Crop Circles
- This is just hoaxers coming in the middle of the night and flattening the crops.
- This is an explainable geological anomaly, such as water distribution, earth formation, or a currently unresearched phenomenon
- This is a paranormal phenomenon involving extraterrestrial organisms, inhuman entities, etc.
The name “crop circles” was originally used by researcher Colin Andrews who at the time was investigating crop circles. At that point, most crop circles were very simple, composed of circles, as time has progressed crop circle patterns have become increasingly complex, involving geometric formations with very fine details, symmetry,and the use of representations of 3D objects. This suggests that these circles are man made, or whatever is making them is becoming increasingly intelligent.
The earliest recorded crop circles date back to a 17th century story written in a woodcarving. A farmer was disgusted with the prices the mower of his farm was requesting and said he would rather have the devil himself do the work. The next morning the man awoke and found strange circular patterns in his crops and a bunch of the crop harvested and sitting ready for him. In most early accounts such as this one, the crops are cut and burned instead of flattened.
A republished article in Nature recounts the research of a scientist by the name of John Rand Capron Who was studying the weather in a small town. After a violent storm a local farmer found a crop circle on his land. Upon seeing it, the baffled Capron declared it a result of an anomaly in the storm, a cyclone of sorts.
In 1966 a Sugar Cane farmer in Tully Australia, says he witnessed a UFO takeoff from a nearby marsh. When he went to investigate he found a circle of reeds woven over the water; these reeds were able to support the weight of about ten grown men.
There are two different classifications for crop circles, they are either genuine crop circles or they are hoaxes. A genuine crop circle has some very strange properties and this is why not all crop circles can be considered hoaxes. A 'genuine” crop circle must have several components, all the crops are bent at the node 1 inch or more above the ground, the nodes are empty and they tend to have a crack in them where water could escape, and the stalks are bent at perfect ninety degree angles. Strangely the circles also contain iron micro-shperes distributed linearly across the circle, but nowhere outside f it. Finally the circles emit radiation and energy so much that electrical Equipment tends to malfunction; the energy emitted is in some peoples auditory range so they hear a low buzzing in their ears while in the effected area, and after visiting crop circles some people show symptoms of radiation exposure. The cause of the bending is the lack of water in the nodes; in a plant the nodes are cavities in the stalk that are filled with water. The water exerts outward pressure on the plant causing it to stand upright, this is called turgor rigidity; when there isn't enough water in the nodes the pressure decreases and the plant wilts.
Crop Circles Are A Hoax
Hoaxing is regarded as the most likely explanation by skeptics, and scientists worldwide. There are many reports of hoaxing, and many hoaxers reveal themselves as the creators of crop circles. Doug Bower, and Dave Chorley are two notorious hoaxers. In 1976 they embarked upon a huge chain of hoaxes in various places, and over the years they have made about two hundred and fifty crop circles. They are considered the fathers of crop circle hoaxing because they designed the basic tools used to make these circles. John Lundberg is the founder of an organization called cropcirclemakers.org. This is a community of hoaxers that creates crop circles for advertisements, and for fun. The fact is there is not really much else that can make crop circles. There aren't another creatures out there that have the intelligence level to draw intricate shapes other than humans, we really have to face that fact.
Hoaxing Crop Circles
It really is not likely that it is humans making crop circles for many reasons. Crop circles are images in the crops, but you really have to recognize how large a scale these crop circles are. These circles are simply massive, nothing that a hoaxer could do in the middle of the night. As we all know it is very dark in the middle of the night so you have to think, how these people are seeing. Night vision goggles aren't likely for they would exceed your average hoaxer's budget. You also have to look at the qualities of these crop circles as described in the first section. The crops are bent about one inch or more above the ground, which can’t be achieved using a flattening device; also the circle won't emit radiation when made by a human. The most peculiar of the traits is also the one that never shows up in man made crop circles and that is the iron micro-spheres in the circles which is unexplainable for hoaxers to place in their circles.
Crop Circles Are A Natural Phenomenon
The natural world can offer some answers to crop circles as well. In certain cases there may be a strange geological formation in an area; the method of irrigation doesn't equally water the plants. There is also a fungus that grows in crops making them all die in a circular formation.
Some think it may have something to do with solar radiation. A research team was investigating this and after irradiating crops with microwave radiation the crops fell and had the same exact traits that genuine crop circles display; the water in the nodes was heated and turned to steam which burst out the node making the plant fall. The circles also had a high radiation level after this procedure.
So, Where do Crop Circles Come From?
We have no answer to the origin of crop circles but we can make a pretty good guess at what the answer is. We can theorize that the main source of crop circles is hoaxing. This answer has the most support to back it up. Many have confessed to making circle such as Bower and Chorley, as well as many others. There are organizations set up for this purpose. It is pretty obvious that hoaxing is a definite cause of Crop circles. A study found that 80% of crop circles are created by hoaxers, but what about the other 20%? This other percent can probably be attributed to natural phenomenon, hoaxers were influenced by this and that is how it came into existence. The most feasible natural explanation is that of radiation affecting crops. It is possible that crop circles could be created by a paranormal phenomenon, but it is not likely.
Sources
“Andromedans are making the crop circles.” UFOMystic. 2006. UFOMystic. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://www.ufomystic.com/the-
Carroll, Robert T. “Crop ‘Circle.’” The Skeptics Dictionary. 28 Aug. 2008. 4 Oct. 2008 <http://skepdic.com/cropci<img alt="http://www.gearthblog.
“Crop Circle.” Wikipedia. 2 Oct. 2008. Wikipedia Foundation. 4 Oct. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
“Crop Circles.” BBC. 30 May 2002. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/
“Crop Circles.” Worlds Mysteries. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.world-mysteries.
“Crop Circles in Google Earth.” Google Earth Blog. 2008. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://gearthblog.com/blog/
“Photo History of Crop Circles.” The Mayans and 2012. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://www.maya12-21-2012.