Wonder Spot

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The Wonder Spot is one of about 20 "gravity vortexes" in the United States. Promotions boast that strange forces in the spots trump the laws of physics. Others say they're just elaborate hoaxes.

The Wonder Spot lies just off U.S. Highway 12, the main drag between Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells in south-central Wisconsin. Together, the two cities constitute Wisconsin's answer to Las Vegas. The corridor between them is packed with water parks, giant resorts, museums, hotels and restaurants. The area convention bureau boasts the region is the water park capital of the world. In many ways, the Wonder Spot is the antithesis of those giant parks.

Louis Dauterman of Fond Du Lac took out the first permit for the spot in 1952, making it the longest-permitted attraction in the area, according to Romy Snyder, executive director of the Wisconsin Dells Visitors and Convention Bureau.

According to a sign proudly placed at the base of the ravine, the Wonder Spot was discovered June 16, 1948. People who enter the spot, the sign warns, won't see correctly, stand erect "or feel quite normal ... in fact, on the cabin site the laws of natural gravity seem to be repealed."

"We sat on a chair and it was only suspended by its back two legs, the ball rolling uphill, hanging from a doorway and your body slanted," Snyder explained.

There have been reports of balls rolling uphill, water flowing uphill, a chair on two legs not falling over.

When the owner of the site is asked about how it's done, he usually replies that he doesn't know. He says it could be because of a special type of igneous rock formation. It could also be just an optical illusion.

In early 2007, owner Bill Carney sold the iconic attraction to the village of Lake Delton for $300,000. The village wants to build a road through the crevice where the Wonder Spot has stood since the 1950s.