"MYSTERY SPOTS AND GRAVITY HILLS" > Page 1, 2

Gravity Hill - Franklin Lakes, N.J.
This gravity hill on the Ewing Avenue exit of Rt. 208 South has one of those "ghost child" stories attached to it. The reason cars appear to roll uphill in defiance of gravity is because the ghost of a little girl pushes them that way. The little girl, the story goes, was killed by a passing car when she dashed into the road to fetch a ball. It's either that or some kind of anomalous magnetic field, they say, which also causes balls to roll up the hill instead of down. MORE INFORMATION

Mystery Hill - Blowing Rock, N.C.
The Mystery House in this N.C. attraction is said to have a stronger-than-normal gravitational pull to the north. A person can apparently stand at a 45-degree angle, they say, and balls can be shown to roll up an incline. The site also features some other optical illusions and puzzles. MORE INFORMATION

Cosmos Mystery Area - Rapid City, S.D.
Situated just six miles from the Mount Rushmore National Monument, the Cosmos Mystery Area on Hwy. 16 features a house where no one appears to be able stand up straight. A ball placed on a plank will appear to roll up it. "You can even stand on the wall!" says the promotional literature. MORE INFORMATION

Gravity Hill - Salt Lake City, Utah
This gravity hill is located a few blocks northwest of the Capitol building in Salt Lake City. On a road that leads down into a canyon, supposedly, gravity works against known physics. If you stop at the bottom of the hill here, they say, and put your car in neutral, the car will coast back uphill out of the canyon. There's a legend behind this one, too. Someone named Elmo is buried in the area, so the story goes, and his gravestone glows blue at midnight. It's the force of this ghostly presence that warps gravity.

What's the Explanation?

Is something paranormal taking place at all these mystery spots and gravity hills? Are there strange magnetic vortexes and bizarre gravity anomalies to account for the apparent phenomena reported by hundreds and hundreds of visitors? Or are these simply optical illusions?

Although it is well known that gravity is not uniform everywhere on Earth, there are no known areas where it has been scientifically proven that gravity does not act the way it is supposed to act. Of course this does not prove that such areas can exist or do exist, but the mystery spot attractions around the country and the hundreds of "gravity hills" are probably not among them.

As fun, entertaining, even baffling as these spots can be, it's unlikely that the cause is paranormal in any way - no vortexes, gravity anomalies or even ghost children.

As made clear at "Mystery Spots Explained," they are "cleverly engineered tourist attractions" designed to create convincing optical illusions. The "mystery houses," always constructed on steep inclines, take advantage of the fact that the human eye and brain can be easily fooled by deliberate distortions in perspective and odd angles. In this way, people can appear to always be standing at impossible angles, even on walls; balls and water only seem to move uphill; and pendulums just look as though they don't work quite right.

Similar illusions are at work on the so-called "gravity hills." Cars and tennis balls that look as though they are rolling uphill are actually being pulled downhill by gravity. Optical illusions created by the lay of the land and surrounding landscape fool the eye into thinking that the laws of physics are being defied. (If you want to check out these places for yourself, roadsideamerica.com offers a "Mystery Spot Test Kit.")

Despite these scientific explanations, mystery spots and gravity hills can be a source of wonder, curiosity and fun. Just don't expect anything paranormal to occur.  

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