Glitch in the Matrix? The ‘shrinking mill' optical illusion that's baffled the Internet
The structure by Gravelly Bay in Port Colborne, Ontario, has found fame because it appears to get smaller, the closer you get to it.
It's been dubbed the 'Incredible Shrinking Mill' by the city's tourism board and recent point-of-view social media videos of the effect, shot from passing cars on Lakeshore Road, have gone viral.
One such video shows the mill, near Sugarloaf Marina, looming large in the distance as the clip begins.
The car moves slowly towards the marina along Lakeshore Road, lined with houses and trees, with the mill filling the gap between the trees.
However, the closer the car gets, the smaller the mill appears.
As the filmmaker arrives at the shore of the bay, where the road bends to the left, it shrinks still further until it recedes into the distance.
One social media user described it as a 'glitch in the Matrix' and former Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey told The Welland Tribune that 'when people see it, they're just in awe'.
He added: 'They slow almost to a stop to look at it, and then, nine times out of 10, you see them drive by again a few minutes later.'
What's causing the mill to 'shrink' is an effect called the Ponzo illusion, named after Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo.
He found that the brain can be fooled into thinking that two lines of identical size appear smaller and larger when placed one above the other in between converging lines on either side.
Ponzo discovered that the line at the apex of the converging lines will appear larger than the line below it.
In Port Colborne, the trees and houses act as those converging lines.
A similar illusion was discovered by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus, who found that two circles identical in size appear to be smaller and larger depending on the size of the circles surrounding them.
The Port Colborne grain terminal served the Great Lakes region for 125 years but has been vacant since the end of 2024.
Locals have been invited to suggest potential future uses for it.
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
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Daily Mail
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Landscape architect Elias Halling, 35, from Gothenburg, Sweden, was strolling around the famous piazza topless, enjoying the scenery and was stunned when told by MailOnline he was breaking the law. 'Really ?!,' he gasped before adding:' To be honest I was wondering why people were looking at me in a weird way. I had no idea at all it was against the law. 'The place is beautiful, and so are a lot of the people, but I don't see what harm I'm doing by walking around bare chested. 'I suppose the mayor wants to keep standards high, you can tell this is quite an upmarket place by looking at all the designer shops and expensive restaurants. 'The fine seems a lot of money for something which is pretty trivial but if they want to have that kind of strange law then I suppose I had a better follow it even though its 35c and so hot.' A little further on and past the multimillion superyachts bobbing in the water and the jetty where yet more ferries are docking from nearby Genoa, Rapallo and Santa Margherita Ligure, MailOnline spotted another pair of transgressors. Standing by the water edge was bare chested Pieter Van Dooren, 31, and his shoeless girlfriend Lieke Schins, 25, first time visitors to Portofino and both overwhelmed by its beauty but unaware of its bylaw. Recruitment entrepreneur Pieter, from Tilburg, Holland, said:'Oh my goodness, I don't want to get into trouble. Five hundred Euro is a lot of money to pay for just not wearing a shirt.' If you are thinking of stretching out on one of the benches to catch a few rays or have a snooze don't even think about it as that's banned too, along with drinking alcohol in public and having a picnic As we spoke worried student Lieke, hurriedly slipped into her sandals in case she was spotted by local police and said:' I don't want a fine either.' Pieter added: 'This place is like a fantasy world, it is so beautiful, a paradise and so elegant and romantic, so maybe that explains why the mayor has introduced this law. 'But you've got me worried as technically standing talking to you now I am illegal, although we had no idea of this law, I just wasn't aware until you told me so I'm lucky to have met you. 'You can tell it is a high-class elegant place, so maybe that's why the law was brought in, there seems to be a lot of people here and he doesn't want people walking round drunk and half naked. Having said that, I had better put my shirt on now.' Lieke added: 'It is so pretty here but at the same time so expensive, we were charged 100 Euro for four Prosecco and a few pieces of melon and ham. 'We knew it wasn't cheap here but still 100 Euro is a lot of money, but the prices don't seem to put people off, it's so busy but I had no idea of this crazy law so I will put my sandals on.' Portofino is certainly not the place for those on a budget – glance at one menu revealed a breakfast of bacon, eggs and cappuccino was an eyewatering 25 Euro (£21), with service not included. Requests for an interview with the mayor and had of local police for MailOnline were politely declined, as were requests over how many fines have been issued since the law was introduced. Intriguingly at one-point MailOnline spotted another bare chested man and approached an officer to tell them of the infringement but was given a curt brush off:' I'm doing my job, I'm here on parking duty, you stick with your job.' Meanwhile in a further bid to control the crowds police have also set up a checkpoint a mile from Portofino, once the 160 official car park spaces in the multi storey are full no vehicles are allowed in. Instead, travellers have to use shuttle buses to get in and out of Portofino and it was only thanks to flashing a press card that MailOnline was allowed in, with the officer on duty saying:' It is rammed in there, so good luck finding a space and don't park illegally.' Portofino's beauty is quite clear to see but it's also evident many visitors are there on a tick boxing exercise merely to post on social media as one bizarre scene unfolded in front of MailOnline. Setting up a tripod, by the water's edge, one woman dressed all in white began doing a series of 'lives' to her followers, pointing out the sights and occasionally pulling the edge of her skirt back to reveal her thigh. One local waiter said: 'It's crazy, it just gets busier and busier every year and yes ok it's good for business, but the numbers are just too much and the class of visitor is also not what it used to be. 'People come and take selfies, and they walk around in swim wear or bare chested, some covered in tattoos and it's not very pleasant to look at, the locals are all in favour of this new law. 'On busy days we can get 5,000 people a day and then when a cruise ship turns up that can bring in another 2,000 so imagine all those people in a tiny place like this.' Cruise ships are the thorn in Portofino's side and anchor just off the coast as they are far too big to come any closer, ferrying travellers to and from in tenders that criss cross the crystal clear Ligurian Sea. A glance at cruise timetables reveals that between now and the end of the month six giant ships are due in – one every 48 hours carrying almost 8,000 travellers in total. A worker at one of the upmarket boutiques told MailOnline:' It's some of these people on cruise ships that have no idea how to behave. 'They come here dressed in hardly anything, lowering the tone of Portofino and just rush about taking selfies, we have a reputation for class and elegance and just want people to follow the rules.' Speaking to local media as the order was revealed, mayor Viacavo also revealed next year an app would be introduced 'controlling the number of visitors' to Portofino by locking onto the number of mobiles active in the area. Mr Viacavo declined to go into details of how exactly the app would work but added:' Portofino is a jewel, whatever time of day it is and wherever you are, there are always people here and we are working to improve visitor experience. 'I'm not talking about putting a limit on numbers, but what I am saying is we must be able to control these numbers to allow the quality of life of locals to continue and make the visitor experience comfortable, if not even better. 'What we hope to do with the app is show the best time to visit, when it is quieter, we are not going to close Portofino off, it is for everybody, and I can't say to someone 'You can't come in but you can'. But as yet another shirtless tourist strolled across the square unchallenged, you had to wonder whether the bylaw was a meaningful act of law or just a simple publicity stunt.
