People convinced they’ve found ‘glitch in the Matrix’ as shrinking mill footage goes viral

A disused mill has taken the internet by storm as witnesses say it's a real-life 'glitch in the Matrix'.

An abandoned mill in Canada that once served the region for a whopping 125 years has randomly become a tourist hotspot after people reported it has become a mind-bending optical illusion.

The site, which fell vacant in 2024, in Gravelly Bay in Port Colborne, Ontario, has become a sensation for its ability to 'shrink', or at least that's what it looks like to the human eye.

The 'shrinking mill', as promoted by Ontario's tourism board, has shot to notoriety as witnesses say it looks smaller as you continue to approach it.

Passers-by on Lakeshore Road have filmed the unusual point-of-view effect which has since gone viral on social media.

The videos show the former grain terminal, which sits near Sugarloaf Marina, ominously looming ahead in the distance and towering over the trees and rooftops.

As cars edge along the road towards the marina, the mill remains framed in-between a row of trees.

However, as people approach it along the lane, the once menacing federal grain elevator mill weirdly appears to reduce in size.

One social media user explained she just 'had to record it' after seeing the illusion for herself.

The mom said she stumbled across the mystery through 'word of mouth' and decided to check it out with her daughter after work one day.

It appears to shrink at a rapid pace as you approach it (Shannon Brown via ViralHog)

"After driving the road multiple times, I had to record it," Shannon Brown said. "The building at the end of the road in the video appears to be shrinking as we get closer. Our brains would think it would get bigger, or not be able to see it at all because of the distance of the building across the water.

"This is still a mind trick to me, but it's an amazing one at that!"

In her footage, again the mill can be seen looming large at the top of the bend in the road, but then grows smaller and even appears to get farther away with the sea growing between the road and the structure.

Others said they thought it was a 'glitch in the Matrix', while former Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey told The Welland Tribune that it leaves people 'just in awe'.

It looks significantly smaller at the end of the video (Shannon Brown via ViralHog)

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."

Apparently, what's causing the mill to decrease in size comes down to an effect called the Ponzo illusion, reports The Independent, which is named after Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo.

The illusion comes down to how the human brain processes an object that is in between converging lines, like in this case, the trees, road and house edges, which makes it look larger or smaller than it is in reality.