| Revision as of 02:44, 13 March 2004 editMoriori (talk | contribs)22,910 edits add sci-fi bit← Previous edit | Revision as of 04:25, 16 March 2004 edit undo216.86.90.170 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| ] ] ] | ] ] ] | ||
| '''Crop circles''' are areas of a ] or similar ] that have been systematically flattened to form various ] patterns that began appearing in ] in the late ]. One |
'''Crop circles''' are areas of a ] or similar ] that have been systematically flattened to form various ] patterns that began appearing in ] in the late ]. One popular belief among a certain segment of the public is that crop circles are created by ]s landing in a farmer's field and flattening a neat circle of the crop—however the increasing complexity (not to mention the implausibility of the idea that beings from another planet would travel all the way to Earth and then be unable to figure out a better course of action than vandalizing some poor farmer's field) of formations makes this theory less likely. Others hypothesise that these formations are ]s or ]es engineered by humans. While some farmers view them as ] others gain revenue from charging viewers. People who study crop circle phenomenon call themselves "cerealogists," perhaps in an attempt to imply that they have scientific credentials which they do not in fact have. Many crop circles have fine intricate detail, regular symmetry and careful composition. | ||
| Early examples of this phenomenon were usually simple circular patterns of various sizes, which led some people to speculate that it was a natural phenomenon, but in recent years complex geometric patterns have emerged. A popular explanation is that they are either formed by ] ] landings themselves or by spaceships hovering over the field to form complex patterns that contain codified messages. However for the more scientifically oriented researchers, ideas relating to ] (the visualisation of vibration or sound) seems to provide a more plausible explanation. The patterns produced being the 2-dimensional geometric or visual representation of the frequencies, with higher sound frequencies producing more complex shapes similar to both ]s and crop circle designs. Other ideas on their formation have been proposed include; ]es, freak wind patterns, ], and something called "plasma vortices". |
Early examples of this phenomenon were usually simple circular patterns of various sizes, which led some people to speculate that it was a natural phenomenon, but in recent years complex geometric patterns have emerged. A popular explanation among ] cultists is that they are either formed by ] ] landings themselves or by spaceships hovering over the field to form complex patterns that contain codified messages. However for the more scientifically oriented researchers, ideas relating to ] (the visualisation of vibration or sound) seems to provide a more plausible explanation. The patterns produced being the 2-dimensional geometric or visual representation of the frequencies, with higher sound frequencies producing more complex shapes similar to both ]s and crop circle designs. Other ideas on their formation have been proposed include; ]es, freak wind patterns, ], and something called "plasma vortices". | ||
| Real scientists, as opposed to these self-proclaimed "cereologists," have come to the conclusion that, as far as can be determined, this phenomenon is purely and solely the result of human beings playing pranks; this hypothesis has the advantage of not requiring us to first assume the existence of flying saucers and little green men, and, as such, is rather more plausible than the claim that little green men in a flying saucer did it. | |||
| In the summer of 2002 '']'', a ] ] about crop circles which was directed by ] (the author and director of '']'') was released and attributed sinister motives to extra terrestrials in forming the circles. | In the summer of 2002 '']'', a ] ] about crop circles which was directed by ] (the author and director of '']'') was released and attributed sinister motives to extra terrestrials in forming the circles. | ||
| Many scientists are skeptical of all the above ideas and prefer to follow the precept of ] which would favor a mundane explanation; namely human activity. However a number of witnesses have claimed to have observed circles being created saying that it takes a few seconds and the corn falls flat like a fan being opened. |
Many scientists are skeptical of all the above ideas and prefer to follow the precept of ] which would favor a mundane explanation; namely human activity. However a number of witnesses have claimed to have observed circles being created saying that it takes a few seconds and the corn falls flat like a fan being opened (how credible these people are is left for the reader to decide). Crop circle enthusiasts who wish to give themselves a false veneer of scientific respectability and call themselves "Cerealogists" or "cereologists" despite the fact that they typically have no scientific background or credentials, claim that there are other features of crop circles that undercut the hoax theory. They say that bends in the corn in many circles are just below a joint, while the flattening of the corn by hoaxers produces a crack at any point in the stem. Also the flattened corn often lies in groomed layers, rather than random crushings. Other effects include the measurement of radiation within crop circles and that the bent part of the stalk appears to be produced though a microwave type heating of the stalk, and very high levels of magnetic material in the soil within some crop circles, levels such as 284.3 mg/g where the normal level for soil is in the range of 0.4 mg/g , with the levels dropping off sharply outside the circles. These measurable effects have not been able to be replicated by hoaxers, although the differences between crop circles do not make it so simple as to which crop circles are hoaxed and which are not as not all circles will have the exact same effects. | ||
| Many so-called "crop circles" never existed at all in the real world, having been created with photo-editing software like Adobe Photoshop. | |||
| Not long after ], aerial ] surveys were made over large areas of ]. They photographed ripening crops to reveal ], the differential ripening of the crop revealing differences in the subsoil caused by the buried remnants of ancient buildings. Though many previously unsuspected archaeological sites were found, no crop circles were ever recorded, which would tend to cast doubt on the natural forces hypothesis—unless some temporal change has happened as is seen with volcanoes and ice ages. | Not long after ], aerial ] surveys were made over large areas of ]. They photographed ripening crops to reveal ], the differential ripening of the crop revealing differences in the subsoil caused by the buried remnants of ancient buildings. Though many previously unsuspected archaeological sites were found, no crop circles were ever recorded, which would tend to cast doubt on the natural forces hypothesis—unless some temporal change has happened as is seen with volcanoes and ice ages, but that seems implausible. | ||
| A decade after the phenomena began, two men announced that many crop circles were a hoax of their doing. Doug Bower and Dave Chorley argued that they had been making crop circles since ] using planks, rope, hats and wire as their only tools. Doug and Dave stated to reporters that a small group of people can stomp down a sizeable area of crop in a single night. Note that "stomp" does not mean using the feet. Simple tools to make crop circles have been described. . However Doug and Dave would often retract their claims of which circles they hoaxed, and when confronted and asked to provide details relating to the geometric relationships of certain crop circles they would merely reply "oh we didnt do that one". This sparked controversy that they were merely trying to confuse the issue and in so doing made crop circles seen as a 'fringe' or 'esoteric' field of research. | A decade after the phenomena began, two men announced that many crop circles were a hoax of their doing. Doug Bower and Dave Chorley argued that they had been making crop circles since ] using planks, rope, hats and wire as their only tools. Doug and Dave stated to reporters that a small group of people can stomp down a sizeable area of crop in a single night. Note that "stomp" does not mean using the feet. Simple tools to make crop circles have been described. . However Doug and Dave would often retract their claims of which circles they hoaxed, and when confronted and asked to provide details relating to the geometric relationships of certain crop circles they would merely reply "oh we didnt do that one". This sparked controversy that they were merely trying to confuse the issue and in so doing made crop circles seen as a 'fringe' or 'esoteric' field of research, because the sort of people who have a religious need to believe in things like "crop circles" also love conspiracy theories and loathe ]. | ||
| Many subsequent crop circle makers have claimed that making what self-appointed cerealogist experts state are "unfakeable" crop circles is easy. One such cerealogist, G. Terence Meaden, was filmed claiming that a crop circle was genuine when the night before the making of that crop circle by humans was filmed. On the night of July 11-12, ], a crop-circle making competition, for a prize of several thousand pounds (partly funded by the ] Foundation), was held in ]. The winning entry was produced by three helicopter engineers, using rope, ] pipe, a trestle and a ladder. Another competitor used a small garden roller, a plank and some rope. The size and complexity of the designs produced demonstrated the minimal equipment and preparation required to produce a crop design. | Many subsequent crop circle makers have claimed that making what self-appointed cerealogist experts state are "unfakeable" crop circles is easy. One such cerealogist, G. Terence Meaden, was filmed claiming that a crop circle was genuine when the night before the making of that crop circle by humans was filmed. On the night of July 11-12, ], a crop-circle making competition, for a prize of several thousand pounds (partly funded by the ] Foundation), was held in ]. The winning entry was produced by three helicopter engineers, using rope, ] pipe, a trestle and a ladder. Another competitor used a small garden roller, a plank and some rope. The size and complexity of the designs produced demonstrated the minimal equipment and preparation required to produce a crop design, lending even more credence to the hypothesis that this phenomenon is purely and solely the result of humans playing pranks. | ||
| ''Scientific American'' published an article by Matt Ridley (August 2002, p. 25), who started making crop circles in ] in ]. He wrote about how easy it is to develop techniques using simple tools that can easily fool (later) observers. He reported on "expert" sources such the '']'' who had been easily fooled, and mused about why people want to believe supernatural explanations for phenomena that are not yet explained. | ''Scientific American'' published an article by Matt Ridley (August 2002, p. 25), who started making crop circles in ] in ]. He wrote about how easy it is to develop techniques using simple tools that can easily fool (later) observers. He reported on "expert" sources such the '']'' who had been easily fooled, and mused about why people want to believe supernatural explanations for phenomena that are not yet explained. | ||
| Line 19: | Line 23: | ||
| Methods to create a hoaxed crop circles have been well-documented on the Internet. A counter argument to hoaxing is that circles often appears in crops mature-enough that they carry ]s, seed-pods are unbroken, whereas trampling causes seed-pod breakage. Crop circle hoaxers counter that it is easy to leave dry seed pods unbroken during stomping and also leave no trace of entrance and egress trampling when the plants and ground are both dry and some care is taken while walking. Several crop circles that were later to have been determined to be hoaxes were at first certified as being genuine by cerealogists due the lack of seed pod breakage. | Methods to create a hoaxed crop circles have been well-documented on the Internet. A counter argument to hoaxing is that circles often appears in crops mature-enough that they carry ]s, seed-pods are unbroken, whereas trampling causes seed-pod breakage. Crop circle hoaxers counter that it is easy to leave dry seed pods unbroken during stomping and also leave no trace of entrance and egress trampling when the plants and ground are both dry and some care is taken while walking. Several crop circles that were later to have been determined to be hoaxes were at first certified as being genuine by cerealogists due the lack of seed pod breakage. | ||
| Farmers are not very happy with crop circles, as they prevent the harvest of grain that has been flattened. Occasionally, perpetrators have damaged fences or other parts of farms on which they have trespassed. However people who visit the circles claim enchantment, healing and a variety of phenomena, so whether these events are wonderful or terrible depends on particular points of view. | Farmers are, as a rule, not very happy with crop circles, as they prevent the harvest of grain that has been flattened. Occasionally, perpetrators have damaged fences or other parts of farms on which they have trespassed. However people who visit the circles claim enchantment, healing and a variety of phenomena, so whether these events are wonderful or terrible depends on particular points of view. Note that some farmers charge admission to see the "crop circle" which suggests that in at least some cases there is quiet behind-the-scenes cooperation between farmers and human pranksters. | ||
| ==Further Reading== | ==Further Reading== | ||
| Line 38: | Line 42: | ||
| * http://www.amtsgym-sdbg.dk/as/crop/ufofake.HTM An entertaining report on how an elaborate crop circle made by astronomy students at Amtsgymnasiet in Sonderborg, Sweden fooled crop circle "researchers". | * http://www.amtsgym-sdbg.dk/as/crop/ufofake.HTM An entertaining report on how an elaborate crop circle made by astronomy students at Amtsgymnasiet in Sonderborg, Sweden fooled crop circle "researchers". | ||
| * http://skepdic.com/cropcirc.html The Skeptic's Dictionary and CSICOP links to non-supernatural articles on crop circles. | * http://skepdic.com/cropcirc.html The Skeptic's Dictionary and CSICOP links to non-supernatural articles on crop circles. | ||
| * http://www.csicop.org/si/2002-09/crop-circles.html The Center for Scientific Investigation of Claims or the Paranormal looks at "crop circles" and is not impressed. | |||
Revision as of 04:25, 16 March 2004
Crop circles are areas of a grain or similar crop that have been systematically flattened to form various geometric patterns that began appearing in England in the late 1970s. One popular belief among a certain segment of the public is that crop circles are created by flying saucers landing in a farmer's field and flattening a neat circle of the crop—however the increasing complexity (not to mention the implausibility of the idea that beings from another planet would travel all the way to Earth and then be unable to figure out a better course of action than vandalizing some poor farmer's field) of formations makes this theory less likely. Others hypothesise that these formations are sniggles or hoaxes engineered by humans. While some farmers view them as vandalism others gain revenue from charging viewers. People who study crop circle phenomenon call themselves "cerealogists," perhaps in an attempt to imply that they have scientific credentials which they do not in fact have. Many crop circles have fine intricate detail, regular symmetry and careful composition.
Early examples of this phenomenon were usually simple circular patterns of various sizes, which led some people to speculate that it was a natural phenomenon, but in recent years complex geometric patterns have emerged. A popular explanation among flying saucer cultists is that they are either formed by extraterrestrial spaceship landings themselves or by spaceships hovering over the field to form complex patterns that contain codified messages. However for the more scientifically oriented researchers, ideas relating to cymatics (the visualisation of vibration or sound) seems to provide a more plausible explanation. The patterns produced being the 2-dimensional geometric or visual representation of the frequencies, with higher sound frequencies producing more complex shapes similar to both mandalas and crop circle designs. Other ideas on their formation have been proposed include; tornadoes, freak wind patterns, ball lightning, and something called "plasma vortices".
Real scientists, as opposed to these self-proclaimed "cereologists," have come to the conclusion that, as far as can be determined, this phenomenon is purely and solely the result of human beings playing pranks; this hypothesis has the advantage of not requiring us to first assume the existence of flying saucers and little green men, and, as such, is rather more plausible than the claim that little green men in a flying saucer did it.
In the summer of 2002 Signs, a Sci-fi movie about crop circles which was directed by M. Night Shyamalan (the author and director of Sixth Sense) was released and attributed sinister motives to extra terrestrials in forming the circles.
Many scientists are skeptical of all the above ideas and prefer to follow the precept of Occam's Razor which would favor a mundane explanation; namely human activity. However a number of witnesses have claimed to have observed circles being created saying that it takes a few seconds and the corn falls flat like a fan being opened (how credible these people are is left for the reader to decide). Crop circle enthusiasts who wish to give themselves a false veneer of scientific respectability and call themselves "Cerealogists" or "cereologists" despite the fact that they typically have no scientific background or credentials, claim that there are other features of crop circles that undercut the hoax theory. They say that bends in the corn in many circles are just below a joint, while the flattening of the corn by hoaxers produces a crack at any point in the stem. Also the flattened corn often lies in groomed layers, rather than random crushings. Other effects include the measurement of radiation within crop circles and that the bent part of the stalk appears to be produced though a microwave type heating of the stalk, and very high levels of magnetic material in the soil within some crop circles, levels such as 284.3 mg/g where the normal level for soil is in the range of 0.4 mg/g , with the levels dropping off sharply outside the circles. These measurable effects have not been able to be replicated by hoaxers, although the differences between crop circles do not make it so simple as to which crop circles are hoaxed and which are not as not all circles will have the exact same effects.
Many so-called "crop circles" never existed at all in the real world, having been created with photo-editing software like Adobe Photoshop.
Not long after WWII, aerial archaeological surveys were made over large areas of Britain. They photographed ripening crops to reveal crop marks, the differential ripening of the crop revealing differences in the subsoil caused by the buried remnants of ancient buildings. Though many previously unsuspected archaeological sites were found, no crop circles were ever recorded, which would tend to cast doubt on the natural forces hypothesis—unless some temporal change has happened as is seen with volcanoes and ice ages, but that seems implausible.
A decade after the phenomena began, two men announced that many crop circles were a hoax of their doing. Doug Bower and Dave Chorley argued that they had been making crop circles since 1978 using planks, rope, hats and wire as their only tools. Doug and Dave stated to reporters that a small group of people can stomp down a sizeable area of crop in a single night. Note that "stomp" does not mean using the feet. Simple tools to make crop circles have been described. . However Doug and Dave would often retract their claims of which circles they hoaxed, and when confronted and asked to provide details relating to the geometric relationships of certain crop circles they would merely reply "oh we didnt do that one". This sparked controversy that they were merely trying to confuse the issue and in so doing made crop circles seen as a 'fringe' or 'esoteric' field of research, because the sort of people who have a religious need to believe in things like "crop circles" also love conspiracy theories and loathe Occam's Razor.
Many subsequent crop circle makers have claimed that making what self-appointed cerealogist experts state are "unfakeable" crop circles is easy. One such cerealogist, G. Terence Meaden, was filmed claiming that a crop circle was genuine when the night before the making of that crop circle by humans was filmed. On the night of July 11-12, 1992, a crop-circle making competition, for a prize of several thousand pounds (partly funded by the Arthur Koestler Foundation), was held in Berkshire. The winning entry was produced by three helicopter engineers, using rope, PVC pipe, a trestle and a ladder. Another competitor used a small garden roller, a plank and some rope. The size and complexity of the designs produced demonstrated the minimal equipment and preparation required to produce a crop design, lending even more credence to the hypothesis that this phenomenon is purely and solely the result of humans playing pranks.
Scientific American published an article by Matt Ridley (August 2002, p. 25), who started making crop circles in Texas in 1991. He wrote about how easy it is to develop techniques using simple tools that can easily fool (later) observers. He reported on "expert" sources such the Wall Street Journal who had been easily fooled, and mused about why people want to believe supernatural explanations for phenomena that are not yet explained.
Methods to create a hoaxed crop circles have been well-documented on the Internet. A counter argument to hoaxing is that circles often appears in crops mature-enough that they carry seeds, seed-pods are unbroken, whereas trampling causes seed-pod breakage. Crop circle hoaxers counter that it is easy to leave dry seed pods unbroken during stomping and also leave no trace of entrance and egress trampling when the plants and ground are both dry and some care is taken while walking. Several crop circles that were later to have been determined to be hoaxes were at first certified as being genuine by cerealogists due the lack of seed pod breakage.
Farmers are, as a rule, not very happy with crop circles, as they prevent the harvest of grain that has been flattened. Occasionally, perpetrators have damaged fences or other parts of farms on which they have trespassed. However people who visit the circles claim enchantment, healing and a variety of phenomena, so whether these events are wonderful or terrible depends on particular points of view. Note that some farmers charge admission to see the "crop circle" which suggests that in at least some cases there is quiet behind-the-scenes cooperation between farmers and human pranksters.
Further Reading
- Round in Circles: Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers, by Robin W. Allen and Jim Schnabel.
- Circular Evidence: Bloomsbury, London by Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado, 1989.
- The Deepening Complexity of Crop Circles: Scientific Research and Urban Legends, by Eltjo H. Haselhoff.
- "Opening Minds" by Dr. Simeon Hein
External Links
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0801_020801_cropcircles.html This is an excellent introduction to crop circles, with a special emphasis on their value as art.
- http://www.circlemakers.org/ The most famous group of crop circle makers, founded by Doug Bower and Dave Chorley. Full of info, including stunning patterns (such as one containing 409 circles, completed in August, 2001). Includes a beginners' guide to making crop circles.
- http://www.cropcircles.org
- http://www.CropCircleInfo.com
- http://web.archive.org/web/20010202163900/http://www.cropcircles.co.uk/maps/gallery/gallery.htm Some beautiful photos of crop circles. A site that favors supernatural explanations.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20011214133844/http://www.paradigmshift.com/theories.html A nice summary of the supernatural explanations of crop circles.
- http://www.amtsgym-sdbg.dk/as/crop/ufofake.HTM An entertaining report on how an elaborate crop circle made by astronomy students at Amtsgymnasiet in Sonderborg, Sweden fooled crop circle "researchers".
- http://skepdic.com/cropcirc.html The Skeptic's Dictionary and CSICOP links to non-supernatural articles on crop circles.
- http://www.csicop.org/si/2002-09/crop-circles.html The Center for Scientific Investigation of Claims or the Paranormal looks at "crop circles" and is not impressed.