Weird World: It is a phenomenon that has
been occurring from centuries, with it possibly being depicted in drawings made
by Aboriginals from thousands of years ago, and has the scientific community in debate over the
last forty years. It is shrouded in controversy and mystery, as many sceptics
now believe the enigma known as crop circles, areas of flattened crop found in
fields throughout numerous countries in the world, are a man-made phenomena
that were created by hoaxers and their copycats.However,there is much more to
this conundrum then simply being the result of pranksters, with many still
believing that there may be a supernatural cause, perhaps even being caused by a
meteorological abnormality.
These circles began being reported in the 1970's by farmers in
their fields throughout southern England, although historians have found
documentation said to show that the patterns have been occurring for decades,
debunking the perception that this is a modern phenomena. At first they were
singular, circular or egg-shaped depressions found in everything from fields of
wheat,maize,barley and other cereals to rapeseed, sugar cane and reeds. They
would be found during the daytime, and appeared to have formed overnight. After
reports of strange lights in the sky around fields began being reported, many
started to believe that these flattened formations were being created by UFO's
and their inhabitants. Many religious and superstitious folk began sprouting
the belief that the Devil had been creating the circles, fueled perhaps by
ancient folklore regarding a curse created by a scorned farmer who refused to
pay a worker more money for reaping his crops. Many believed(and there are still
some today)the shapes were created by Nature spirits, such as elves and
Fairies, trying to communicate with humans.
However, in September 1991,a pair of professional
"pranksters" by the names of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley came forward
and claimed a reward of 10,000 pounds from the media, openly confessing that,
since 1978,they had been responsible for most, if not all, of the crop circles
found throughout England in the summers up until that time, and had used simple
tools such as rope, surveying tape and planks of wood to create the circles. It
is claimed they came forward after a number of scientists began claiming these
circles couldn't be man-made. They are said to have created a simple circle in
front of a group of journalists and paranormal investigators, and Bower
admitted the idea started from an incident he had heard about while living in
Australia in the 1960's,in which a man had claimed to have seen a UFO flying
away from grassland in Tully, Queensland and had left a circular
"nest" in swampgrass.By this point, many scientists believed the
circles were the result of rare meteorological events such as freak tornadoes
or whirlwinds that were somehow affected by nearby hills, however this theory
was dealt a blow when formations were found with straight lines between
circles, and smaller circles or lines crossing or mixed with them. Then more
elaborate designs were discovered, stretching miles in length and width and
displaying pictures of animals, intricate geometric and complex shapes,
astrological signs and magic symbols.
After the confessions of the two UK pranksters, many people
believed that the whole subject was a hoax, and that copycats were emerging and
creating the newly found, more sophisticated "crop formations". The
case seemed to be closed on the subject, however there are, even today, people
who are convinced that the crop circle phenomena is not entirely a case of
human artistry and tomfoolery, with many claiming since the late 1990's to have
witnessed these formations, whether simple or complex in design, appear in
minutes or even seconds right in front of them, seemingly created by the hands
of an invisible force or forces! While it cannot be denied that many of these
patterns and designs are the work of humans, with some being even created for
companies and corporations to advertise themselves, there are a large number of
"formations" that can't be easily filed under human handiwork. With
some designs having up to two thousand circles or shapes in their design alone,
many have questioned if the more elaborate designs are, in fact, being made by
perhaps something out of this world rather than humans, as some have appeared
overnight and even during the daylight hours after the area has been visited,
and it has been proven that a simple "dumbbell" design, in which two
circles are linked by a line between them, can take up to twelve hours to
create by human hands in darkness.Also,many have asked why many of the pattern
formations don't seem to show any kind of trail from hoaxers accessing the fields,
as many of the later formations were found no-where near roads or tracks,
unlike the original singular circles. And could Bower and Chorley easily
explain the now mounting evidence of formations being made all over the world,
many of them being recorded prior to 1978?
There is evidence that in some cases UFO's may be involved, with
many unexplained lights being seen and then afterwards formations are found. In
some cases, especially in the U.S.,the discovery of crop circles have been made
around the same time and area of cattle and animal mutilations. There is also
many sightings of small orbs near newly formed formations, leading many to
speculate the existence of Fey folk and their involvement.
With this topic frustrating many researchers and scientists
still today, what many agree on is that many hoaxers are responsible for many
of the patterns and pictographs found. There is evidence however that not all
cases are the result of compressed plants and that some kind of external, large
heat source is creating them.
Words by Matt Sweeney
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