Crop Circles  
 
 

                                        
   Crop Circles: Characteristics

Barbury Castle Circle

Etchilhampton Circle

 Milk Hill Circle

Plant node from Circle

  Stonehedge Circle
  Just to look at the photographs of crop circles, the complex, intricate designs, without even knowing the history of crop circles, they speak to you at some subconcious level. Crop circles form in crops mainly wheat and actually seldom in corn despite what seems to be the case in the movie, “Signs,”-unseen-despite a few claims to contrary, often formed rapidly and they are numerous –something on the number of 10,000 has been quoted and have been found throughout the world; although, predominately (90%) in the United Kingdom.
The crop circles that are considered to be genuine (there are many that are considered to be hoaxes almost having a parallel in art, the masterpieces and the fakes) share some features-yet they are very distinct and many are beautiful and awe-inspiring.
   Many crop circles seem symbolic and indeed are analyzed for their geometric perfection. The Barbury Castle crop circle formed in 1991 is analyzed as a tetrahedron in three dimensions. One crop circle, discovered at Longwood Warren in England seems to represent out solar system-but earth is missing! If this is a forecast, we are in trouble.
  Another crop circle looks like a double helix. Many others form various spirals looking like galaxies. After late 1980s more lines were added to crop circle designs making ancient-looking elaborate pictographs. There are many major crop circle sites listed below were you can peruse all the beautiful patterns and interpret them for yourself.
  Circles-or ellipses- are the basis of the crop circles. Over time, the crop circles have tended to become more complex. Some are also huge. The crop circle that occurred at Etchilhampton, Wiltshire, in 1996 was considered to be the largest. It was an elongated chain of circles and lines approximately 4100 feet long. If you determine the biggest crop circle to be the one with the most circles, then the winner is the Milk Hill, Wiltshire, crop circle formed on August 12th 2001. It has 409 circles in 6 swirled arms. It looks like a unique jewel.
  Zooming in on the authentic crop circles reveals more wonders that have been studied intensively. The plants are not just smashed down and broken. There are bent at the nodes-but not crushed. The nodes are elongated or seem to be “exploded” as if heated from the inside. Many theories abound for to explain this phenomenon from microwave energy or some other electro-magnetic force. The force seems to emanate from within the plant as if the plant is heated from the inside; yet an outside force like a vortex, or some believe, a field from a UFO might have created the energy to bend so many plants.
  Another factor is that energies seems to remain in these circles after their creation and anything that enters the circle, from humans to animals seem to feel some effects and sensations. Many of the sensations are disturbing. Some have said they felt ill, or had a tingling sensation. Some people have emotional responses like elation or people have even gone into altered states. Animals often behave unusually. A passive pet cat acted aggressively in a crop circle, then returned to normal after leaving the circles. Dogs have gotten sick or started barking continuously.
  There have been other reported strange affects in crop circles. Many mechanical or electrical devices like cell phones, watches, etc. stop working and a compass was said to suddenly start spinning.
 
 
Hoax or Real?
  To a degree, crop circles have lost some of their credibility as being other than man-made creations. Of course with any unusual phenomenon, there are always detractors but then those who have declared that all crop circles are hoaxes are no where near proving this assertion.
  The main argument of the detractors is to point to the claims of two known pranksters, (That they are pranksters is opinion of most croppers, those who enthusiastically seek out crop circles) Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, who in 1991 asserted that they had created all the crop circles themselves with a board and a rope basically as a joke.

Indeed a certain number of the crop circles were known to be hoaxes-yet, that they are hoaxes is obvious since they don’t exhibit the unusual bending of the nodes-but are merely crushed plants-don’t have the unusual affects on people and animals or on objects for that matter, and the created designs are not impressive. Those who refute the claims of Doug and Dave give many of reasons to refute that these two people-or even many groups of people-created all of the crop circles. Some reasons are:
 1. There have been thousands of crop circles created; too many for 2 men to have created or even for many people to have created.
  2.  These crop circles have been created over a long history so they are more than just some fad or prank.
  3. The plants in genuine crop circles are bent at the nodes, not broken as explained. Also the plants are sometimes found in elaborate woven patterns.
  4. The stranges energies are only in the real circles.
  5. Many complicated circles seem to just appear and then be seen later. One famous example of this is the crop circle that formed near Stonehedge in 1996 when a pilot flew over a field opposite this ancient site and there was nothing unusual but 15 minutes later, another pilot flew over this same field to be awe-struck to see a crop circle made of 149 circles in 3 spiral arms. No human could have created anything like this in 15 minutes with any kind of machinery.
  6. Crop circles have been found in remote areas where people seldom go and even in closed off military areas.  
  7. Often there are no marks or footprints around the crop circles.
  8. Other strange phenomena like strange sounds, lights at night, vortexes, etc. are associated with true crop circles.
  The jury will probably always remain out. There are many dedicated investigators who might someday ferret out the truth. Each person now must decide for themselves if some or all of the crop circles are hoaxes.
  Meanwhile, the rest of us can sit back and wonder at their beauty and strangeness.
  If you want to do your own investigation:

   Books on crop circles:
   "Vital Signs" by Andy Thomas on the history of crop circles
   "Cosmic Connection" from 1995 by Michael Hesemann
   “Secrets in the Fields” –Freddy Silva
   Movie on Crop Circles:
   “Signs” (2002) Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan
  Links to Crop Circle web sites:
   Crop Circle Connector  http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/interface2005.htm
   Crop circle Research dot com    http://www.cropcircleresearch.com/index2.html
   Crop Circle News:  http://www.cropcirclenews.com/
   The Crop Circle Circular:  http://www.lovely.clara.net/homepg.html
   Crystalinks Crorp Circles http://www.crystalinks.com/crop.html
   Swirled News         http://www.swirlednews.com/                         
   UFO Evidence: Crop Circles   http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/cropcircles.htm
   Lucy Pringle’s Homepage      http://www.lucypringle.co.uk/
                                                   -CKoh