1. Strange Gravity Phenomenon at Magnetic Hill in Eastern Canada
In July 2005 on our sightseeing trip to tour New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in
eastern Canada, we took a side tour to visit a famous and popular tourist attraction known as
Magnetic Hill near the City of Moncton in the Province of New Brunswick. Please take a look at the
following 8 picture that I took at Magnetic Hill.
Picture 1: At this location, visitors on the waiting area on the top of the hill can drive their cars to the
lowest point (bottom of the hill marked by a white post on the road side) in the middle of this section of the
road as shown in the following Picture 2.
Picture 2: At the lowest point in the middle of this section of the road, the visitor turns around the car,
stops the car, shifts the transmission of the car to the neutral position and releases the brake. (Some
visitors even turn off the engine entirely at this point.) Then the car will start rolling uphill (slope of the
road) on its own and will keep on going up the hill as shown in the following two pictures. The length of this
strange slope between the bottom and the top is only a few hundreds feet.
4. More on Magnetic Hill
I came to eastern Canada for sightseeing because there are several tourist attractions in that area near
beautiful Bay of Fundy, such as Hopewell Rocks to see world's highest tidal range, Mary's Point and
Johnson's Mills to see huge number of migratory shore birds feeding on mud flats of Bay of Fundy during
migration season, beautiful Fundy National Park, whale watching in Bay of Fundy, Reversing Falls at Saint
John, beautiful Cape Brenton Highlands National Park, etc. as described in details in my Travelogue web
page at:
http://www.shltrip.com/Nova_Scotia_and_New_Brunswick.html
Due to the popularity of this strange phenomenon on this section of the road, the local government was
willing to spent money to construct a parallel new road (Mountain Road) to bypass this section of the road
so that many visitors can try it to experience the sensation of the strange gravity phenomenon on this
section of the road without worrying about collision accident with regular vehicular traffic on the road.
When I was on the waiting line described above in July 2005, an old guy told me that this was his second
time to visit Magnetic Hill. The first time was about 50 years ago when he was a teenager. He said that 50
years ago, they did not use cars but used bicycles. He sat on the bicycle, did not pedal the bicycle, but the
bicycle just rolled up the hill on its own.
The brochure entitled “The Story of Moncton’s Mysterious Magnetic Hill” for visitors at Magnetic Hill in
Moncton indicates that the local farmers had observed this recurring strange phenomenon on their horse
wagons in the early 1800’s. When they were going downhill on this section of the road, the horse seemed
to be using substantial effort to pull the wagon to go downhill. But when they were going uphill, the wagon
would run up on the heels of startled horse. There were also stories of barrels and bales of dry goods
rolling mysteriously “uphill”. Therefore, the strange gravity phenomenon on this mysterious Magnetic Hill at
Moncton has been known for more than 200 years.
5. Water Flows Uphill
At Magnetic Hill, observers also note that water in the roadside drainage ditches also seemingly runs
“uphill.” This indicates that this strange phenomenon is not caused by magnetic force.
6. Location of Magnetic Hill and Direction:
The Magnetic Hill is at the junction of Mountain Rd. and Magic Mountain Rd., Moncton, Canada. Phone:+1
506-853-3597. It is at northwest part of the city of Moncton in the Province of New Brunswick. Moncton is
in eastern Canada, near northeast tip of Bay of Fundy.
Directions: Take exit 450 of the Transcanada Highway (i.e. Highway #2) for Route 126 (i.e., Mountain
Road) and follow the roadside signs of Magnetic Hill. Phone: 506-853-3516.
Map: Click here to see interactive Google Map showing location of Magnetic Hill near Moncton
7. Not All Gravity Hills Are Equal
Over the last few years, I have visited 6 Gravity Hills to gain more personal first hand experience: one in
eastern Canada, three in Pennsylvania, USA and two in southwest New Jersey, USA. Out of these 6
gravity hills, the Magnetic Hill near Moncton in eastern Canada is most impressive because the slope of
this Gravity Hill is steepest among these 6 gravity hills that I have visited.
The famous Gravity Hills usually have steeper slopes so that rolling uphill on such steep slope is more
obvious, sensational and impressive. Two examples of such 5-star Gravity Hills are (a) Magnetic Hill near
Moncton in eastern Canada, and (b) Strange Slope (怪坡) near 瀋陽 in northeast China. These two gravity
hills are so popular, attracting so many visitors that the local governments are willing to invest money to
build a by-pass road for regular traffic to bypass the Gravity Hill so that many visitors can enjoy the thrill
on such Gravity Hill without worrying about automobile collision accident with regular road traffic. Some
tour guides indicate that Magnetic Hill near Moncton is the third most visited natural "wonder" in Canada.
More information on Strange Slope (怪坡) near 瀋陽 in northeast China is available at the following
website:
http://www.shltrip.com/Additional_Information_On_Gravity_Hills.html
The local governments are proud of such Gravity Hills in their towns, are willing to invest money to
promote them as their tourist attractions with several big road signs to welcome visitors from exit ramp of
nearby major highway all the way to the Gravity Hill. The visual perceptions of the steep slope by all
visitors are very clear and unambiguous on this particular Gravity Hill near Moncton. For visitors, it is very
exciting and thrilling to sit inside a vehicle rolling up this steep slope. The starting point and the end point of
the Gravity Hill are well marked. They charge $5 entrance fee to Magnetic Hill and practically all visitors
are very happy to pay such entrance fee to experience the thrill.
On the other hand, some other gravity hills have very mild and small slope such that the strange Gravity
Hill effect is NOT clear, not strong, not very sensational and not very impressive. On such mild slope, the
visual perception of the mild slope may be somewhat ambiguous and unclear depending on people. Some
people may get an ambiguity feeling in that they are not sure if it is really an uphill slope. Some people
argue that it is an uphill slope while other people argue that it is a downhill slope. With such ambiguity
feeling, many people then easily get the feeling that it may be just an illusion.
Such feeble Gravity Hills are not impressive and are not attracting many visitors. The local governments do
not feel it is worthwhile to invest money to build a bypass road to bypass the regular road traffic away
from such mild gravity hills. The local governments are not willing to spend money to promote it as a
tourist attraction. Worse yet, some local policemen even tell occasional visitors that there is no Gravity Hill
here and send visitors away, to prevent such visitors from causing traffic problems or irritating the local
residents.
Therefore, if you want to see and experience the thrill of an impressive Gravity Hill with a strong feeling, it
is highly recommended that you go to see the Magnetic Hill near Moncton, in the Province of New
Brunswick in eastern Canada.
On the other hand, if you go to see a nearby feeble Gravity Hill with a mild slope as a first experience, you
probably will be disappointed with an ambiguous feeling. Such ambiguous and feeble feeling may be one
of the contributing factors for so many people to believe that it is just an illusion.
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Appendix A - Is It Magnetic Force or Electric Force?
Some people asked if the strange phenomenon on Gravity Hills is caused by magnetic force or by electric
force. The following observations and tests on several Gravity Hills indicate that the strange phenomenon
on Gravity Hills is not due to magnetic force and not due to electric force either.
C.1 People poured water on the surface of paved road of several Gravity Hills and the water flew uphill on
such strange slopes. Some other people put plastic water bottle with water on such strange slopes and
the plastic water bottle rolled uphill on such strange slopes. Such tests are shown on the movie clips in the
following YouTube websites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2hAiM2yjso&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFqsdpCB-O8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd0A4bnp-YU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qscv5ei29Q&NR=1
C.2 A test on a Gravity Hill in China by using two plumb lines: with an iron ball on one line and a plastic ball
on another line. These two plum lines are parallel to each other on the Gravity Hill, and
C.3 Tests by using a compass on a gravity hill in China showed no unusual magnetic force. On the other
hand, some other measurements of magnetic field in some Mystery Spots in California, USA indicate that
the strength of magnetic field inside the Mystery Spots is higher by only several percents relative to
normal earth magnetic field outside of the Mystery Spots. However, the abnormal magnetic field only a
few percent higher than the normal earth magnetic field is not strong enough to pull a vehicle in neutral
gear and brake released to roll uphill.
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Appendix D - GPS Measurements on a Gravity Hill
Recognizing the serious defects of bubble based measurements on Gravity Hills, some people, therefore,
used GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver for elevation measurements on a Gravity Hill to avoid the
influence of the potential abnormal local gravity. It was thought to be a better method to determine which
end of a Gravity Hill is really higher.
Unfortunately the accuracy of the consumer-grade inexpensive single GPS receivers is not good enough
for such purpose as described in the following.
D.1. Contradictory Results from GPS Measurements on a Gravity Hill
Two investigators had done two such sets of independent measurements more than 10 years ago by
using GPS receiver on a Gravity Hill known as the Gravity Hill near New Paris in Bedford County in
Pennsylvania, USA.
However, the results from these two independent measurements using GPS receiver on the same Gravity
Hill but in different years are totally opposite and contradictory.
Results of Investigator (X) indicate that the lowest point by visual perception on this section of road at
Gravity Hill is higher than the highest point by visual perception and conclude that the strange phenomenon
at this Gravity Hill is due to illusion.
But the independent second set of measurements by GPS from investigator (Y) indicate that the lowest
point and the highest point by visual perceptions on this strange slope at Gravity Hill are indeed correct as
confirmed by his GPS measurements. The conclusion from investigator (Y) is that this strange
phenomenon at the Gravity Hill is real and is NOT an illusion.
The key reason for such contradictory results from GPS receiver measurements is due to the large and
time varying error in elevation measurements by using a single consumer-grade inexpensive GPS receiver
as described in the next section.
D.2. My Test of Accuracy of Elevation Measurement by GPS Receiver
I did a test personally several years ago by placing an old version of my GPS receiver at a fixed location
and just watched the measured elevation displayed on the GPS receiver screen. The displayed elevation
was not constant but was time varying every few seconds and varied by as much as 100 feet even though
the GPS receiver was at a fixed location and was not moving at all.
Furthermore, I put two units of newer version of consumer-grade GPS receivers, of identical model from
the same manufacturers, side by side with no space between the touching sides of the two GPS
receivers. The measured elevations displayed on the two identical GPS receivers at the same fixed
location were different! Furthermore, the two elevation numbers displayed on the two GPS receivers were
also not constant, but were changing with time even though these two GPS receivers were at fixed
locations and were not moving at all. But, the rate of change of displayed elevation on these two newer
version of GPS receiver was in the order of minutes and is slower than that (order of seconds) of my older
GPS receiver.
The 24 GPS satellites are moving rapidly on their orbits such that their relative positions, as seen from a
GPS receiver on the ground are time varying and are not constant. These GPS satellites are moving
rapidly because they are not on high orbits of synchronous satellites. Such rapid variations in their relative
positions viewed from a GPS receiver is one of the reasons for time varying measurement errors. More
detailed description of several sources of error in GPS receiver measurements can be seen in the
following Wikipedia website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_analysis_for_the_Global_Positioning_System
The bottom line is that the accuracy of using a single consumer-grade inexpensive GPS receiver is not
good enough for accurate determination on which end of the slope of Gravity Hill is higher.
My Personal Experience on a Famous Gravity Hill known as Magnetic Hill in eastern Canada
Web Page (4)
By Sing H. Lin, Ph.D., E-Mail: singhlin@gmail.com
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Picture 5: The blue minivan on the left lane did not turn around and is rolling up the strange slope backward
while three other vehicles (two in white color and one in red color) on the right lane are going down to the
bottom of the strange slope to try their experience of rolling up the strange slope.
Some people stop at the bottom of the strange slope in the middle of this section of the road and roll up
the slope backward like the blue minivan does in this picture. But some other people do not stop at the
bottom, but go further to the far end which is higher than the bottom, then turn their vehicles around, then
come down to the bottom in the middle of this section of road and stop there, so that they can roll up the
hill forward (like that in Pictures 2, 3 and 4) instead of backward.

Picture 6: Several vehicles and a motor cycle are waiting on the line for their turns to go down the slope to
try the thrill and the sensation on this strange slope. Notice that the road surface for the waiting line of
vehicles is reasonably level (i.e., not on a steep slope) and that the area for waiting line of vehicles is
substantial in size.
There were quite a few visitors with their cars, vans, trucks, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, etc.
waiting on line to try this strange phenomenon at Magnetic Hill when I was there in July 2005.
Picture 7: Three more vehicles waiting on line for their turns to try the strange slope. At the top of the
slope, there are two orange colored posts and two or more instructors telling visitors on what to do
when they drive down to the bottom of the slope to experience the strange phenomenon of Magnetic Hill.

Picture 8: More vehicles waiting on line for their turns. Notice that we cannot see the bottom of the
Gravity Hill from the large waiting area on the top of the Gravity Hill.
2. The popular and entrenched Illusion Theory for Gravity Hills
Many people simply dismiss such strange gravity phenomenon on such Gravity Hills as illusion. The Illusion
Theory asserts that: (1) the gravity is normal at all such special locations of Gravity Hills, (2) the perceived
bottom of such strange slope is "higher" than the perceived top of the slope, and (3) the observed strange
gravity phenomenon on such Gravity Hills is due entirely to illusion in human perception. In other words,
those vehicle are rolling downhill as asserted by the Illusion Theory even though they look like rolling uphill
as seen by everybody.
3. My Experience on this Gravity Hill
However, notice that in Pictures 7 and 8, we cannot see the bottom of the strange slope from the area of
vehicle waiting line at the top of the strange slope. We can see the far end of this section of road but
cannot see the bottom in the middle of this section of road. I was standing upright on the top of the
strange slope in taking all these Pictures 1 to 8. My camera had at least 5 feet of clearance from the
ground surface. Even with such 5 feet of clearance at the area of waiting line of vehicles, my camera still
cannot see the bottom of the strange slope, but can see the far end of the road.
From my first hand experience, this is a good evidence that the bottom of the strange slope in the middle
of this section of road is indeed lower than the top of the strange slope and lower than the far end such
that we cannot see the bottom from this waiting line of vehicles on the top of the strange slope. This is
one of the reasons that I do not believe that the strange gravity phenomenon on such strange slope is due
to "Illusion" as asserted by the popular and entrenched Illusion Theory.
If the perceived bottom of the slope were higher than the perceived top of the slope as asserted by the
"Illusion Theory", then we, at my standing upright position on the perceived top of the strange slope with
at least 5 feet of clearance above ground level, would be able to see the "higher" bottom from the area of
waiting line of vehicles in Pictures 7 and 8.
However, the fact that on the waiting line in Pictures 7 and 8, we do see the far end but do not see the
perceived bottom of the slope in the middle of this section of road is a good evidence that (A) the bottom
of the slope in the middle is indeed lower than the top of the slope and lower than the far end as shown in
Pictures 2, 3, 4 and 5 and (B) this strange gravity phenomenon is real and is NOT due to illusion.
A picture taken by other people from the bottom of the slope looking toward the top of the slope of
Magnetic Hill can be seen at the following website:
http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/images/mag_hill_macton_reverse.jpg
This picture shows that this camera at the bottom of the slope cannot see the large area for the waiting
line of vehicles at the top of the slope beyond the instructor and the orange color post.
If the bottom of the slope were higher than the top of the slope, as asserted by the Illusion Theory, this
camera at the "higher" bottom would be able to see the large area of waiting line of vehicles beyond the
position of the instructors and the orange post.
The fact that this camera at the bottom cannot see the large area of waiting line of vehicles on the top of
slope is a consistent evidence that the bottom of the slope is indeed lower than the top of the slope.
Similarly, many other people have also taken movie clips when their cars in neutral gear were rolling up
this Magnetic Hill in Moncton as shown on the following YouTube websites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6E45x825M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgdZGbOclk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhr0owdDLqo&feature=related
In these three movie clips, notice that when their cameras in their cars are pointing to the top of the slope
(where the instructors and the area for the waiting line of vehicles are located), the videos show that
these cameras cannot see the large area for the waiting line of vehicles on the top of the slope.
If the bottom of the slope were higher than the top of the slope, as asserted by the Illusion Theory, these
cameras in the cars would be able to see the large area of waiting line of vehicles beyond the position of
the instructors. The fact that these cameras cannot see the large area of waiting line of vehicles on the
top of the slope is further consistent evidence that the bottom of the slope is indeed lower than the top of
the slope.
Therefore, both the views in Pictures 7 and 8 from the area of the waiting line of vehicles on the top of the
slope and the views from the bottom of the slope consistently indicate that the bottom of the slope is
indeed lower than the top of the slope.
Picture 3: The vehicle started to roll uphill from the bottom.
Picture 4: The vehicle continued rolling uphill.
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Appendix E - What is Wrong in Existing Bubble Based Measurement Results that
Support Illusion Theory?
Some people have done some measurements on some Gravity Hills by using the bubble based carpenter’s
level or bubble based land survey instrument. The results of such measurements indicate that the human
perceived bottom of the Gravity Hill is “higher” than the human perceived top of the Gravity Hill. Such
measured results are often used to support the popular and entrenched Illusion Theory. These
measurements depend on the liquid level bubble and plumb line to establish the critical reference horizontal
plane and critical vertical line for their measurements.
However, none of such measurements took the precautionary step to check to see if the local gravity at
the Gravity Hill is normal or not. The evidences 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 in Sections 2.3 to 2.8 on Web Page (1)
at:
Web Page (1): http://www.shltrip.com/Magnetic_Hill.html
indicate that the local gravity at these special locations of Gravity Hills and Mystery Spots are abnormal
with a significant horizontal component. The liquid level bubble and the plumb line used in such
measurements are influenced by such significant abnormal local gravity such that the critical reference
horizontal plane and the critical reference vertical line used in such measurements are tilted as illustrated in
the following Figures E-1 and E-2:

Figure E-1 for the Top and the Bottom of an uphill slope of a Gravity Hill.

Figure E-2 - On a Gravity Hill, the plumb line and the level liquid bubble yield (wrong) tilted horizontal plane due
to the influence of abnormal local gravity.
On Figure E-2, as viewed from the Bottom of the Gravity Hill, the Top of the Gravity Hill becomes below the
tilted horizontal plane represented by the red dashed line. In other words, with the tiled red dashed plane
taken as the (wrong) reference horizontal plane, (1) the uphill slope becomes a downhill slope on Figure E-2,
and (2) the top of the slope becomes lower than the bottom of the slope because of the tilted wrong reference
horizontal plane.
Therefore, such bubble based measurement results by either carpenter’s level or by land survey instrument
indicate erroneously that the human perceived bottom is “higher” than the top of the Gravity Hill based on its
tilted reference horizontal plane. Such wrong measurement results are often used as the support for the
popular and entrenched Illusion Theory for Gravity Hills.
Although there are many reports on Internet of the results of such land survey measurements and carpenter’s
level measurements on Gravity Hills, I have not seen any reports of such measurements indicating that the
surveyor(s) took any special care to check to see if the local gravity on the Gravity Hill is normal or not before
they performed such traditional land survey measurements.
Many people miss the serious defects in such results from blind land survey measurements, and fall into this
trap of erroneously accepting such wrong results as valid proof of Illusion Theory for the strange gravity
phenomenon on these Gravity Hills. Consequently, we see the word "illusion" all over the place in many articles
on Internet when they refer to this strange gravity phenomenon on many Gravity Hills.
The bottom line is that we cannot trust the results from such bubble based blind measurements on Gravity Hills
or Mystery Spots unless special independent measurements have been done to check to see if the local
gravity on such Gravity Hills or Mystery Spots is normal or not.
Knowing the serious defect of simple bubble based tests, several scientists and engineers have suggested
several other possible scientific methods for precision measurements that may be carried out on Gravity Hills
to get correct measurement results. These suggested additional methods are collected in my web page
entitled "Need for Precision Scientific Measurements on Gravity Hills" at:
http://www.shltrip.com/Need_For_Precision_Measurements.html