Monday, October 6, 2008

YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE THIS

This is a filler post before I post my lengthy post on Hari Raya Idulfitri of which I need to retrieve some pictures from my external Hard Disk which my antiquated PC has failed to read.
This post is about a phenomenon which is hard to explain unless a physicist study it and give a scientific explanation on how it happens. It is something beyond laymen like us to explain.
Before my trip to Keningau to fetch my daughter, a neighbour of mine in Pasir Mas who was working in Sabah told me about the existence of this phenomenon along the Papar to Keningau stretch of road over the Crocker Range. He confidently told me that at a certain spot along the highway there is a point whereby the earth gravity has an opposite effect. Instead of being pulled down you will be pushed up. This is evident in the case of a car when stopping at the spot and switching the engine off, the car will go up the gradient upon the release of the handbrake while in neutral. Since he was so serious about it I felt compelled to try it out. He couldn't give me the specific spot but asked me to find out from taxi drivers or other plying the route.
On the 29th of June 2008 when I went to Keningau with my son in law to fetch my daughter Azini, we were on the lookout for the spot. There was nothing to indicate the spot so we missed it. On the return trek, we asked around at a petrol station in Keningau. They confirmed the existence of such a place but couldn't give any exact location beside telling us the approximate kilometer from Keningau Town. They asked us to lookout for a tyre being left on the roadside as a marking. We also checked with another blogger who happened to be a friend of my daughter Azini. She confirmed it too and said she and her husband Mukhsin had experienced it but can't say for sure the exact location. The return trip was a futile exercise in trying to locate the spot. Being a rainy day it was difficult to find anyone to ask for help.
It was after returning to Kelantan that Janna made a comment in my blog that she has found the exact spot and has marked it. That is a good news.

Yesterday 5th October 2008, my daughter Azini called from Keningau with her voice full of excitement. She told me she has found the spot and experienced the anti gravity when her car with Lokman at the wheel free wheeled up the slope. The location is 32 km from Keningau and or 44 km from Papar. Can you believe that?
This is the location. Look at the slope.

Azini said she could feel herself being pushed backward.

Thats Lokman trying it out.


It has been said that the phenomena happens to plastic materials too such as a plastic water bottle will also roll upward when placed on the ground.
On the day that Lokman tried it out, there was traffic at that time and being a narrow point, he could not experiment much and will be trying it out again on his return trip today. Hopefully he will have more to share with us.
This is really something which the tourism people in Sabah must exploit to bring tourists to far flung Keningau. This phenomena alone should be enough to bring tourists to look at this spot. The vista view from the top of the Crocker range is another attraction. On a good clear day, one should be able to see the South Chuna Sea and Mount Kinabalu at the other end of Sabah. The state government should find a way to widen this section of the road so that people can stop and experience this phenomenon safely. Don't you think this is good enough reason to visit Keningau?
zabs gave me this link in his comment which goes to prove that the above is not the only spot on earth with that characteristic. So you dont have to go far to experience it, just over to Sabah and go to Keningau.
Read more here or visit this address: http://www.nasca.org.uk/Strange_relics_/antigravity/antigravity

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Zawi,
Very interesting. Looking forward to hear your experience soon. Selamat Hari Raya.

Janna Wan Muhammad said...

owh she found it? she phoned me in the morning asking for the spot so I gladly told her,the next time you come to Keningau you can expereince it itself Pok Zawi...

Pak Zawi said...

Ana,
Very interesting indeed but The People of Sabah isn't capitalizing on this.
Which experience? I may not have the chance to go to Keningau anymore even thought I will be going to Sabah this coming December. Selamat Hari Raya to you too.

Pak Zawi said...

Janna,
They found it. Thanks to you. I may not have the chance to experience it anymore since this December trip to Sabah will be mainly to show my wife around to Kundangsang and Kudat.
Selamat Hari Raya to u and your family.

Pi Bani said...

If you do happen to go there and experience it yourself one day, don't just take photos, take videos ya? And then post it on your blog lah... I dapat tumpang tengok video pun jadilah.

Pak Zawi said...

Pi,
I may not be going that way anymore. What I can do is ask Mr. n Mrs Mokhsin who lives in Keningau to do it and post it in her blog.
Or I can ask my SIL to do it the next time he goes to pick up Azini.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Unknown said...

Hey that's something!
Earth's gravity force is calculated in estimate 9.8 meter over second squared, so there are some force coming from somewhere countered gravity at an angle due to the slop. But where does that force coming from?
Geez, that weird.

Ummi365 said...

wow something great to experience.. if you do experience it yourself don't forget to video tape it..for us to see ya!

Pak Zawi said...

Akmal,
Yes it is weird and worth finding out. Do you know of any scientist who would like to study this? Could it be the only spot in this world with this characteristic? Keningau should be on the world map soon if it is.

Pak Zawi said...

ummi,
My son inlaw will be experincing again today on his return trip from Keningau. This time he will be going uphil so he will have more chance to experience it as cars behind him can be seen from afar.
As to the video somebody will have to do it because I will only be going to Sabah this December. Even then I wont know if I may go that way as KK and Kudat will be my destination.

ZABS said...

Salam Aidil Fitri Zawi,
Mungkin artikel ini serupa dengan apa yang anda ceritakan itu.
http://www.nasca.org.uk/Strange_relics_/antigravity/antigravity.html. Wallahua'lam.

Pak Zawi said...

zabs,
I think its the same phenomenon. Thanks for the link. So we dont have to go far to experience it. I will put the link on my site.

Anonymous said...

pa.. gambar sudah upload di geni.. tp tk byk.. keta dah terlajak ke depan siket.. kite dok atas jalan tu pon rase tertolak ke belakang sendiri..

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Pak Zawi, saya pernah baca an article on this some time back, tapi lupa in which publication and also lupa the gist of the story. thanks for rekindling my memory. teringin juga nak experience it firsthand.

Pak Zawi said...

Azini,
OK nanti papa copy dan upload di blog papa.

Pak Zawi said...

Puteri Kama,
Artikel mengenai kawasan anti graviti di Keningau tu ke? Cantik kalau kita dapat link kan ke blog saya. I am surprised the authorities are not using such a rare phenomenon as an attraction. From the link that zabs gave, the occurence is rare.

Anonymous said...

tk perlu la jln kimanis tu dikomersialkan.. byk jalan mendap n tunggu masa nk runtuh lagi..

Pak Idrus said...

zawi, I know what you meant I saw a road in Tehran, Iran where if you park your car at the 'bottom' of the road with the hand brake off, the car would move upward. It is just an illusion. What one saw deceived the eye, thus you thought the car move upward but in actual facts it is going down.

Anyway Have a nice day.

Monica said...

Hi Zawi, I'm from Sabah but I've never been to Keningau, yet..:-D

Selamat Hari Raya!!!

Pak Zawi said...

anonymous,
Bila banyak pengguna mungkin pihak berwajib akan memberi lebih tumpuan untuk membaiki, terutama bila melibatkan pelancong.

Pak Zawi said...

Pak Idrus,
In this case I think it is not an illusion. There are records of other places with similar characteristics as mentioned in the article at the URL given by zabs. A friend of mine saw it in Canada. The picture above show the gradient of the road.

Pak Zawi said...

monica,
I can understand why you havent been to Keningau, its so far away especially if you are located somewhere in Sandakan or even Tawau. Anyway it will be nice to visit every part of your state or country. I will be going to Kudat this December.
Thank you for the Raya greetings.

Berisman said...

Pak Zawi,
Thanks for sharing this find.Basic physics tells me that the push down the slope is mgsin(angle of slope).If one experienced the push up,then the external force is more than that.The question is where the other force is coming from?That ,I leave to the experts.
It is good to find out more how gravity exists.

Pak Idrus said...

zawi, it is an illusion.If you had read carefully all such stories in other countries, you would get the same answer, It is an Illusion. The mind do play a few trick on you especially so on those who believe in myth and superstition.

Do not get carried away. The end of the story. Full stop.

Pak Zawi said...

Berisman,
Let us hope somebody can come up with a plausible explanation. What I see is the potential of the thing to be used as a tourist attraction just like the Bigfoot in Johor. Though not many believe its existence, yet people came from all over the world to sort of try to prove its existence.

Pak Zawi said...

Pak Idrus,
Most people who went to the place believe in the happening there. I for one would love to see it and perhaps establish some fact like measure the exact gradient to see if there is any downword slope where the car moves. Hopefully we wont be duped into coming to conclusion just because our mind played tricks with our eyes. It could be possible that there is a mini dip in gradient along that stretch of the road.

Rahman Hariri said...

Dear Bro Zawi,

Actually Pak Idrus is correct in his observation. I believe one could find similar spot in Australia (dont remember exact location), where cars seems to roll upward. Then they had a team of surveyors on site and concluded that according to their measurement, it is actually going downhill.

(I dont remember the exact details though).

But irrespective of the scientific explanation, it would fun to try it out, believing what the eyes are telling us.

Pak Zawi said...

Rahman,
If it was done by surveyors then it must be correct. With the help of instruments the measurement must be precise. Personally I would just use a water bubble apparatus to determine the slope on the spot.
Anyway since such an illusion is so real and they are only found only in a few parts of the world, why not capitalise on it to attract tourists? Keningau should stand on the same league as Mount Pendeli in Greece and Magnetic Hill of New Brunswick Canada. Afterall people pay big money to see illusionist David Copperfield to perform. Here we can have the show for free.

Rozlan Mohamed Noor (RMN) said...

nice blog, i found this site from other blog. Glad to link back to my blog.

Pak Zawi said...

rmn,
Thank you for the compliment. Please go ahead and I will pay you a reciprocal visit soon.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

hey yeaa, i've seen this in some documentaries. an empty can of coke was laid on the tarred road and it actually rolled up! even tried to look up the internet of the exact location which i'mdead sure it was some where in ameerica or europe. didnt expect malaysia has one of these extraordinary phenomenon. Sabah tourism board has got to utilise on this.

Pak Zawi said...

kerp,
There an URL at the end of my article explaining the phenomenon and other plces that the same thing occurs. Some says it is just an illusion due to the land form that we tend to see the place as sloping the opposite way. But my daughter isisted that she could feel the force pushing her the opposite way.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

yes Pak Z, i'm sure there's a logical explanation behind this phenomenon but whats important now is to tell the whole world this anti-gravity thing, besides canada and greece, can also be found in Malaysia!

Janna Wan Muhammad said...

i'd like to response on Pak Idrus' commment..I can sure you it's definitely not an illusion because a car can move up to 10 metres and not just for a few inches....it's better if you try it from Keningau heading to KK ,it's safer this way since the car will move forward climbing he slope ..so you don't have to worry about other cars coming from behind.

Pak Zawi said...

Kerp,
You are right. Malaysia should capitalise on this. Even silly thing like the bigfoot brought hordes of foreign photographers to Malaysia. Atleast beside Canada and Greece, they will mention Malaysia too.

Pak Zawi said...

Janna,
Lokman missed the spot on the return trip. Hopefully when I go to Labuan this December I will be in time to pick up Azini from Keningau. Nak try sendiri la antigraviti tu.

Makcik Runner said...

thanx fr the tip. next time if i go there, i'll make sure to visit that spot. to partake in such phenomenon must be a blown away experience eh? *wink*

Pak Zawi said...

kc,
Beside the political garbage that has been spewing about Malaysia, this could be a better phenomenon to make the world know about Malaysia.
Let us see who will reach the place first, you or me? I will be going there in December. Try to beat me to it.

Clarisse Teagen said...

Sounds interesting.. have to try it one day :)

Pak Zawi said...

clarisse,
Thank you for putting some words here.
If you are somewhere around Sabah, you can give it a try. The joy of proving it as not an illusion is very enticing indeed. The way to do it is to measure the inclination of the 10 feet stretch involved.

@rep said...

huh.. menarik. i should try then

Mat Salo said...

I've passed this way once in my Land Cruiser (masa tu jalan tanah merah lagi) but never heard of it. That was over 12 years ago. So the phenomenon must be after the highway was built.

Kalau tak trick of the eye saper yang solve the mystery will be in line for a Nobel. :)

Pak Zawi said...

arep,
Please do. Illusion or not, it should be fun and you can rest assured such phenomenon occurs only in a few places in the world and this is the nearest to us.

Pak Zawi said...

Mat Salo,
You wont notice it unless you try it at the exact spot. I was looking for it yet I couldnt locate it because I didn't know the exact spot. My son in law Lokman and Azini was given the exact location so they found it.

Anonymous said...

Pak Zawi,
I have experienced such phenomenon many times in a place called "Mystery Spot" located in Santa Cruz, California
http://www.mysteryspot.com/parking.shtml
http://blog.nathanng.com/?p=6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmAHTzTKECw&feature=related

Pak Zawi said...

yeappie,
Since you have experienced it do you think it was an illusion? Thanks for the URL. I will go there now.

Anonymous said...

Pak Zawi,
When I was there, it felt real to me. If it was an illusion, I was totally fooled. Here is the link that tries to explain the mystery.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1998/0909/spot.html