Mystery of America’s most paranormal road where cars ‘roll uphill on their own’ and child ghosts haunt drivers

DRIVERS travel to a road said to be haunted by kids and cars climb uphill without driver intervention - the spot was featured on TV.

Some even reported hearing disembodied screams after seeing 'childlike' apparitions on the side of the road.

The Southern California road, Sylmar's Gravity Hill, is known nationwide as one of the nation's most "haunted" stretches of road, where drivers say their car began climbing uphill on their own.

The road has been featured on an episode of Paranormal Caught on Camera, where drivers recounted their experiences from the driver's seat.

Urban legends surrounding the road revolve around a school bus full of children who perished many years ago, and the ghosts of the children push cars away from danger.

The road where drivers experience their cars and reportedly see apparitions and hear voices happens to be next to a cemetery.

The legend has even been mentioned by comedian Saud Bekissel in the Paranornal Caught on Camera episode when it aired in 2019.

He said the ghosts may be helping drivers avoid danger, but they're also helping drivers skip a trip to the gas station.

"Apparently, a bunch of ghost kids pushed your car up a hill," he said.

"[That's] the nicest thing a ghost could do... Saves you gas, really helps you out."

Susan Slaughter, a paranormal investigator with the show, explained what beings drivers to believe the road is haunted.

"Your eyes tell you one thing, but then the way the environment reacts is something else - and that is a very, very astute thing to notice when it comes to paranormal phenomena," said, quoted by the Daily Mail.

"Because what your eyes translate, doesn't necessarily mean that that's what's really happening."

Several accidents have happened on the road back several decades before, but there's a very real explanation for why people see objects rolling uphill.

The road is a gravity hill, which is an optical illusion caused by an obstruction of the horizon line.

When the horizon line is blocked by trees, like the famous gravity hill in Pennsylvania, objects like balls, spilled water, and in this case, cars, appear to roll upbill.

Luigi Garlaschelli, a scientist, explained how the hills, otherwise known as anti-gravity or magnetic hills, fool the untrained eye.

"There are many pseudo-scientific explanations because the illusion is really compelling… of course, there are no magnetic effects because the thing happens even if you use a plastic ball, or if you pour water on the ground," he said during an interview with Northwest Public Broadcasting.

What is a gravity hill?

The University of California, Riverside explained the phenomenon known as a "gravity hill,

A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill or an anti-gravity hill, happens when the horizon line in the distance is obscured. Often times this happens when trees, buildings, or other large structures block the ability to see in the distance.

The result is the illusion that objects, like balls, spilled water, or even cars appear to be rolling up a hill.

"Usually it is a stretch of road in a hilly area where the level horizon is obscured," explained the university.

"Objects such as trees and walls that normally provide visual clues to the true vertical, may be leaning slightly. This creates an optical illusion, making a slight downhill look like an uphill slope. Objects might then appear to roll uphill. Sometimes even rivers seem to flow against gravity."

Source: University of California, Riverside

"The effect is that your perception of what is horizontal is misled by the presence of the stronger downhill road…so that the whole landscape is slightly tilted in your perception. And the slightly downhill road seems to be slightly uphill."

Garlaschelli noted many drivers, like the ones in Southern California, often fall for the phenomenon due to it being in a natural environment.

"Generally, when you think of an optical illusion, you think of you know those strange drawings with lines or something moving on a screen," he continued.

"But in a natural environment, I can only think of this one and probably the Moon illusion. When you feel that the Moon is much bigger when it is low on the horizon than when it is up in the sky."