There are many websites that highlight the famous Oregon Vortex as well as the House of Mystery. Our family visited this place to see for ourselves the natural phenomena this area has attracted curiosity seekers over the years. 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. 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.
'Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files' investigates Oregon Vortex: Optical illusions or unexplained mysteries?
Investigators from the SyFy reality show "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" normally check out reports of flying saucers and haunted houses. 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.
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.
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. They determined that certain brooms could easily stand on their own based on the type of bristles and the angle of the floor. 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. The dizziness that people sometimes experience in the house (which Hansen and stunt expert Austin Porter also noticed on the show) is based on the disorienting way people have to stand when they go through it.
But other investigations were less conclusive. Animals, it's said, are repelled by the magnetic forces at play in the Vortex, so the investigators tried riding horses through the site. Before getting to the Vortex, the horses completely stopped and reversed direction. The team got strange compass readings during their experiments, suggesting that massive magnets might be buried under ground, though they weren't allowed to do any excavation to determine if that was the case.
The height change anomaly also proved difficult to explain. Hansen determined that the spot where people stand on a level surface and appear to shrink or grow when they change positions actually has a two-degree incline. But that's not enough to explain the 16-degree difference they captured on camera when Porter and Jael De Pardo switched spots. And De Pardo said that when she participated in the experiment, she felt pressure on her shoulders and head that she couldn't explain, as if something unseen was pressing down on her.
So is it fact or faked?
"The height change? I don't know," Hansen said. "I see that there's an altitude change, and I think it's exaggerated when you put two people together. But when you watch the video, it's quite remarkable."
The "Fact or Faked" findings may have been inconclusive, but one thing's for certain: They had a blast shooting in Oregon. Porter commented that he was stunned by how beautiful the landscapes were around Gold Hill. And on Twitter, De Pardo said the episode "was darn right fun to film."