They also debunked the appearance of a ball rolling uphill as an optical illusion - it's actually rolling downhill, but the house's slanted walls play tricks on the eye. They determined that certain brooms could easily stand on their own based on the type of bristles and the angle of the floor. The "Fact or Faked" team, lead by former FBI criminal investigator Ben Hansen, used scientific equipment to measure the odd angles and warped floor of the Vortex's famous Mystery House. The Vortex has been drawing tourists since the 1930s with reports of strange phenomenon, such as brooms appearing to stand on their own, and a spot where peoples' height seems to change based on where they're standing, which tour guides claim is caused by mysterious forces that change people's molecular structure while they're there. But on Tuesday's episode, they ventured to Gold Hill to study The Oregon Vortex, a popular roadside attraction where the laws of physics don't seem to apply. Investigators from the SyFy reality show "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" normally check out reports of flying saucers and haunted houses. 'Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files' investigates Oregon Vortex: Optical illusions or unexplained mysteries? The Oregonian highlights this popular attraction and reads: Are these tricks all optical illusions or is there something more legitimate going on in these hills? That's for you the visitor to determine. Although at first impression when the tour guide showed us examples of gravity-defying tricks, it was apparent after awhile that there is definitely something strange going on in terms of how one's eyes perceive objects in their surroundings. Our family visited this place to see for ourselves the natural phenomena this area has attracted curiosity seekers over the years. Next: probably not any pictures, as we get ourselves north and into place for the eclipse on Monday morning.There are many websites that highlight the famous Oregon Vortex as well as the House of Mystery. (Bird count for the day: a great horned owl hooting at 3am an osprey harassing a juvenile bald eagle on the edge of Hyatt Lake two big cranes of indeterminate species hanging out in a field and three very combative hummingbirds fighting over some feeders.) The place has less obvious a connection to GF than Confusion Hill, but as we were leaving the gift shop, we saw that the inside of the door was covered with notes and drawings from GF fans (mostly Bill, but there was a nice Mabel as well).Īll in all, lots of fun, and totally worth the trip!įor the rest of the day, we went to the Josephine County Fair in Grants Pass, where we did many extremely county-fair things, like: watch people go on carnival rides that I would not touch with a ten-foot pole (just looking at them reminded me of my episodes of vertigo) ate fried bread and viewed many 4H and Future Farmers exhibits, including a goat and sheep costume show, some horse gait competitions (pictured, a gorgeous drum-horse alone in her category), and viewed agricultural exhibits and a lot of livestock, including cows, rabbits, chickens and other fowl (pictured, a boy with his extremely relaxed bantam-class hen), and pigs and piglets (one boy had named his pig Waddles). But I found it’s emphasis on the height-altering phenomena (with jokes about “we moved you down to this end and shrunk you”) to be really interesting in view of GF having done an entire ep based around height-altering crystals. Mystery vibe, more straightforward and less kitschy. I would say that the place had less of a Mystery Shack / Mr. (But at Confusion Hill they explicitly state that the founder was trying to find other spots similar to the Oregon Vortex, so the similarity is very intentional.) It was interesting to learn that the House of Mystery predates Confusion Hill by about 15 years, though. The house itself was similar to the one I reported on earlier at Confusion Hill - some of the same demonstrations being set up of how your perception goes all wonky inside. (See second row of photos.) Plus, discussing theories that might account for the phenomena. It was big on presentations that demonstrated the various strange properties of the site, most especially the relative-height changes that arise when people stand in certain spots and then switch places. While relatively simple and limited in content, it made up for it by organizing the experience in a one-hour guided tour. The Oregon Vortex and the World Famous House of Mystery was the last stop on our tour of tourist traps of the Pacific Northwest, and it did not disappoint. ![]() The World Famous House of Mystery! And a real county fair!
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