stratton@brl-smoke.ARPA (Sue Stratton ) (02/09/86)
A friend of mine was in Scotland visiting relatives in December, on
an island called Ayr. They took her around sightseeing, and one of
the interesting places they visited was what the locals referred to
as "the Electric Brae". Here's what she writes:
"My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'.
Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a
peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the
hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have
rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and
then started backing up the hill! And my cousin's wife said if you're
riding a bike down the hill, you have to pedal; if you're on horseback
or even on foot, you have to exert extra effort; and if you pour water
on the road it runs up the hill! [Not all the way...but significantly!]
They said scientists from many places have come to study it, and no one
knows exactly how it works. Anyway, I was duly impressed."
I have been reading The Skeptical Inquirer for the past three years, and
haven't seen anything on this yet---maybe I should go through the back
issues. :-) Anyway, has anyone ever heard of this? If so, what theories
have been put forth to explain this thing?
Sue Stratton
<stratton@amsaa.arpa>shipman@nmtvax.UUCP (John Shipman) (02/10/86)
> "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. > Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a > peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the > hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have > rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and > then started backing up the hill!... Sue Stratton's story about the "Electric Brae" sounds like a tourist trap called the "Mystery Spot" in the southwest--I can't remember where, somewhere on I-10 or I-40 in Arizona or New Mexico? The illusion of the "Mystery Spot" is that gravity seems to be off vertical; water runs uphill, you have to stand off plumb, and so forth. Has anyone visited such a spot? I haven't, but I remember one of my secondary school science teachers said this was done by providing erroneous vertical references. Artifacts that everyone assumes are vertical, such as walls, phone poles, or conifers, were all bent slightly to disorient the eye. Driving on long rolling interstates, I have also seen an illusion that might explain "Electric Braes". If you drive up a long upgrade, and it changes to a slight upgrade, it looks as if you have breasted a hill and are now going down. Investigators should carry a pair of spirit levels to establish true vertical. Plumb bobs are subject to buried magnets and should be avoided. -- John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, New Mexico USENET: ucbvax!unmvax!nmtvax!shipman OR ihnp4!lanl!unmvax!...
mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) (02/11/86)
In article <736@brl-smoke.ARPA> stratton@brl-smoke.ARPA (Sue Stratton ) writes: > >A friend of mine was in Scotland visiting relatives in December, on >an island called Ayr. They took her around sightseeing, and one of >the interesting places they visited was what the locals referred to >as "the Electric Brae". Here's what she writes: > > "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. > Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a > peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the > hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have > rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and > then started backing up the hill! And my cousin's wife said if you're > riding a bike down the hill, you have to pedal; if you're on horseback > or even on foot, you have to exert extra effort; and if you pour water > on the road it runs up the hill! [Not all the way...but significantly!] > They said scientists from many places have come to study it, and no one > knows exactly how it works. Anyway, I was duly impressed." > > >I have been reading The Skeptical Inquirer for the past three years, and >haven't seen anything on this yet---maybe I should go through the back >issues. :-) Anyway, has anyone ever heard of this? If so, what theories >have been put forth to explain this thing? > >Sue Stratton ><stratton@amsaa.arpa> It's an optical illusion. There is a similar place in Florida (I think). You can also watch water and bowling balls run "uphill" in all sorts of "magical spots", usually connected to tourist spots that attract gullible people. --MKR
rpt@warwick.UUCP (Richard Tomlinson) (02/11/86)
Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Keywords: Xpath: ukc eagle In article <736@brl-smoke.ARPA> stratton@brl-smoke.UUCP writes: > >A friend of mine was in Scotland visiting relatives in December, on >an island called Ayr. They took her around sightseeing, and one of >the interesting places they visited was what the locals referred to >as "the Electric Brae". Here's what she writes: > > "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. > Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a > peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the > hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have > rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and > then started backing up the hill! And my cousin's wife said if you're > riding a bike down the hill, you have to pedal; if you're on horseback > or even on foot, you have to exert extra effort; and if you pour water > on the road it runs up the hill! [Not all the way...but significantly!] > They said scientists from many places have come to study it, and no one > knows exactly how it works. Anyway, I was duly impressed." This was featured on a BBC TV programme about 4 years ago. Unfortunately when I was in the area 3 years ago I did not have time to look myself. The explanation offered on the TV programme was that it was all an optical illusion due to there being a hill on the horizon. The horizon was at an angle to the horizontal, but the human brain cannot handle that so turns it horizontal. Everything gets turned, so water that flows down hill looks as if it is going up hill. There is nothing strange about the Scottish hills, it is just the brain playing tricks on people. -- ...!mcvax!ukc!warwick!rpt
phillips@cisden.UUCP (Tom Phillips) (02/11/86)
In article <764@brl-smoke.ARPA> stratton@brl-smoke.ARPA(Sue Stratton) writes: > "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. > Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a > peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the > hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have > rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and > then started backing up the hill! And my cousin's wife said if you're > riding a bike down the hill, you have to pedal; if you're on horseback > or even on foot, you have to exert extra effort; and if you pour water > on the road it runs up the hill! [Not all the way...but significantly!] > They said scientists from many places have come to study it, and no one > knows exactly how it works. Anyway, I was duly impressed." There's a place in central Florida (near Lakeland) called Spook Hill where you have a similar effect. However if you take a plumb line you find out that it is your eyes and not the car (or water or bike or whatever) that is confused about which way is downhill. But then, I've never been to Scotland. -- Tommy Phillips From the banks of the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees. cisden!phillips
smelser@wang.UUCP (pri=8 Craig Smelser) (02/12/86)
> > A friend of mine was in Scotland visiting relatives in December, on > an island called Ayr. Here's what she writes: > > "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. > Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a > peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the > hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have > rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and > then started backing up the hill! And my cousin's wife said if you're > riding a bike down the hill, you have to pedal; if you're on horseback > or even on foot, you have to exert extra effort; and if you pour water > on the road it runs up the hill! [Not all the way...but significantly!] > They said scientists from many places have come to study it, and no one > knows exactly how it works. Anyway, I was duly impressed." > > I have been reading The Skeptical Inquirer for the past three years, and > haven't seen anything on this yet---maybe I should go through the back > issues. :-) Anyway, has anyone ever heard of this? If so, what theories > have been put forth to explain this thing? > I saw something like this in the local (Boston) paper a few years ago. Local people gave reports very similar to the above, including the claims of study by baffled scientists. It was effectively debunked with a level. In hilly terrain, it may be difficult to judge the inclination of surfaces by eye. Nor, as studies have shown, are most people able to judge body orientation with any accuracy. The only unexplained phenomenon was the effectiveness of the (presumably optical) illusion.
ran@ho95e.UUCP (RANeinast) (02/12/86)
>> "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. >> Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a >> peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the >> hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have >> rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and >> then started backing up the hill!... > Driving on long rolling interstates, I have also seen an illusion > that might explain "Electric Braes". If you drive up a long upgrade, > and it changes to a slight upgrade, it looks as if you have breasted > a hill and are now going down. A human-factors friend of mine says that visual clues can be off by as much as 15 degrees before the inner ear can detect it, so your eyes can really fool you. Another place with a good illusion like the interstate one is one of the Arlington entrances to the Washington, DC Metro. This tunnnel descends at 45 degrees for more than 500 feet (I think). About halfway down, my eyes suddenly decided that the tunnel was horizontal. I had the strangest feeling as my eyes and inner ear wrestled it out. -- ". . . and shun the frumious Bandersnatch." Robert Neinast (ihnp4!ho95c!ran) AT&T-Bell Labs
majka@ubc-vision.UUCP (Marc Majka) (02/12/86)
There is a tourist trap near Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada), which promotes the same phenomenon. They call their's a "Magnetic Hill". I also know of another location in New Brunswick which does the same thing. The principle involved in both places is a false horizon. We are easily confused about horizontal (ask any pilot about the first time they flew into cloud). In the case of these false hills, the surrounding landscape is tilted, but without any other reference, we take them to be horizontal. What appears to be uphill with respect to the surrounding landscape is really no such thing. At the Magnetic Hill in N.B., the visual illusion is enhanced by a fence, hedge, and power lines beside the road. All three of them are taller at the "top" of the hill than at the "bottom". --- Marc Majka
jay@imagen.UUCP (Jay Jaeckel) (02/13/86)
John Shipman writes, regarding "Electric Brae": > Sue Stratton's story about the "Electric Brae" sounds like a tourist > trap called the "Mystery Spot" in the southwest--I can't remember where, > somewhere on I-10 or I-40 in Arizona or New Mexico? The illusion > of the "Mystery Spot" is that gravity seems to be off vertical; > water runs uphill, you have to stand off plumb, and so forth. > > Has anyone visited such a spot? I haven't, but I remember one > of my secondary school science teachers said this was done by > providing erroneous vertical references. Artifacts that everyone > assumes are vertical, such as walls, phone poles, or conifers, > were all bent slightly to disorient the eye. > The description above sounds like some place that was built intentionally to give this illusion. "Crazy House" buildings are sometimes built like this as a tourist attraction. As I recall, there is one in Southern California, somewhere on the road to Lake Arrowhead I think. But such things also occur naturally in some places. In the hills north-north-east (or so) from the San Fernando valley, up behind Hansen Dam somewhere (near Dexter Park) is such a place. Called "Gravity Hill", it is often visited by high school driving instructors from the area, with their students. You drive your car to what seems to be the bottom of a slight hill, put it in neutral, and it rolls up the hill by itself. -- Jay Jaeckel ...{ucbvax,decwrl}!imagen!jay
rab@well.UUCP (Bob Bickford) (02/13/86)
<BUG?!>
I visited the "Mystery Spot" near Santa Cruz a couple of years ago
and found it rather amusing. One illusion that still puzzles me is this
one: Two men, standing facing eachother. A level on the ground between
them, the bubble clearly visible and centered (their feet are not
touching it, and I inspected the level myself), as well as a small
rubber ball resting on the level (I checked it out too, it had no
effect on the level that I could detect). They take the picture twice,
the second time the two men change sides. In the picture (and live,
they did this for the crowd of suckers... er, people gathered round)
they seem to be standing vertical (at least, perpendicular to the
ground...). In the first picture, they seem about the same height.
In the second, there seems to be about a six-inch difference in their
heights! (out of about 6 feet) Since I saw this live, I don't suspect
any trickery in the photograph (which I bought a copy of...)
Anybody out there have any ideas on what might have fooled me about
this scenario? Please send mail to me; I will summarize to the net in
a week or so if I get a good answer.....
Robert Bickford (rab@well.uucp)
================================================
| I doubt if these are even my own opinions. |
================================================dgary@ecsvax.UUCP (D Gary Grady) (02/13/86)
In article <486@mmm.UUCP> mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) writes: [apropos a Scottish hill where things seem to roll upwards] >It's an optical illusion. There is a similar place in Florida (I think). >You can also watch water and bowling balls run "uphill" in all sorts of >"magical spots", usually connected to tourist spots that attract gullible >people. The subject was bandied about in net.physics many months ago with many examples cited. It is indeed a common illusion, and one often generated artificially. I might note that it is nontrivial to show that a given instance *is* an illusion, however. Plumb bobs and spirit levels (it could be argued) merely reflect the local gravity vector; if gravity is distorted, so will they be. Only a reference to distant objects or (preferably) astronomical sightings would suffice to prove that "vertical" structures are indeed not parallel to a radius of the Earth. I think it's ill-advised (even if accurate) to characterise people who fall for such stunts as "gullible." It's enough of an (*ahem*) uphill battle trying to promote rationality without alienating people by accusing them of being dumb. One of my longstanding gripes about The Skeptical Inquirer is that it too often goes overboard in the ad hominem department characterizing people who disagree as being "ridiculous" or "silly." That's not likely to persuade them to come over to the sensible point of view. One more instance of a mystery hill: A hitchhiker was thumbing at the base of a hill in the middle of the night. Exhausted, he was nearly asleep on his feet. Suddenly he realized a car had pulled to a stop beside him. Wearily he climbed into the back seat and muttered his gratitude. The car moved slowly off. After a moment the hitchhiker became aware of the strangely slow speed of the car and its almost total silence. He looked up to ask the driver why he was proceeding so slowly. To his terror and dismay, the driver's seat was empty! In utter fright he jumped from the vehicle just as it crested the hill and started to run away. A sound attracted his attention and he looked back to see another man start to get in the car. "Look out!" he cried in warning. "There is something terribly wrong with that machine!!" "Damn right!" said the other guy. "I've been pushing it for over a mile!" -- D Gary Grady Duke U Comp Center, Durham, NC 27706 (919) 684-3695 USENET: {seismo,decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary
steve@jplgodo.UUCP (Steve Schlaifer x3171 156/224) (02/14/86)
In article <933@nmtvax.UUCP>, shipman@nmtvax.UUCP (John Shipman) writes: > > "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. > > Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a > > peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the > > hill, and cousin Tom put the car in neutral; now, it should have > > rolled down the hill, right? But no--the car coasted to a stop and > > then started backing up the hill!... > > ....... > > Has anyone visited such a spot? I haven't, but I remember one > of my secondary school science teachers said this was done by > providing erroneous vertical references. Artifacts that everyone > assumes are vertical, such as walls, phone poles, or conifers, > were all bent slightly to disorient the eye. > > Investigators should carry a pair of spirit levels to establish true > vertical. If the claim being made is that gravity is not pulling in the *right* direction, then the use of a spirit level at the location of interest would only *prove* that gravity was not pulling in the *right* direction. Rather, what is needed in this case is to measure the slope of the ground or whatever from a location where everyone agrees that the direction of the gravitational pull is OK. Possibly a surveyor or a civil engineer could explain how this might be done. Are the any such out there reading this? -- ...smeagol\ Steve Schlaifer ......wlbr->!jplgodo!steve Advance Projects Group, Jet Propulsion Labs ....group3/ 4800 Oak Grove Drive, M/S 156/204 Pasadena, California, 91109 +1 818 354 3171
carl@vger.UUCP (Carl Hewitt) (02/20/86)
In article <11905@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>, gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith) writes: > In article <933@nmtvax.UUCP> shipman@nmtvax.UUCP (John Shipman) writes: > > >Sue Stratton's story about the "Electric Brae" sounds like a tourist > >trap called the "Mystery Spot" in the southwest--I can't remember where, > >somewhere on I-10 or I-40 in Arizona or New Mexico? The illusion > >of the "Mystery Spot" is that gravity seems to be off vertical; > >water runs uphill, you have to stand off plumb, and so forth. > > > >Has anyone visited such a spot? I haven't, but I remember one > >of my secondary school science teachers said this was done by > >providing erroneous vertical references. Artifacts that everyone > >assumes are vertical, such as walls, phone poles, or conifers, > >were all bent slightly to disorient the eye. > > I visited a "mystery spot" when I was about ten years old. It seemed > to me to clearly be an optical illusion, caused by peculiarities of > this shack which was the "spot". > We have a Mystery Spot here in Santa Cruz, and they have more than just slanted buildings and poles. (They say they're slanted because of their extended time in the weird gravity) They have a iron ball hanging from a chain which only takes a little exertion to move in one direction, but takes almost 10 times as much strength when pushing it the other direction. I can't think of any explanation to it, maybe someone knows about these things? -- Carl C. Hewitt ---------------------------------- | uucp: ucbvax!ucscc!carl | | Bitnet: CONCCH at UCSCVM | | carl at UCSCD | | CSnet: carl@ucsc | ----------------------------------
guy@slu70.UUCP (02/20/86)
In article <571@jplgodo.UUCP>, steve@jplgodo.UUCP (Steve Schlaifer x3171 156/224) writes: > then the use of a spirit level at the location of interest would only *prove* > that gravity was not pulling in the *right* direction. Rather, what is needed > in this case is to measure the slope of the ground or whatever from a location > where everyone agrees that the direction of the gravitational pull is OK. > Possibly a surveyor or a civil engineer could explain how this might be done. > Are the any such out there reading this? This could be quite easily done with a level (a surveying instrument with a telescope that sights a level line). Just back off far enough to get out of the immediate vicinity. I've made shots of this sort at a distance of a quarter mile as long as there aren't too many heat waves. It's not hard to get accuracy in the hundredth of a foot range. If the anamoly were of a large scale this wouldn't work however as the level uses the direction of gravity as a reference. In this case you could try triangulating and see if the angles add up right. If gravity is significantly off vertical you will, in effect be surveying on a curved surface and a triangle will not add up to one hundred eighty degrees. You can also refer yourself to fixed stars. Putting on my geophysicists cap, you can also do a gravity survey across the site. Gravity meters measure the magnitude of the field and should show the presence of any subtantial anomaly. As far as whether such an anomaly is likely to exist, I should point out that gravity anomalies (due to ore bodies and such) are so small that there is no detectable deflection of the direction of the field. In order to produce effects of the magnitude described, you'd have to have a small deposit of something like neutronium just below the surface, not a very likely proposition. Guy M. Smith (your friendly neighborhood paleomagnetist)
john@anasazi.UUCP (John Moore) (02/22/86)
In article <933@nmtvax.UUCP> shipman@nmtvax.UUCP (John Shipman) writes: >> "My cousins took me to see this neat thing called the 'Electric Brae'. >> Have you ever heard of it? A brae is a hill, and this one has a >> peculiar property: it defies gravity! We got over the crest of the >Sue Stratton's story about the "Electric Brae" sounds like a tourist >trap called the "Mystery Spot" in the southwest--I can't remember where, >somewhere on I-10 or I-40 in Arizona or New Mexico? The illusion >of the "Mystery Spot" is that gravity seems to be off vertical; >water runs uphill, you have to stand off plumb, and so forth. > I remember visiting such a spot as a kid on a family vacation. I don't remember for sure where it was (Black Hills? New Mexico? I lived in Albuquerque). Anyhow, it was all done by visual illusions. In addition to the "wrong" gravity, they also had rooms where you could walk from one end to another and apparently change size - a classic visual illusion. -- John Moore (NJ7E/XE1HDO) {decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!john {hao!noao|decvax|ihnp4|seismo}!terak!anasazi!john terak!anasazi!john@SEISMO.CSS.GOV (602) 951-9326 (day or evening) 7525 Clearwater Pkwy, Paradise Valley, AZ, 85253 (Home Address) The opinions expressed here are obviously not mine, so they must be someone else's.
mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) (02/23/86)
In article <346@vger.UUCP> carl@vger.UUCP (Carl Hewitt) writes: >We have a Mystery Spot here in Santa Cruz, and they have more than just >slanted buildings and poles. (They say they're slanted because of their >extended time in the weird gravity) They have a iron ball hanging from >a chain which only takes a little exertion to move in one direction, but >takes almost 10 times as much strength when pushing it the other direction. > >I can't think of any explanation to it, maybe someone knows about these >things? > > -- Carl C. Hewitt Hmmmmmm. An IRON ball you say? IRON? Nope, can't think of a single electromagnetic thing that could cause such a strange phenomenon. :-) -- --MKR When you ain't got nothin' you got nothin' to lose. - Dylan
andrew@stc.UUCP (02/24/86)
In article <729@aimmi.UUCP> russell@aimmi.UUCP (Russell Ritchie) writes: | Just in case anyone missed it, here's the important bit : | | > From: stratton@brl-smoke.UUCP | > Subject: Electric Brae | | > A friend of mine was in Scotland visiting relatives in December, on | > an island called Ayr. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Someone local please show them a map... (Though I must admit to surprise the first time I saw a reference to ``The Channel Isles'' from California, I didn't quite see someone sailing half way round the world in a week! Having since read the ``Log from the Sea of Cortez'' you may consider me enlightened :-)) -- Regards, Andrew Macpherson. <andrew@tcom.stc.co.uk> {aivru,creed,datlog,iclbra,iclkid,idec,inset,root44,stl,ukc}!stc!andrew
steve@jplgodo.UUCP (Steve Schlaifer x3171 156/224) (02/24/86)
In article <346@vger.UUCP>, carl@vger.UUCP (Carl Hewitt) writes: > We have a Mystery Spot here in Santa Cruz, and they have more than just > slanted buildings and poles. (They say they're slanted because of their > extended time in the weird gravity) They have a iron ball hanging from > a chain which only takes a little exertion to move in one direction, but > takes almost 10 times as much strength when pushing it the other direction. > > I can't think of any explanation to it, maybe someone knows about these > things? > Has anybody tried replacing the *iron* ball with one made of a non-magnetic material (aluminum, concrete or whatever)? Seems like a large electro-magnet like they use in metal scrap yards could be easily made to create this illusion. -- ...smeagol\ Steve Schlaifer ......wlbr->!jplgodo!steve Advance Projects Group, Jet Propulsion Labs ....group3/ 4800 Oak Grove Drive, M/S 156/204 Pasadena, California, 91109 +1 818 354 3171