The Mystery Spot is a tourist attraction near Santa Cruz, California, opened in 1939 by George Prather.

[2] Visitors experience demonstrations that appear to defy gravity, on the short but steep uphill walk and inside a wooden building on the site.

One of several roadside attractions that opened after World War II for new automobile owners, the Mystery Spot was featured on Art Baker's television show You Asked for It.

Tour guides lead visitors through the attraction and perform various demonstrations to showcase the site's unusual effects.

[5] Prather died in January 1946; his son Bruce inherited the land and continued running the Mystery Spot with his father's business partner Vaden McCray.

[14] Professor William Prinzmetal states, "When the perceiver's body also is tilted, the distorting impact on vision is greatly magnified—up to two or three times.

[20] It has been featured on BuzzFeed, and in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and other newspapers, comic strips, and travel blogs for decades.