You鈥檙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 Vernon鈥檚 Magnetic Hill.
Found on Dixon Dam Road, the anomaly has been a hit with locals for decades.
鈥淥ne of the first things I did when I got my driver鈥檚 licence was trying Magnetic Hill,鈥� said Roger Knox, reporter with The Morning Star, 55. 鈥淥ver the years, I鈥檝e taken friends from out of town to it, showed them how it works, and watched their amazement-like reactions. I鈥檝e taken my son there and some of his friends.
鈥淚鈥檝e often thought of starting a Magnetic Hill tour side business.鈥�
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A 2016 post on waymarking.com confirmed Vernon鈥檚 Magnetic Hill works.
鈥淲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.
鈥淲hen he reached us, with a big grin he said, 鈥楬ey guys, it works.鈥� 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.鈥�
According to Wikipedia and Youtube, there are three such magnetic or gravity hills in B.C.: Vernon鈥檚 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.
鈥淎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,鈥� said the report. 鈥淗orizons provide us with a very useful reference point when we鈥檙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.
鈥淲ithout a true horizon in sight, objects such as trees and walls 鈥� which your eyes use as visual clues to determine perpendicularilty 鈥� can play tricks on you. If these objects are leaning slightly, they might make you think you鈥檙e looking at a downward slope, when in actuality you may simply be looking at a flat (or even uphill!) surface.
鈥淎s a result, anything you rest upon the surface 鈥� whether it鈥檚 a rubber ball, a stream of water, or a 4,000-pound car 鈥� 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.鈥�
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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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