Every Memorial Day weekend it starts. Cars line up on either side of Branciforte Dr. in Santa Cruz to visit the world famous Mystery Spot. The Mystery Spot is open every day, but Memorial Day marks the open season for Mystery. I live on Branciforte Dr. about half a mile away from this spot. I can always tell when someone is trying to get there. They drive slow, weave a bit, and look lost. They look for any indication that they are near. Their necks crane up at the glorious redwood trees that line the road, perhaps thinking that this spot could appear out of nowhere at any moment. Magic!
It's a phenomenon on many levels. First, this thing has been open since 1940, every day. Second it is hugely popular for Japanese, German, and Indian tourists. Like crazy popular! It seems, in California, you have the Golden Gate Bridge, Yosemite, Disneyland, and the Mystery Spot. Must see attractions! Third, people really believe that something mysterious and/or alien is going on there. Like really believe!
As I was getting my hair dyed blue this morning, the subject of the Mystery Spot came up. I tried to explain to my hair care professional that it was all an optical illusion. She wouldn't buy it. She didn't want to go there. I tried to explain that the mystery is in your brain and how it perceives what it sees, but I had to stop. It's more fun believing.
But for you, you have a choice. You can either read on and have your spirit crushed or you can go elsewhere. It's all the same to me. My goal here is to try to reduce the traffic jam around my house by just a little bit.
The Mystery Spot is a hoax. It's an old timey roadside attraction that is very well executed and has been for years. Here's the deal. You are told some crazy story at the beginning of your tour about a possible meteor that landed there, or something to do with the gravitational pull of the earth's magma at that certain area. It's never totally explained... it's, well a mystery. Then you walk up a steep hill and go inside a fenced in area. The horizon is totally cut off from your field of view and the structure you see is built on an angle. From this point on, your brain gets scrambled. You see balls roll uphill, you can stand on the wall, people shorter than other people look to be the same height. You can lean over without falling down. When it's all over, you get a bumper sticker. For $5 it's actually a pretty good deal. A little hocus pocus, some laughter at other peoples expense, and a souvenir. I think the tour lasts about 15 minutes.
The Mystery Spot demonstrates the influence of visual context on perception.
Now don't just believe me... there has been some actual scientific study done on this effect. A UCSC psychology professor named Bruce Bridgeman has written an article called "Influence of Visually Induced Expectation on Perceived Motor Effort: A Visual-Proprioceptive Interaction at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot" for the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review... which sounds fake, but it's not. Here's the abstract for his article:
"It is known that dense objects seem heavier than larger, less dense objects of the same weight. We have investigated a related illusion, in which visual context biases the apparent weight of a single object. The apparatus is a cabin on a steep hillside near Santa Cruz, CA, tilted 17° from vertical. From its ceiling hangs a weight on a chain. The cabin's tilt makes the weight appear suspended at an angle. Pushing the weight toward the visually based vertical is perceived as difficult, whereas pushing it away from the visual vertical is perceived as easy. Seven subjects pushed the weight in both directions, judging required effort on a double-anchored 1–10 scale. All experienced the effort illusion, with no significant subject effect. When subjects' eyes were closed, the effect was smaller but still present. Apparently proprioceptive and skin inputs, equal for both directions, are ignored or underweighted as visually based expectations influence perceived effort."
Gotta love that! Professor Bridgeman takes his classes to the spot for field trips. And UCSC doesn't give out grades...
So there you have it. It's just a shack built on an angle on the side of a steep hill with no view of the horizon so your perception is thrown off. And the owners are super rich. I hope that helps.
For more information, here are some articles and an awesome interview by Jesse Thorn on The Sound of Young America.
- IngentaConnect
- UCSC Currents
- Cal Berkeleyan Article
- The Sound of Young America: Interview with Bruce Bridgeman (.mp3)
hold on. blue hair? photos please.
Posted by: joe laz | May 28, 2007 at 02:17 AM
Why didn't you mention the videos we shot of the Mystery Spot in the late 80s/early 90s?
Posted by: Edward Havens | May 28, 2007 at 03:02 AM
"...but I had to stop" made me laugh.
I have lived here 16 years and have never gone (but not intentionally). Sounds like we should.
Posted by: Ryan | May 28, 2007 at 08:51 AM
OK, this was a cool read. I love when stuff is explained. I had never heard of this place before, though I was born in CA. I will have to ask my parents about it since they used to go down to Santa Cruz all the time.
Posted by: Polliwog | May 28, 2007 at 11:55 AM
I wish we could find those videos. you know, we should really look for some of that crazy stuff we used to shoot. i wonder what randy has?
Posted by: beach | May 28, 2007 at 12:26 PM
Yay! Blue hair! Let's see it! Oh, and I've lived in or around Santa Cruz my entire life and I still have not been to the Mystery Spot. I've also explained the optical illusion part of it to people, but they just don't want to hear it. Go figure.
Posted by: Stacy | May 29, 2007 at 12:02 PM
still think it would be a great doc! might have some vids (but robin might be hiding them somewhere...)
so many mystery spots, so little time...
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/SCIspots.html
-dick out
Posted by: dick hollywood | May 30, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Actually UCSC does give out grades and Bruce Bridgeman knows more about human perception than you could ever perceive. BIATCH
Posted by: Johan | January 06, 2008 at 07:47 PM
Yeah Johan is right learn to recognize the truth and actually look into things before you writing down your misguided beliefs into a little quaint blog.
Peace Out
Posted by: Jimmy | January 06, 2008 at 07:50 PM
uh nice. apparently ucsc accepts punk ass dicks into their fine institution. ucsc only started giving out letter grades in 1997. Bridgeman, a fine instructor (i never said otherwise), has been there since 1973. i'm on bridgeman's side when it comes to the psychological effects of the mystery spot. so you and the mystery spot can suck it.
Posted by: beach | January 06, 2008 at 08:40 PM
People like it better when they think its real. for 5$ let them believe what they want. Its more fun that way.
Posted by: nada | July 03, 2008 at 09:01 PM