Many decades ago my wife and I took a trip up into Michigan and Wisconsin. As I was driving past a sign she hadn’t noticed, I asked if she knew what a tourist trap is. She said no, so I turned around and parked at “The Miracle Spot.” It was an old ramshackle cabin. There were four or five cars already there. We paid our two dollars each and joined the tour group.

The building was set up as a collection of optical illusions. Balls would roll up a ramp; a man six inches shorter than me looked to be taller than me, and other illusions. It, of course, was great fun for me watching and listening to the other people in the tour. I was surprised how many bought the story, but I think it had to do with a meteorite or some such thing upsetting the laws of physics. I do remember it was a great story once you stepped across the line from reality into fantasy.

Buying the story requires a certain amount of gullibility and a belief that science is a total fraud. I don’t know if the owners are still duping people. I image it must be easier now that we have the internet’s “facts” to believe in and conned by.

Today some spots have cost millions and charge lots of money. I think the biggest “Miracle Spot” today is near Williamstown, Kentucky. The “Ark Encounter” is based on an impossible biblical story about the Earth being covered with almost 30,000 feet of water. Where did the water come from and drain to? It was an old story about Babylon being flooded often and the people surviving on square boats. Biblical archeologists found tablets in Babylon relating the flooding and boats.