Gravity hill

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 is in fact an uphill slope. Thus, a car left out of gear will appear to be rolling uphill. There are hundreds of gravity hill locations around the world.

Contents

1 Explanation 2 Locations 2.1 Australia 2.1.1 Victoria 2.1.2 Western Australia 2.2 Brazil 2.3 Canada 2.3.1 New Brunswick 2.4 Caribbean 2.5 Great Britain 2.5.1 Scotland 2.6 Italy 2.7 United States 2.7.1 East Coast 2.7.2 Midwest 2.7.3 The South 2.7.4 West Coast 3 References

Explanation

The slope of a gravity hill is an optical illusion, and gravity has nothing to do with it. 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 it, judging the slope of a surface is very 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 "Antigravity 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 clues can override this sense, especially if the inclination is shallow.

Locations

Australia

Victoria

Woodend - Straws Lane, near Hanging Rock. Hanging Rock was made famous by the 1975 motion picture Picnic at Hanging Rock, which depicted the mysterious disappearance of three young schoolgirls and their teacher. They were never found. This optical illusion has contributed to the mystery surrounding the area.

Western Australia

Forrestfield - Holmes Road, Halfway between Whistlepipe Gully and Crempet Creek, locally known as "Gravity Hill"

Brazil

• Belo Horizonte, Rua do Amendoim

Canada

New Brunswick

• Moncton Magnetic Hill

Caribbean

• Barahona, Dominican Republic "Polo Magnetico" on the road to Polo
• Saddle Road, Trinidad On the road to Maracas Beach

Great Britain

Scotland

• Electric Brae in Ayrshire, on the A719 between Dunure and Croy Bay

Italy

• A hill 60 km south of Rome, at the edge of Lago Albano , along SS218 between Rocca di Papa and Ariccia , coordinates .

United States

East Coast

• Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania a quarter mile from the Mount Gilead African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Franklin Lakes, New Jersey Ewing Avenue exit of Rt. 208 South
• Lake Wales, Florida Hwy 27 between Orlando and Tampa
• New Paris, Pennsylvania on Gravity Hill Road.

Midwest

• Arcadia Township, Michigan Putney Road, at the intersection with Joyfield Road.
• Rose City, Michigan at the end of Reasoner Road, past Heath Road.
• Shullsburg, Wisconsin Judgement Street, just after Rennick Road.
• Mooresville, Indiana Keller Hill Road, right off State Road 42.

The South

• Fayetteville, Arkansas
• 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 actually performing this experiment, any handprints that might appear on your car were probably already there; the powder simply "outlined" them and allowed them show up.
• Princeton, Kentucky About one mile west of Princeton there is a gravity hill on a side road to the right. Something unique about this one is it passes under an old bridge and comes along with a horrifying tale.

West Coast

• Altadena, California Lake Avenue turns into Loma Alta and turns east at the base of the Mountains. A quarter mile down the road is gravity hill.
• Antioch, California on Empire Mine Road.
  • From East/West:
    • Exit Highway 4 at Lone Tree Way. Turn right on Dallas Ranch Road, right on Prewett Ranch Drive, right on Mesa Ridge Drive, 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.
• Livermore, California On Patterson Pass road, between Livermore and Tracy. Allegedly on road marker 127.
• The Oregon Vortex in Gold Hill, Oregon
• Salt Lake City, Utah This gravity hill is located a few blocks northwest of the Capitol building in Salt Lake City.
• Santa Cruz, California The Mystery Spot at 465 Mystery Spot Road is a spot about 150 feet in diameter located in a redwood forest.
• Spring Valley, California La Presa St. north of Jamacha Rd. Not as good as before houses were built there.
• Sonoma County, California Take Rohernet 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 a ranch name, you are the start of the gravity hill section.

References

• http://www.gravityhill.com
• http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/~strone01/gravity.html
• http://www.shullsburg.com/gravity/gravity.htm
• http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa120301a.htm
• http://www.weirdnj.com/_roads/gravityroad.html
• http://pierceclemmer.us/marina/archives/000165.html
• http://www.research.umbc.edu/~frizzell/gravhills.html