Do cars in neutral gear move uphill without support?

Magnetic hill,Leh,Ladakh,N.India

Our planet has countless strange and mysterious places where unreal things appear real. It is nature's mischievous way of taking us for a ride.

Magnetic hill, Leh, India. kalingatv.com

One such place is in Leh called ''gravity or magnetic hill'' (altitude 14,000 feet plus) about 30 miles from Leh in Ladakh located on the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar national high way. It is believed that magnetic strength of this hill is strong enough to make cars and other vehicles move uphill even when they are in neutral gear or when ignition is off. It is a thrilling experience according to many visitors, but in reality, it is only an optical illusion caused by gravity hill. The topography of the place and the surrounding landscape or adjacent areas are naturally set in such a way that the entire terrain produces an optical illusion to such an extent that our mind is fooled to believe that a gentle down hill slope is an up hill slope. The car with ignition off is actually moving down hill thus obeying the natural laws of gravity, yet our eyes are misled to believe the car is moving uphill.

In the case of optical illusion of this kind in a place like this, geomorphology of the surrounding region is one of the key factors; the other being horizon - distant horizon which can be taken as a reference point. When the level horizon is mostly or completely obscured, judging the slope of a surface is difficult as the reliable reference is missing. Vertical, tall objects such as trees in a terrain like t his may appear leaning towards one side. Here local geomorphology creates an optical illusion, making a gentle downhill slope appear uphill slope.

This Magnetic Hill is one of the world's recognized gravity hills. And there are hundreds of gravity hill locations around the world. It is a nice place to visit in the summer. This place is endowed with picturesque scenery and can be reached from Manali, a distance of about 412 km.