City, Utah: A few blocks northeast of the Capitol building in Salt Lake City. Several internet sources say that the hill is northwest of the Capitol building, but it is in fact just northeast. Driving up past the capitol building, with the capitol on your west, there is a small road (Bonneville Blvd.) that loops around a park in lower City Creek Canyon called Memory Grove. The road forms a large "U" and comes out at a nearly equal elevation on the other side of the canyon in a part of town known as "The Avenues" at the intersection of 11th. Avenue and B Street). Unfortunately, what used to be a two-way road was recently converted into a one way street, which goes the opposite direction of the way you need to be going to experience the "paranormal effects" of the gravity hill. However, going the way the road now requires you to, does produce a weird effect. It appears that you are driving downhill while you are in fact gaining in elevation from the valley floor. Although Bonneville Blvd. may be a one-way road, you can ride a bicycle in either direction.
  • Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California: The Haunted Shack: torn down several years ago; a pay ride called Screamin' Swing now inhabits the spot.
  • Devore, California: On Glenn Helen road you'll pass two consecutive train tracks and end up at a stop sign. Make a U-Turn and head towards back towards the tracks, but stop your car at the beginning of a chain link fence on the left hand (driver) side and put your car in neutral, it may take a little bit of time, but you'll always be pushed toward the train tracks. You'll stop at one point, but once you stop drive to the "railroad sign" and put the car back in neutral and they'll push you all the way to the tracks and stop you right before them. If a train is passing during the push they'll push you much faster. "Shadowlands Haunted Places Index". Haunted Places In California. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
  • Mira Mesa, CA ... take Mira Mesa/Sorrento Valley exit while going 805-S... that off ramp is one... careful of cars behind you because it is a freeway exit]

References

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