There are hundreds of places around the world where round objects seem to roll uphill. They are often referred to as "anti-gravity hills" (or sometimes "gravity hills," "magnetic hills," and "mystery spots").
One such intriguing location is Magnetic Hill in Orrorroo, South Australia, where YouTuber Jim O'Shea recorded a video showcasing this baffling effect.
In the video, O'Shea parks his car, turns off the engine, puts it in neutral, and releases the brake. Surprisingly, the car starts rolling in the opposite direction than expected. As the car rolls backward, O'Shea comments, "That actually does feel weird… It genuinely looks like the hill goes down right in front… That's kind of cool, actually."
O'Shea goes on to explain that the car isn't genuinely rolling uphill. Instead, an optical illusion caused by the lack of horizon reference points creates this mystifying effect. "Everything behind us is a hill; it is in close distance, so you can't see what a true flat area looks like," he says.
In 2003, university researchers in Italy managed to recreate convincing anti-gravity slopes in a lab setting. According to Wikipedia, the researchers discovered that "without a true horizon in sight," the human brain could be deceived by common landmarks such as trees and signs. This fascinating study sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of these perplexing anti-gravity hills.
