Magic Hills Where Cars Roll "Uphill"

Whitebeard

Senior Member.
hope this isn't going off topic...

Magic Hills, gravity hills, there are loads of terms for them, crop up all over the world, here's a couple of examples from Ireland

1) Near Dundalk in the Republic


2) (for the sake of balance) In the Mourne Mountains, Co Antrim, in Northern Ireland


and this is the famous Hangmans Hill, Epping, just outside London

This is the only one I've witnessed first hand, its a bit of a mecca for Londoners who often go and try it for themselves.

They are fun, but they are only really simple optical illusions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_hill
The slope of gravity hills is an optical illusion, although sites are often accompanied by claims that magnetic or even supernatural forces are at work. 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
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hope this isn't going off topic...

Magic Hills, gravity hills, there are loads of terms for them, crop up all over the world, here's a couple of examples from Ireland

1) Near Dundalk in the Republic
Hehe. I live in Dundalk, that's not far from me and I've been there on many occasions. Locals nickname it the up-down hill.

I'm pretty sure it's an optical illusion where the surrounding landscape gives the illusion of a slight rise in the road when it's actually a slight fall. I remember reading a paper where someone studied some of them and was able to show what looks like a slope up is actually a slope down.

But I know people who bring it up in discussion and when any attempts are made to explain it basically results in fingers-in-ears syndrome.

Apparently it's actually fairies that make cars roll uphill.
 
Hehe. I live in Dundalk, that's not far from me and I've been there on many occasions. Locals nickname it the up-down hill.

I'm pretty sure it's an optical illusion where the surrounding landscape gives the illusion of a slight rise in the road when it's actually a slight fall. I remember reading a paper where someone studied some of them and was able to show what looks like a slope up is actually a slope down.

But I know people who bring it up in discussion and when any attempts are made to explain it basically results in fingers-in-ears syndrome.

Apparently it's actually fairies that make cars roll uphill.

Isn't it very easy to debunk? Use one of the below:

 
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