Gravity hills (also known as magnetic hills) are an anomaly that occurs all over the world. There are hundreds of these things, but what are they? Gravity hills are places where cars seem to roll uphill, water seems to flow uphill and objects placed in roads seem to roll uphill also. To some people, it appears as if these objects are actually being pulled. It is a well known and well-documented fact that this occurs. We know that this is impossible, due to the laws of gravity, so what is causing this?
If you were to search magnetic and gravity hills online, you would find numerous Web sites dedicated to them. Many of these sites are dedicated to a specific hill. Most of the time the site makes claims like “the laws of gravity do not apply here” and “a magnetic force pulls objects uphill.” The first claim can be dismissed for a few reasons. Firstly, without the intervention of man, gravity occurs everywhere on Earth. This is undisputed. Secondly, only objects placed on a flat surface or roadway appear to roll uphill at these sites. If gravity didn’t apply in these places, this would not be the only odd thing occurring. The second claim, that a magnetic force is at work, can be dismissed because, despite testing, no magnetic anomalies have been discovered at any of the sites that have been studied.
The most logical, and convincing, explanation for gravity hills is the presence of an optical illusion. People who have studied this theory say that several factors, such as an obscured view of the horizon or stationary objects that are actually leaning lend to the effect. Humans tend to use their surroundings to gauge the lay of the land. For example, if you are on level ground, but are surrounded by buildings that are all leaning in the same direction, you may feel like you are on a hill. Also, in the absence of known levels, such as the horizon, it is difficult to gauge if you are on level ground. In the case of the gravity hills, the optical illusion causes the viewer to think that they are on an uphill slope when, in fact, they are on a slight downward slope.
While the general consensus of the scientific community is that the oddities viewed on these hills are the result of an optical illusion, there are still many people who refuse to believe it. People rely on their eyesight an awful lot and we don’t often dismiss what our eyes tell us, even if we know that our eyes deceive us. This doesn’t mean that gravity hills are supernatural, it means that some people are hard to convince and others are easy to convince.
