Mystery Spot

For the Supernatural episode, see Mystery Spot (Supernatural).

Mystery Spot entrance

The Mystery Spot is a tourist attraction located near Santa Cruz, California. It was discovered in 1939 and opened in 1940. The operators of the small site (which is about 150 feet in diameter) claim that it is a place where the laws of physics and gravity do not apply and provide a number of demonstrations in support of these claims.

The official website speculates that extraterrestrials buried unearthly metals or a spacecraft beneath the Spot, orrtw that carbon dioxide seeps out of the earth. Another popular speculation is that gravity is affected here, causing nausea and incorrect instrument readings.

Illusion explanation

One of the many optical illusions at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot.

The Mystery Spot is a gravity hill, a tilt-induced visual illusion. The illusion experienced by visitors results from the oddly tilted environment as well as standing on a tilted floor. Inside the tilted room of the Mystery Spot, misperceptions of the height and orientation of objects occur. Even when people are standing outside on a level ground, the slant of the building in the background causes misperceptions as we judge the height of people using the slant of the roof rather than the true horizon.^[1]

References

1. ^ Shimamura, A. P. & Prinzmetal, W. (1999). "The Mystery Spot Illusion and its Relation to Other Visual Illusions". Psychological Science 10: 501–507. doi:[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2F1467-9280.00196 10.1111/1467-9280.00196. ]

External links

• Mystery Spot official website (California)
• St. Ignace Mystery Spot (Michigan)
• Video Tour of the Mystery Spot (California)
• Mystery Spot explained (SandlotScience.com) - this site contains explanation about how Mystery Spots work, including a list of mystery spots
• Further article explaining the illusion (Berkeley.edu)

Coordinates: 37°00′45″N 122°00′06″W / 37.012601°N 122.001795°W / 37.012601; -122.001795