admin February 1st, 2008

This video was shot near my hometown, upon a seemingly ordinary slope which is actually a bit of a regional curiosity. If you’re going down this slope and you turn off the car’s engine, the car will not keep going down: it will actually go in the opposite direction, apparently climbing upwards the slope! Most people claim this is an optical illusion, but I’m not really convinced with such explanation. I tried to document the effect best way I could, hopeful that somebody out there would be able to provide a reasonable explanation. Look forward to read your theories! If you’re ever in the neighborhood, make sure to check it out for yourself.

Google earth coordinates : 41°33′22.80″N 8°22′30.94″O

Car Climbing A Slope With Engines Off? - The funniest movie is here. Find it

Thanks to the power of web 2.0, I was able to find a convincing explanation for this intriguing effect. It’s actually a relatively normal phenomenon (you’ll find a list with over 100 documented places where this effect is apparent in the following link), one that is usually referred to as “gravity hill“; and all things considered, it really is an optical illusion. Since the horizon is blocked by the hill, one loses the sense of perspective - the trees in this spot are probably tilted, which adds up to the illusion; not only that, the top road is concave, while the bottom one is convex. Needless to say, both roads are actually leaning down, even though the top road appears to lean upwards.

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