The Rock Where the Snow Falls Upward
Throw a light object off this cliff in North Carolina and it may blow straight back up to you. In winter, it's said, the snow falls upwards.
What was reported
The Blowing Rock is a cliff high above the Johns River Gorge in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The wind blows up the gorge so strongly that light objects thrown over the edge can be carried back up, and people say snow sometimes seems to fall upwards here.
A legend told to visitors says a young Cherokee man, torn between his duty and his love for a Chickasaw woman, leapt from the rock, and that her prayers made the wind blow him back into her arms.
Explanations offered
The rock juts out over a narrow gorge, and the wind is funnelled up its steep walls, creating a strong upward draught. The romantic legend is widely seen as a story created for the attraction, rather than a traditional Cherokee tale.
- When
- A tourist attraction since 1933
- Where
- Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA
- Witnesses
- Visitors to the rock
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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