Electric Brae

The Electric Brae, also known as Croy Brae, is a road in Scotland that appears to defy gravity. Located near Maybole in South Ayrshire, the road exhibits a counter-intuitive optical illusion: vehicles left in neutral at the bottom of the slope appear to roll uphill.

The phenomenon is not due to any magnetic or electrical properties, despite the name. Instead, the surrounding landscape creates an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphill one. This tricks the eye and the brain into perceiving the movement as uphill, when in reality, gravity is still pulling the vehicle downhill.

The term "brae" is a Scottish word for a hillside or slope. "Electric" was added due to the initial, mistaken belief that some unexplained magnetic or electrical force was responsible for the unusual movement.

The Electric Brae has become a popular tourist attraction, with visitors frequently testing the illusion by stopping their cars on the apparent "uphill" slope to experience the effect. Similar gravity hills or magnetic hills can be found in other locations around the world, all relying on the same principle of optical illusion.