Can anyone explain the height change mystery at Oregon Vortex?

Check out this news media report from the 90's about the unexplainable height change at the Oregon Vortex. The reporter had no idea how it worked. The plank was level, as you can see. I even balanced a nickel on it. But the height change was too great even if it was a fraction off. In this video, the tour guide said that something there might cause light to bend so that the person at the north end appears shorter. But if so, then you could touch the top of the person's head and have your hand pass through it. lol. At the end, the reporter said that a physicist studied the Oregon Vortex for 40 years, and corresponded with Einstein about it. But before he died, he burned all his research papers, saying that the world was not ready for the secret there. Very spooky. Here it is:



Here is a clip of a man and woman doing the height change there. You can see that their height definitely changes when they switch sides. It doesn't appear to be an optical illusion. Something really unexplainable is going on there.



Any explanations?

Yes i can explain....but would you understand or believe me?? lol


There is a place like this near me in the UK. Similar i should say, you sit at what appears to be the bottom of a hill, and the car rolls up it.

I can explain that too....

Originally posted by loves a conspiricy
Yes i can explain....but would you understand or believe me?? lol


There is a place like this near me in the UK. Similar i should say, you sit at what appears to be the bottom of a hill, and the car rolls up it.

I can explain that too....

Don't be shy, explain that please.

For the hill, there is also one in Canada and it's pretty cool. But i'm not sure it's the same phenomena. The hill case is really just an optic illusion with the street and the landscape around.

what i see in this video seems completely different.

Peace out.

reply to post by bigwig22


Have a look here, is better explained

www.randi.org...

It should be noted, that photographs published at the official website of the attraction appear to demonstrate the same apparent height anomaly even when the potentially confusing perspectives of the background are removed. However, while the taller of the figures does indeed change dramatically in size depending on whether he stands on the side that 'makes you shorter' or the side that 'makes you taller', the shorter of the two figures remains the same size in all photos, no matter which end of the plank he stands on, thus indicating clearly that the photos are digitally altered. Photos taken by independent parties and posted online do not show a similar discrepancy in size once the illusion caused by the background is removed.

reply to post by bigwig22


Lol you talking about magnetic hill in moncton? I live like 40 mins from there
It's an optical illision, but it is cool none the less.

As for the hieght changing, I wonder if it would look the same if you block out the background with a white sheet.

From the way it looks, it just looks like one side is higher than than the other and the other side is lower than the other. So every time they switch, of course the height is going to change.

There is a place in the upper peninsula of Michigan called the Mystery Spot with this same illusion. Take a look at the angle of the fence behind the people.

haha clearly a COOOOL optical illusion. There is nothing "fishy" going on here. If you look at the second video, you can clearly see one side of the far post facing the inside of the other post. However, you can't see the side of the post closest to us that is facing towards the other post, therefore, optical illusion.

very cool tho

reply to post by loves a conspiricy

Yes!!

And more...

Illustration #1 shows the finished product, in which two bottles, identical except for contents and labeling, are placed on a miniature platform. The one on the right appears to be substantially larger than the other, right? This uses the same simple means that the vortex folks use.

Photo #2 reveals the ruse. While #1 appears to represent the true horizontal, we see in #2 that the whole setup has been sloped by being placed on a loose-leaf notebook "wedge" labeled "L." Bits of modeling clay, marked "C," were placed under the edges of the bottles to incline them slightly; in the full-size set-up using people, the subjects can stand at a slight angle to appear perpendicular to the platform, while spice bottles cannot.
Locating the camera at just the right height, the leading edge and far edge of the platform are parallel to the false horizontal. The two ends of the platform are slanted, as can be seen in photograph #3, taken immediately in front of the miniature set-up, but from about 45 degrees up and above. Photo #4 shows the line-up, though not shown is the elevation of the right side of the platform.

Since the right-hand bottle is closer to the camera, it registers a larger image. That's all there is to it, folks! Return to photo #1 to see how convincing this final product is!

I should mention one or two other facets of the "growing person" illusion. Note, in the published photos that you'll find on Google.com, that though the two persons appear to be looking into one another's eyes, they are actually staring right past each other, over the other person's left shoulder. In the photo at the beginning of this article, you can actually see a huge piece of lumber placed under the right end of the platform to bring it up from the level ground, and of course the photo is rotated slightly to the right so the platform seems to be truly horizontal! Also, the eccentric angles of the tumble-down shack in the background confuse the spectator's orientation and any normal decision on what's level. Not much in this part of Oregon is on the level, I think.

There's no mystery, no magic, no vortex...

Source

Originally posted by Manhater
From the way it looks, it just looks like one side is higher than than the other and the other side is lower than the other. So every time they switch, of course the height is going to change.

No it is not. The level shows it to be level. Plus when I was there, I balanced a nickel on it. How would the nickel stay up if it wasn't level? Coins are too sensitive to be balanced on unlevel surfaces.

Watch the news report in the first video. The change in height is like 1 or 1.5 inches, which is significant. Watch it again. There is no illusion there. The height change is clear, from ANY angle including a perfectly perpendicular one.

Originally posted by TKDRL
reply to post by bigwig22

 

Lol you talking about magnetic hill in moncton? I live like 40 mins from there

It's an optical illision, but it is cool none the less.

As for the hieght changing, I wonder if it would look the same if you block out the background with a white sheet.

Yes, watch those two videos. You can totally ignore the background and just focus on the people, and you will see the height change. It is very clear. The video shows direct proof.

If it's just an optical illusion, then why can't anyone explain exactly how it works? All the skeptical articles just call it an optical illusion, and mention something about the background skewing your perspective. But that doesn't hold water, because you can see the height change even if you ignore the background. And plus the height change is easily noticeble from photos and videos.

Sorry, but the Randi article shows a different shape, not a rectangular plank. And it is only from a certain angle, whereas at the Oregon Vortex, it is noticeable from EVERY angle.

Randi and the pseudoskeptics are known to lie in order to debunk. They aren't truth seekers at all.

reply to post by WWu777


The only way to be able to discount the backround is to block it out completely. Your eyes still see it, and your brain still processes it, even if you are trying to ignore it.

Here's an idea: the next time you visit the Vortex, bring a small tape measure with you and measure the spacing of the hash marks on each post. You may find a surprising clue.

reply to post by TKDRL


Indeed, i was talking about the Moncton magnetic hill

I live in Quebec so it's a little more than 40 minutes for me to get there.

Peace out.

I feel like a total outsider watching the party but to me the shorter person(s) still looks shorter and the taller ones still looked taller on the first video. I haven't watched the second one yet because the dog started barking and it's time for our walk. But from what I saw, I basically saw nothing. So I began to question if this wasn't really an experiment on the power of suggestion. I will watch the videos again to make sure, but I was wondering if I'm the only one missing out on the optical illusion or whatever this is.

Just a tourist trap.
Nothing special there, just "illusion".
I can make a crooked grout joint look straight, nothing special there.

Here are some pictures I took at the Oregon Vortex, showing you what I witnessed about the height changes on the level plank.

First, here is the plank that I'm talking about. As you can see, the level tool shows that it is level, and I even balanced a coin on it to show how level it is.








Now here are some height comparisons. As you can see, when the people switch sides, their height relative to each other changes by about an inch or so.





Me and another guy trying it. As you can see, there's a noticeable difference in our height comparison when we switch sides.






What do you think? Any explanations?

I have videos of the ball rolling uphill on a plank, but not on the computer. I will see if I can find it on YouTube though.

Here is a side by side comparison on the Oregon Vortex website of the same people in both photos after changing places on the plank, showing a noticeable height change.

www.oregonvortex.com...







Here is a video of the ball rolling uphill at Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA.

reply to post by WWu777

Here is a side by side comparison on the Oregon Vortex website of the same people in both photos after changing places on the plank, showing a noticeable height change.

And also a distinct rotation. Notice how the figure on the left is skewed slightly towards the camera, and the figure on the right is slightly skewed away from the camera. The figure on the right is slightly closer. Use what you've learned studying Apollo photographs to puzzle out what is really going on.

As for the video you posted, try tilting your head so that the people appear to be vertical. The entire house is built on an angle. The ball is on a track that is not as slanted as the rest of the house, creating the illusion that the ball is rolling "uphill." If you'd rather believe the cheesy UFO story, the Mystery Spot will be happy to charge you admission and sell you a bumper sticker so you can pay for the privilege of advertising for them.

Originally posted by WWu777
Me and another guy trying it. As you can see, there's a noticeable difference in our height comparison when we switch sides.

Since the ground plank is not exactly lined up with the camera, there's one side of it (the right one) that is slightly far away from the camera to the other side.
So, the person standing on this right side will have its apparent size smaller than its apparent size in the left side.
How it works?

There are 8 pixels differences for each guy between their two switched positions.
- 308-300=8
- 317-309=8
These 8 pixels difference represent the difference of apparent size due to the distance difference from the camera sensor to the plank/guy. Of course, it stay the same, whoever is on the plank.

Now, consider only one position, no matter who is standing on. There are 9 pixels differences between the two guys height:
- Left side: 317-9=308
- Right side: 309-9=300

Meaning that the size of both guys stay the same in both positions and that the apparent difference is just a trick of perspective.

On my measurements below, its easily visible.





Things would necessary be different if the photos were taken with the camera exactly lined up (parallel) with the ground plank. Pixels mesurements will have the same value in both photos for each guy.

Oh And there should be a case where this "height change mystery" will not works at all: when the two people have exactly the same height...
In fact, the more difference there's between the two people, the more the illusion works.