It’s time to discuss a controversial topic: crop circles.
That’s one of the famous ones above, found in a field in Avebury in 1996. Here’s another one, known as the ‘Julia Set’ (since it is patterned after a fractal), and as you can see it was found near Stonehenge.
They’ve been appearing for almost 30 years now in fields in and around Stonehenge. They really ‘took off’ in the early 1990s when they received worldwide attention, and these days can be found in many different countries (only about a third are now found in Britain). Since they were ‘discovered’ claims have been made that the earliest ‘modern’ circles actually occured in Australia back in the 1950s and 1960s. Some say Australia may even be the hotbed to this day, but the sheer size of the wheatfields (many times the area of the British Isles) means they would be left undiscovered.
All of them – every last one – is a hoax.
The above statement is controversial. It may seem obvious given the facts:
– The earliest reported circles were man-made (and the makers owned up).
– Many impossibly complicated circles claimed as genuine were man-made.
– There is zero – ZERO – evidence of any other mechanism that could have made the circles.
– The alleged scientific studies into biological changes in the crop is inconclusive and possibly even unscientific.
So why is the statement controversial? The reason is because it is enticing to believe that there is something else behind crop circles. And every article/book/documentary on them always stresses the simple fact that we cannot absolutely say they are all man made.
So the conclusion is some aren’t? That’s like saying that since I’ve never actually seen the chipmunks digging the holes that undermine our house it must be done by wombats!
It’s alarmingly easy to find dubious information on circles. The above image for instance is often described as appearing overnight, or more particularly in a 5 hour span. This sentence is usually followed by claims it would take 25 men 3 weeks to make it.
And yet in the latest issue of the magazine Crop Circle News (which I purchased in Avebury), in the introduction, they state that virtually all crop circles are happened upon, and it is therefore not known exactly how long they may have been there or how long they took to be made. Furthermore half-finished circles have been found, and in one case a circle appeared in halves over two nights. Amusingly, no-one staked out the field to see what happened the second night 🙂
The above circle appeared in late May of this year, not too long before our trip. It is documented in the magazine as well as on various websites. The enthusiasts have embraced it whole-heartedly, offering several ‘explanations’ for the design. The magazine claims it represents a binary encoding of Euler’s Formula, and the proximity of the circle to the windmill suggests mankind should be thinking about wind power.
There is a new age cult around these things. In fact many new age cults have embraced crop circles as if they were part of their mantra all along. Books and websites (and yes, the magazine) are far more likely to suggest the circles are the creation of a ‘living Earth’ (ie. Gaea) than extraterrestrials – which was the vogue explanation 15 odd years ago.
I have read long articles about the ‘calming fields’ inside the circles, and the ‘air’ produced by the flattened crops that envigorates the surrounding fields. Latest events in the circle community document the fact that circles are appearing in request to the thoughts of researchers – as if the creator is reading human minds.
Yes, there exist fabulous, mind-bogglingly complex designs that have not yet been claimed by hoaxers. In fact it is perhaps true to say that the majority of more wondrous, geometric circles are unknown in origin. You and I can look at them and say “How could that possible be man made?”. But I can say the same about this:
Just because I couldn’t make a crop circle (or an ice sculpture) doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t be able to.
I offer proof. The following are three shots of definitely man-made crop circles. Some for fun, some for political statement, and some for advertising. You will note the precision, scope and beauty of each of these designs. People absolutely made these ones, so why do some still believe that they couldn’t have made them all?
I seem to recall seeing a documentary where they prove they can be man made reasonably quickly. At least the circular patterns. It’s just a couple of guys with sticks flattening the wheat.