Wednesday, October 28, 2009

To Debunk or Not To Debunk - That is the Question

I sit here writing this blog today facing a difficult decision to make.  It's not a decision that I take lightly and one that I would gladly take advice on from you.

Shortly after installation of our system,  we captured an area in Bedford County, Pennsylvania little known to the outside world - especially to those who no longer take the time to get off the interstate and enjoy such roadside attractions as the Corn Palace, Wall Drug Store or Weeki Wachee Springs.  I am referring to Gravity Hill - a place described as:
"Cars roll uphill and water flows the wrong way. It's a place where gravity has gone haywire."
Since that day, I have avoided processing the collected data to keep from being the one to perhaps disprove what many have become to understand as a natural phenomena which occurs in an obscure, but beautiful, part of the Pennsylvania hills.  Having grown up in Florida and traveled the state quite extensively, I am all too familiar with Spook Hill.  I can vaguely remember sitting in the back of my grandparent's Cadillac when my grandfather put the car in neutral at the base of the hill and we proceed to roll backwards up the incline.  To say that I was a little spooked was an understatement.

As a father, I look forward to these "less exciting" experiences and may allow the data to go unprocessed.  Still, there is a part of me that wants to develop a bare-earth model and see that water really does flow up hill.  I leave it to you, the readers, should this data be processed?

To find a "Gravity Hill" in your area, check out this list.  Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Great posting! You've touched on an underlying dilema that pervades all facets of life: what's the right thing to do? Historians and folklore long for simpler times, and would say don't mess with a good thing. Scientifically...you have to at least process the data.

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