The Oregon Vortex is a
roadside attraction that opened to tourists in 1930,
located on Sardine Creek in
Gold Hill,
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It consists of a number of interesting effects, which are
gravity hill optical illusions, but which the attraction's proprietors propose are the result of
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
properties of the area.
Background
Local legend supposedly states that prior to any construction in the area, Native Americans in the area referred to the site as a "forbidden" land, and travelers passing through would often find their horses refusing to go through the area.
The story goes that a gold assay office was built in the area in 1904 by the Old Grey Eagle Mining Company, which slid from its foundation in the early tens, coming to rest at an odd angle. However the building conforms to other purpose-built distorting rooms or "crazy houses" such as at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot. In 1914, the outpost and assay house were rediscovered by a prospector named William McCollugh. McCollugh convinced his friend, geologist and engineer John Litster to come to the US from his birth place in
Alva,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Litster says he researched the paranormal phenomena of the so-called 165-foot magnet radius.
When the very similar
Mystery Spot was created in Santa Cruz, California in 1939, Litster sued for copyright violations, but withdrew the suit when it was pointed out that he claimed the Oregon Vortex was a natural phenomenon.
When Litster died in 1959, his wife sold the Oregon Vortex to Ernie and Irene Cooper. The Coopers' daughter Maria and grandson Mark kept the attraction open since then, making it one of Oregon's oldest examples of roadside americana.
Odd angles create an illusion of objects seemingly rolling uphill. The same effect can be seen in The
Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
Vortex and house of mystery,
Pennsylvania's Laurel Caverns, North Carolina’s Mystery Hill, and at
Santa Cruz,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
's Mystery Spot. Two UC Berkeley researchers studied the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot and published their conclusions in Psychological Science in 1999. They proposed a framework called "orientation framing" which describes how the brain's visual processing uses spatial frames of reference. They noted similar illusions including the
Ponzo illusion, the
Zöllner illusion, the
Poggendorf and Wündt-Hering illusions. James Randi, magician and illusionist, also described the Oregon Vortex (House of Mystery) as an optical illusion in 1998 using photography and mathematics to describe the illusion. Russ Donnelly, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Oregon visited the Oregon Vortex in 1966 and was convinced it was some sort of optical illusion. Owner Maria Cooper agreed with Donnelly that what people are seeing inside the House of Mystery is an optical illusion but insisted something else was happening outside the house that makes people's height appear to grow and shrink depending on their location.
Oregon Vortex is also famous for "height change" as the apparent relative height of two people varies, depending on where each stands. The explanation of the strange phenomena is that they are caused by optical illusions. Distorted backgrounds that induce a
forced perspective, as with an
Ames room. The Oregon site also exhibits phenomena similar to those perceived by visitors at the mystery spot located outside St. Ignace in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
In popular culture
* The site was investigated on a second season episode of the
SyFy reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
''
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files'', and although there seemed to be a small debate between the show's investigators over the "height change" phenomenon, they ultimately concluded that overall, all of the effects demonstrated were optical illusions.
* The Oregon Vortex was featured in a 1999 episode of
X-Files.
* The attraction is the inspiration for the Mystery Shack, a
tourist trap and the main setting for the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
(later
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...
) original series ''
Gravity Falls''.
* Mentioned in Season 3 Episode 11 of Supernatural in relation to the mystery spot being investigated and alongside The Bermuda Triangle
* Visited in Season 15 Episode 1 of ''
Ghost Adventures'' "Golden Ghost Town" prior to the overnight investigation in
Golden. Whilst there, Zak and Aaron witness a
broom being perfectly balanced by the tip of its brush.
* Mentioned in Stranger Than Science by Frank Edwards using glass balls as an example.
* Mentioned in Supernatural by Sam Winchester in Season 3 Episode 11 "Mystery Spot.
References
External links
Oregon Vortex Official website
SyFy Channel - Fact Or Faked: Paranormal Files{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214191420/http://www.syfy.com/factorfaked/ , date=2014-12-14
*
ttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E4DD133AF93AA2575AC0A9659C8B63&pagewanted=all New York Times Travel Section Articlebr>
Dark Destinations - The Oregon Vortex
Buildings and structures in Jackson County, Oregon
Gravity hills
Optical illusions
Roadside attractions in Oregon
Tourist attractions in Jackson County, Oregon