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I wonder how many of you loyal readers ever saw water run uphill? I have.
The hosts at Knott’s Berry Farm’s now defunct Haunted Shack are seen here pouring a pitcher of water uphill. No, it’s not a high pressure hose gushing uphill. It’s a mystery and wonderment that I first saw as a young boy. Opened in June 1954, the Haunted Shack treated millions of visitors who sat on chairs that defied gravity, tilted precariously on two legs.
The Oregon Vortex
Located in Gold Hill, the Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery has put a new slant on reality since the 1930s. Bottles roll uphill and short people suddenly tower over taller ones. The natural vortex, found all around the world, is a force field that pulls you around more than the IRS. Build a structure atop a vortex with confusing sight lines and you have a tourist trap.
The Mystery Spot
You can’t drive around California very long without seeing a Mystery Spot bumper sticker. Opened in 1940 outside Santa Cruz, the Mystery Spot is built upon another “gravitational anomaly” with a structure that takes advantage of a perfectly dizzying effect.
Cosmos Mystery Area
Floor surfing never looked so good! Located a short drive from Mount Rushmore National Monument, the Cosmos Mystery Area claims visitors can actually stand on a wall. Objects roll uphill. Roadside America has a great list of bizarre gravitational fields with and without formal attractions.
Spook Hill
There’s no structure to view at Florida’s Spook Hill, located between Tampa and Orlando. Instead, you’re the attraction at the so-called gravity hill. At just the right spot, you take your car out of gear and sit back as it rolls uphill. For those out West, there’s a gravity hill in Salt Lake City. You’ll find details from Roadside America’s Field Team.
I’m most interested in hearing from blog readers who have encountered any of these effects at home. I’ve seen plenty of warped rooms and sloped floors in so-called conventional dwellings.
5 Responses to “Gravitational Laws Need Not Apply”
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Wow – what an awesome summary of tourist spots to visit throughout the nation. Especially loved the reference to the IRS, given that it is probably the best example of American unexplainability (that’s a word, right? I’d be happy to render a definition).
I have visited both the Santa Cruz, CA location and the Gold Hill, OR location, experienced the unexplained phenomena – but nothing holds a candle to my own personal experiences during my college days.
Granted, being a card-carrying member of the Woodstock generation qualifies me for unique classification, but I cannot begin to explain how a traditional San Jose, CA apartment included not only a blacklight-lit bathroom (try taking a shower with a glowing soap suds) but also its own bowling alley which used bowling balls with holes and a sliding glass door instead of ten-pins.
Unfortunately, with no marketing budget, we were closed down and outdone by the Winchester Mystery House, which, by the way, seems to have been overlooked in this article. Be careful – Sarah Winchester still haunts those who berate her never-finished abode.
The House of Mystery in Columbia Fall, MT is just outside the entrance to Glacier National Park and is a bonafide tourist trap, but claims to be a vortex. They have a marble that rolls uphill on a ramp and a funky house that is all crooked….anyway, it seems this side show is not all that unique.
There is a gravity hill near a town in PA called Centralia. Centralia is a ghost town that has an underground fire that has been burning for years. Smoke comes up through the ground in places. Yeah, its a weird place.
Wow these pictures are creepy… I want to stay in that motel and try and sleep more than 2 hours without waking up in a panic. How can a ball roll uphill? What the heck…I really need to see these places for myself. Thanks for the leads and great summaries!