How surprised would you be if you were told that water could flow uphill? Or that a car on a hill, when left in neutral gear could roll uphill? Probably you've already heard about gravity hills. Maybe you've even been to a few. But I am sure there are quite a few among us who have the least clue about this weird natural phenomenon. Or would you rather call it super-natural? Regardless of this question, gravity hills have continued to amaze and attract people from all around the world in the past few years. They are an emerging tourist attraction and seem to be really promising to the tourism industry. This is not merely due to their anti-gravity properties. The dark tales that lurk behind most of them also play a crucial role in their being so popular among tourists. What are Gravity Hills ? In simple words, gravity hills are uncommon locations on the earth, where the laws of gravity appear to be broken. Yeah, even Newton's apple might go up over here. The gravitational force is a feeble one alright. But we haven’t been able to cancel the force yet. Well, at least not in the first few layers of the atmosphere. Then how exactly is this force overcome? There are quite a few explanations. The people of Ladakh, India claim that 'magnetic forces' are the reason to why their Magnetic Hill behaves out of the ordinary. Magnetic Hill had aroused national interest in 2003 when it appeared in The Hindu, a leading English daily in the country. Their theory about the existence of a magnetic field was so strong that the newspaper report dared to quote the Indo-Tibetan Border Police saying that helicopters and aircrafts had to fly a bit higher than normal in order to escape the magnetic field of the hill. Then there are others who go so far to put the blame on supernatural forces. Spook Hill, located at Lake Wales, Florida is quite a famous gravity hill. Here we have a different, but more interesting tale. People here relate that, ages ago, there existed an Indian town on Lake Wales which was constantly attacked by a monstrous gator. The Indian Chief decided to confront the gator. The fierce battle eventually resulted in the chief's death.
The people claim that the mysterious behavior of the land is either due to the wrath of the gator or it could be the Indian chief protecting his land. Yet another mysterious hill is located at Lewisberry, Pennsylvania where once upon a time a school bus is said to have crashed after wandering off the road, killing around 60 children. The folk of Lewisberry believe that it is the ghosts of these children that are pushing the vehicles uphill. Mischievous ghost children. Scary as it sounds. These places are undoubtedly a matter of awe and fascination. And defying gravity is not something to be waved off. But why can’t gravity hills find their spot in the list of the 'Seven Wonders of the Earth'? Science has the answer. And it is called ‘physics’. Science is such a spoiler ! Yes, science has provided us a lot of things, good and great. But it does tend to lower our imagination in some areas. Because science has an explanation for it, the whole gravity hill thing turned from a matter of disbelief and fantasy to mere amusement.
Well, here is science's explanation. Basically, scientists say that these so-called gravity hills aren't after all, hills. They merely appear to be hills. Quite ironically, they have a slight downward slope, which tricks your eye and gives the illusion of a steep slope. It is just another optical illusion, a trick of the light. Okay, why does this illusion occur? Gravity hills have an obstructed horizon. The obstruction may be partial or complete. Due to this obstruction, the slight downward slope appears to be a steep one.
The horizon is a reliable reference point which enables one to determine slopes. With the horizon obstructed, you can’t expect to get a clear idea of the slope. So, your car is actually moving downhill when you think it is miraculously fighting gravity! The optical illusion also produces other visual effects. Trees appear to be leaning and objects stand at weird angles. So much for gravity hills. Now you might want to know about Mystery Hills, Mystery Spots, Haunted Hills or Anti-gravity Hills. These are just other names for Gravity Hills. It’s all pretty much the same thing under a variety of names. The same phenomenon of optical illusion comes to play. It does look like science has spoiled all the fun, doesn't it? Well, not really. Science always had an explanation for everything. But don’t some people still believe in ghosts? So, it’s on you, what to believe. I am not going to tell you that there's no Santa Claus. A Few Popular Gravity Hills Bowen Mountain, New South Wales, Australia Magic Hill, County Louth, Ireland Nemi's Downhill, Rome, Italy Metepic Hill, Peubla, Mexico Wadi al Jinn, Madinah al Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia Electric Brae, Ayrshire, Scotland Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz, California