LEWISBERRY, Pa. — Gravity Hill has attracted hundreds over the years, including YouTubers trying to test out the supposed supernatural phenomenon.
The idea here is that you drive downhill on Pleasant View Road in Fairview Township toward the intersection at Wyndemere Road, then stop and put on your four-ways.
You put your car in neutral, and then you'll actually appear to roll backwards uphill.
An urban legend says it's the ghosts of kids pushing you uphill, trying to spare you from their gruesome fate. They supposedly died when their school bus collided with a train at that intersection.
So ghosts? Or is there something else going on here—say something scientific?
"It's an optical illusion."
Robert Furey, professor of integrated sciences at Harrisburg University, has taught lessons on this in the past.
"What you're actually seeing are clues on the horizon that make you think the angles are different than what they actually are," Furey said.
The mind wants to think that the intersecting road is perpendicular, but in reality, it is not. That's where the illusion starts in our minds.
You can use water to show this is not the case—when you pour water on the road, it flows downhill as it should.
Furey explains, "The angle of the road to the side and these visual clues and cues that you get from looking around you make it look like [the car is] rolling backwards up the hill."
But in reality, there's a three-foot dip right before the intersection that's making the vehicle roll.
"When the cars roll, they look like they're rolling backwards up the hill, but in fact, they're rolling backwards down a slight hill," Furey said.
So what about fingerprints?
The legend claims if you throw flour on your car, you see the fingerprints of the kids.
Well, Furey has a very scientific explanation for this as well: he says it's just like taking fingerprints.
"If you put this dust on the car, the oil that somebody's hand left there acts like a fingerprint," Furey said. "So you think you're seeing ghost handprints."
It's also worth noting that there is no railroad nearby, and never has been one.
So, as cool as it is to experience, it's not supernatural activity, and we can lay that one to rest.