YouB次元官网网址檙e on a rural Vernon road in the BX. Your vehicle is pointing north, appearing to be on a downhill portion of the road. You stop your vehicle at a certain point on the road. You put the car, pointing downhill, in neutral.
Physics suggests you should then roll downhill, no?
No.
You will be pulled uphill. For a fair distance. Reaching speeds of 20 kilometres/hour.
Welcome to VernonB次元官网网址檚 Magnetic Hill.
Found on Dixon Dam Road, the anomaly has been a hit with locals for decades.
B次元官网网址淥ne of the first things I did when I got my driverB次元官网网址檚 licence was trying Magnetic Hill,B次元官网网址� said Roger Knox, reporter with The Morning Star, 55. B次元官网网址淥ver the years, IB次元官网网址檝e taken friends from out of town to it, showed them how it works, and watched their amazement-like reactions. IB次元官网网址檝e taken my son there and some of his friends.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e often thought of starting a Magnetic Hill tour side business.B次元官网网址�
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A 2016 post on waymarking.com confirmed VernonB次元官网网址檚 Magnetic Hill works.
B次元官网网址淲e had just arrived on Dixon Dam Road contemplating the complexities of this gravity hill. We exited the car when along came a red pickup truck and he stopped and put his truck into neutral and started coasting up/down the hill. He then turned around a little down the road and returned again doing the same thing.
B次元官网网址淲hen he reached us, with a big grin he said, B次元官网网址楬ey guys, it works.B次元官网网址� He has lived in the area for quite a while and always heard about this gravity hill and thought he would try it out. Inspired we gave it a try, and though slow we did coast along the road.B次元官网网址�
According to Wikipedia and Youtube, there are three such magnetic or gravity hills in B.C.: VernonB次元官网网址檚 Magnetic Hill, one in Abbotsford at McKee Road just before Ledgeview Golf Course, and one in Maple Ridge at 100th Avenue and 256th Street, right beside an old elementary school.
Wikipedia lists nine other such hills across Canada.
A gravity or magnetic hill is a place where a slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope due to the layout of the surrounding land, creating the optical illusion that water flows uphill or a car left out of gear will roll uphill, among others.
Business Insider championed the optical illusion in a 2016 report on magnetic or gravity hills.
B次元官网网址淎ll of these sites have one thing in common (other than their apparent disregard for gravity): the horizon is either curved or obstructed from view. This is key,B次元官网网址� said the report. B次元官网网址淗orizons provide us with a very useful reference point when weB次元官网网址檙e trying to judge the slope of a surface. A study published in Psychological Science in 2003 found that false horizon lines can be deceiving to observers perceiving landscapes.
B次元官网网址淲ithout a true horizon in sight, objects such as trees and walls B次元官网网址� which your eyes use as visual clues to determine perpendicularilty B次元官网网址� can play tricks on you. If these objects are leaning slightly, they might make you think youB次元官网网址檙e looking at a downward slope, when in actuality you may simply be looking at a flat (or even uphill!) surface.
B次元官网网址淎s a result, anything you rest upon the surface B次元官网网址� whether itB次元官网网址檚 a rubber ball, a stream of water, or a 4,000-pound car B次元官网网址� will appear to fight the flow of gravity and travel uphill. And while the thought of ghosts or supernatural forces carrying these objects is tempting, the most likely explanation is that your eyes are just playing tricks on you.B次元官网网址�
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In the end, it looks like Sir Isaac Newton had it right all along.
newstips@vernonmorningstar.com
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