by A stunning optical deception in Canada has made an abandoned mill into an unlikely internet sensation and a local tourism attraction that “leaves people in awe”.
The structure of Graveelly Bay in Port Colborne, Ontario, has found fame because it seems to be smaller, the closer they get to her.
It was referred to by the city’s tourism board as an “incredible shrinking mill”, and the recent perspective of the social media videos of the effect, which were rotated by vehicles on the Lakeshore Road, have become viral.
Such a video shows the mill near Sugarloaf Marina, who speaks great in the distance at the beginning of the clip.
The car slowly moves towards the marina along the Lakeshore Road, lined with houses and trees, with the mill filling the gap between the trees.
In this still from a viral video, the Port Colborne Mühle appears in the distance (viralhog)
The closer the car comes into the mill, the smaller it gets (viralhog)
The closer the car gets closer, the smaller the mill appears.
When the filmmaker arrives on the banks of the bay, where the road bends to the left, she shrinks even further until it goes back to the distance.
A user on social media described it as “breakdowns in the matrix”, and the former mayor of Port Colborne, Vance Badawey, said Welland Tribune: “When people see it, they are only awe”.
He added: “Slowly at the standstill to look at it, and then you see nine times from 10, which you drive past a few minutes later.”
What leads to the fact that the mill “shrinking” is an effect that is referred to as a ponzo illusion and is named after the Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo.
He found that the brain can be deceptive that two lines of identical size appear smaller and larger if they are placed on top of each other on both sides between the convergent lines.
Ponzo found that the line at the top of the convergent lines appears larger than the line below.
The mill shrinks into the distance as soon as the street leans to the left (Google Maps)
The Port Colborne Grain Terminal served the Great Lakes for 125 years, but has been empty since the end of 2024 (City of Port Colborne)
In Port Colborne, the street edges, trees and houses act as convergent lines.
A similar illusion was discovered by the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus, who found that two circles of identical circles in size, depending on the size of the surrounding circles, seem to be smaller and larger.
The Port Colborne Terminal was used by the Great Lakes region for 125 years, but has been empty since the end of 2024.
Locals have been invited to propose potential future use.
