Mystery Spot - Santa Cruz, CA

[skid542]

So last weekend I had a chance to head down to the Monterey area to see a good friend. Got to see a lot of the local sites and enjoy some fresh seafood.

However, one of the places we stopped at was the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. It was by and far one of the weirdest things I've ever seen or experienced.

Before I go into detail and have the BBS thinking I've lost my marbles..... has anyone else been there to check it out?

[Imprezive]

I've been wondering what the hell that place is for so long! I always see bumper stickers for it here in northern california.

[tahiti350]

I've been to the Oregon Votex in Gold Bar. Things roll up hill, visual sistortion, etc...

[Imprezive]

but whhhhyyyyyy!

[kleinkid]

There are numerous places on the surface of the earth where these types of things occur. Those locations are where a portal to another dimension exists. You need to be very careful when visiting those areas, because you may end up somewhere sometime.

[Imprezive]

There are numerous places on the surface of the earth where these types of things occur. Those locations are where a portal to another dimension exists. You need to be very careful when visiting those areas, because you may end up somewhere sometime.

..yes.......

like on the simpsons, where the wall is a portal to a 3D universe with all the shapes bouncing around.

but seriously...Why?

[wfoote]

simply put optical illusion and perspective. Your mind sees what it wants to see or thinks is right.

Google mc escher and perspective there will be lots more learned people than me explaining how it all works.

[Brat4by4]

If you walk into any of those places with a plum bob or a level, they will very quickly and angrily escort you out. For a reason...

[skid542]

I'll agree that it probably is some bad-ass optical illusion. But what I cannot figure out is the change in apparent height through your own eyes, outside of the building and 'built' visual clues.

I'm a carpenter by trade (5+ years) and I personally worked their level in every way possible that would have indicated it was mis-calibrated, yet moving three feet made a HUGE difference in the apparent height of the other person.

I'll get pictures developed soon (I know I've said that before....) but I still attest to the fact it was by far and large one of the trippiest experiences I've ever had.

[kimokalihi]

[edit] Explanation
The Mystery Spot is a gravity hill type of visual illusion. The phenomena that may be experienced by visitors to the attraction result from the effects of forced perspective, optical adaptation, and certain visual illusions in combination with the steep gradient of the site. That is, the tilted environment inside the Mystery Spot causes misperceptions of the height and orientation of objects. For example, visitors misperceive the height of individuals because they use the tilted background as their guide. The tilt also distorts the horizontal, causing balls to appear to be rolling up a plank when they are, of course, rolling in accordance with gravity. For a detailed explanation of the "'Mystery Spot Illusion'", see Shimamura and Prinzmetal (1999).

As visitors travel through the site, they try to habituate to the tilted environment. The effects of this adaptation are then exploited, especially within closed structures, so that visitors may feel as though gravity does not operate as it should within this Mystery Spot. Also, visitors may feel light-headed or dizzy due to the brain's attempt to adapt to the visual tilt.


[edit] Similar sites
Several similar illusions can be found elsewhere, including the identically named Mystery Spot(s) near St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California; the Oregon Vortex in Gold Hill, Oregon; and Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Spook Hill in Lake Wales, Florida, and other sites around the world, including one hilly vista of the city of Jerusalem, offer a similar effect, with cars there appearing to roll uphill without power.

[asc_up]

These are awesome! I went to a gravity hill in California once. It was EXTREMELY trippy to watch your car have your car in neutral and watch it roll up a hill :shocked:

I wonder how many voodoo/witchcraft stories originated from places like these 100+ years ago, before science could actually explain what was happening.