The Mysterious Road of Jeju
On a road on Jeju Island, cars left in neutral seem to roll uphill, and water poured on the tarmac flows the wrong way. Locals blamed goblins.
What was reported
On a stretch of road on Jeju Island, South Korea, drivers who stopped their cars in neutral found them rolling up a slope. Bottles and balls placed on the ground seemed to roll uphill too. The road became known as the Mysterious Road, or Dokkaebi Road, after the goblins of Korean folklore.
It's now a tourist attraction, where visitors test the effect with water bottles and cars.
Explanations offered
It's a 'gravity hill', an optical illusion. The surrounding landscape makes a slight downhill slope look like an uphill one, so things rolling down seem to go up. Similar roads are found around the world.
- When
- Noticed in the 1980s
- Where
- Jeju Island, South Korea
- Witnesses
- Drivers and visitors
- Status
- Optical illusion
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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