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 Travel & Outdoors | February 2007 
Step Into The Mystery Spot
 Kelly Savio - freelancenews.com
| | Ruben Garcia of Durango, Mexico, and tour guide Steve Blencoe demonstrate the strange pull of gravity at The Mystery Spot. Garcia is standing on a small step inside a cabin that slid from its foundations and came to rest against some trees. To find his balance, he had to stand at about a 45-degree angle. |
People walk like they're drunk, see balls roll uphill and stand at 45-degree angles at one of Santa Cruz's strangest landmarks.
They weren't kidding when they named it "The Mystery Spot." They also wouldn't be kidding if they'd called it "The Freaky Spot," "The Weird Spot" or "The I-Sure-Feel-Funny Spot."
Spice up a day trip to Santa Cruz by swinging over to this bizarre little landmark, but be forewarned: You'll spend the rest of the day marveling with friends about all the crazy things you saw and trying to fully regain your equilibrium.
"My brother recommended that I come by here, and I saw it on T.V. - the Discovery Channel or something," said John Gunzelmann of Rochester, N.Y., who was visiting with a friend. "I'm an engineer, so I'm a physics guy and I'm amazed at this place. Watching a cue ball roll up a slope was pretty great."
Now is the perfect time to go see the strange phenomena yourself. During the peak season of August, the wait for a tour can be as long as five hours with 60 people per tour, according to guides. Just know that The Mystery Spot is likely the equivalent of torture for people with vertigo or a bad case of motion sickness. Dramamine is a common request in the gift shop, staff members said.
Fun Facts about The Mystery Spot
• The Mystery Spot is about 150 feet in diameter.
• The strange happenings at the site were first discovered in 1939 and it was opened to the public for tours in 1940.
• The site has been featured in Life Magazine and on television's "Ripley's Believe it or Not." Ripley's said it was impossible to stand up straight at The Mystery Spot - believe it or not.
• Great minds have searched for answers to the strange phenomena at the site and science students have spent countless hours trying to explain them with various experiments.
• Pilots' instruments do not work properly when flying over The Mystery Spot.
• Theories behind the phenomena include carbon dioxide rising from the ground doing strange things with light refractory; a meteor fragment under the ground working with gravity to change the magnetic pull of the Earth; and aliens have placed unknown kinds of metal used for guidance systems under the ground in the area.
If you go:
465 Mystery Spot Road in Santa Cruz; www.mysteryspot.com; (831) 423-8897
It's $5 to park and $5 for the 45-minute tour. Bring a jacket and have Aspirin on hand. Also be sure to have a navigator. It can be a little tricky to find. |
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