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Crop Circles






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                                   March 8, 1992

                                   CIRCLES3.ASC
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             This file shared with KeelyNet courtesy of Mathew Bevan.
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                  SOURCE: The Times            DATE: 27 July 1990

       George Hill goes  down  on  the farm and discovers that corn circles
       are grist to a media mill, whether  messages  in  Sumerian,  natural
       phenomena or simply  hoaxes  .   In  spite  of  the  giant  graffiti
       mockingly imprinted this week on a cornfield just under their noses,
       the research team  seeking  to  crack the mystery of corn circles at
       Westbury Hill in Wiltshire mean to  continue  their  vigil until the
       crop is harvested in two or three weeks' time.

       The standing corn  is  the  writing-paper  on  which   some  little-
       understood influence inscribes,  with uncanny precision, signs which
       seem to grow more numerous and more  complex every year.   With five
       low-light video cameras  trained  day  and  night  on  the  ripening
       cornfields which stretch  away  to  the  horizon from their vantage-
       point on the chalk ramparts of the  prehistoric  Bratton  Fort,  the
       team hopes to catch the moment of formation of one of the circles.

       The scene at Bratton Fort on Wednesday, on the morning  the  hoaxers
       had been at  work,  did  little  to  promote  the credibility of the
       circles as a  genuine scientific  phenomenon.  Down  below  was  the
       evidence of the  work  of  a  party  of buffoons to damage  somebody
       else's property and  livelihood,  while  high  on the escarpment the
       angry and excited figure of Colin Andrews, one of the leaders of the
       project, was letting himself be drawn  by bands of the international
       media into dropping hints which will not help workers  in  the field
       to gain respectable backers for future research.

       An atmosphere of  silly-season  gaiety  hung over the encampment. It
       will be harder than ever now to wrest  the  subject from the mystics
       who prefer supernatural to natural explanations, and  the cynics who
       are satisfied that  everything  can  be  explained  on  the basis of
       bucolic humour or press circulation-battles.  Because  the  story is
       all about ripening corn, it breaks every year just  at the time when
       serious news tends  to  be afflicted by its usual summer drought. As
       Mr Andrews spoke of ``an airborne consciousness'', which he declared
       could not inappropriately  be  described  as  ``supernatural'',  the
       representative of the Today newspaper stood at his  shoulder  with a
       proprietorial smile.

       For those who  have  been  so  merrily making hay out of the corn in
       recent weeks, any turn in the tale, whether hoax or otherwise, can

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       be turned to  account  except one: a natural explanation. A solution
       to the mystery would spoil the fun  and they would be thrown back on
       the Loch Ness monster. So successful has the drive  to mystification
       been, that a  spokesman  for the Meteorological Office yesterday was
       still taking the  classic attitude  of  conservative  science  to  a
       puzzle with overtones  of  the  occult,  and  dismissing  the  whole
       phenomenon as ``a glorified hoax''.

       In spite of  Wednesday's  prank,  and  earlier  jollities  like  the
       appearance of the message ``WEARENOTALONE''  on a Hampshire hillside
       in 1983, and last year's report of rings at an Essex  village called
       Littley Green (Littley  Green  Men:  geddit?), there can be no doubt
       that many circles are not hoaxes.  If  the 400 rings which have been
       reported this year are all man-made, then the sun must  have touched
       an alarmingly large number of industrious humourists.

       Many are in  remote  spots  where  the chances of publicity would be
       slight. Similar circles have been  reported  in many other countries
       where there has  been  no ballyhoo to encourage pranksters,  and  as
       long ago as  1936,  1918,  and  even 1678.   ``It is usually easy to
       distinguish a natural circle from  a  man-made one by looking at the
       way the stalks have been pressed down,'' says Paul  Fuller,the joint
       author of Crop Circles a Mystery Solved, to be published next month.

       ``If you visit  a  fresh  one,  you  can see how the crops have been
       pressed down in a spiral or circular  pattern,  sometimes  so gently
       that they have not even been flattened, sometimes pressed  so firmly
       into the soil that they leave a mark in it. The traces left by human
       intervention are quite different.''

       But there are  aspects  to  the  circles  which  make  them tempting
       subjects for science-fiction speculation.  Witnesses  who  have been
       nearby when they form frequently speak of strange lights and buzzing
       noises, or sensations similar to those associated with strong fields
       of static electricity.

       Tests with instruments  have  sometimes  confirmed   that   electric
       phenomena are involved.    The  growing  number  of  circles  may be
       partly explicable by changes in agricultural  practice,  but  it  is
       impossible to account for the eerily systematic patterns  of  recent
       examples.  Fancy and   superstition   have   ranged  exuberantly  in
       proposing explanations for the phenomenon.

       Claims that the cause involves flying  saucers,  fungal  infections,
       ley-lines, giant hailstones,  rutting  stags  or  mass-movements  of
       hedgehogs have been  suggested,  and  gleefully perpetuated by those
       who thrive on mystification.

       This year, the bouillabaisse of red  herrings has been enriched by a
       suggestion that the  signs  are  a  warning  of ecological  disaster
       written in 3,000-year-old  Sumerian  script although it has not been
       explained why an entity which has  not yet discovered the ABC should
       be supposed to have any up to date information about other events on
       earth.

       The mystifiers are less happy with the evidence of  the small number
       of witnesses, including  some  impeccably  sober  citizens, who have
       actually observed the  formation   of   circles.   Their   testimony
       threatens to spoil the fun. One of them is Melvyn Bell, a Wiltshire

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       labourer, who saw  a circle in 1983, long before the story was taken
       up by the tabloids.   ``It didn't seem a matter of great interest to
       me at the time,'' he says. ``I was  riding  on the old Ridgeway near
       Lavington at about eight in the evening one day in  August.  About a
       quarter of a mile away I saw a small cloud of dust above a cornfield
       it looked like  one of those spinning clouds of debris you sometimes
       see outside a supermarket. I was looking  down  the hill towards it,
       higher up than  the  top  of the cloud. It was all  over  in  a  few
       seconds. It laid  out  a  circle about ten yards wide in the corn. I
       heard no buzzing noises.''

       Of all explanations,  the  whirlwind   solution   is  the  one  that
       commentators drawn to  occult  answers  dislike  most.  Mr.  Andrews
       mentions it briefly  and  dismissively  in  his  own  book, Circular
       Evidence, written jointly with Pat Delgado and published last year.

       Supernaturalists have suggested that  Mr  Bell's  evidence should be
       discounted because he  is  an  employee  of Dr. Terence  Meaden,  an
       academic specialising in  research into atmospheric processes, whose
       book The Circles Effect and Its Mysteries,  also published last year
       (there must be  a supernatural explanation behind  this  exponential
       growth in the number of books on the subject).

       Dr. Meaden is  the  first  writer  to  put  forward  a  theory which
       explains most of the characteristics  of  the  circles on a basis of
       current scientific knowledge.  In  the  process,   he  goes  far  to
       providing a rational  explanation  for many of the UFO reports which
       have puzzled researchers  for  decades.   Drawing   partly   on  the
       extensive records gathered  by  Mr  Andrews and his  colleagues,  he
       shows that circles  tend  to  appear  in very specific conditions of
       weather and topography.

       ``I would say there is no mystery  about  the  basic  process,''  he
       says. ``The primary thing is a vortex formed on the  lee  side  of a
       hill in very still atmospheric conditions. If a mass of air near the
       ground becomes electrically  charged, as it can be by friction where
       a dry crop and dust have been stirred  by  the  wind  all  day, very
       complex processes might develop, and produce the buzzing and glowing
       that have been described.''

       In their familiar  form,  whirlwinds happen only in  daylight,  when
       warm air creates  upcurrents  which  spin  as they rise. But where a
       layer of cool air lies above a warm  layer, parts of the upper layer
       can fall away, and as they sink, spiral formations  like smoke-rings
       may form.   These  spinning  masses,  some  larger than others, some
       hitting the ground  quite hard, and  others  scarcely  brushing  it,
       might well be the most credible explanation for many of the detailed
       characteristics of the  circles,  including the delicate  concentric
       forms sometimes seen.

       It is more difficult to understand how they could produce treble and
       quintuple patterns of  rings, and harder still to see how they could
       lead to the complex angular spurs and key-patterns photographed this
       year.   ``Imagine a round clock falling  to  the ground,'' Dr Meaden
       says. ``If it  falls gently, it may leave a plain  round  impression
       behind. If it  falls  so  hard  that  it  smashes, then parts of the
       mechanism might shoot out this way  or that. Further vortices inside
       the main vortex might fly out as it disintegrates.  I  think many of
       these patterns are genuine, and offer clues to the internal

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       structure of these  objects.''    But not even Dr Meaden can offer a
       clear explanation for the apparent  tendency of the patterns to grow
       more complex year  by  year. If that trend continues,  a  degree  of
       mystery will continue  to  cling  to  the circles, and it may not be
       long before it seems worthwhile for  us to brush up on our Sumerian.
       (c) Times Newspapers Ltd.
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              1990  SOURCE: The Times            DATE: 25 July 1991

       Crop Circles; Letter From Mr Ralph Noyes

       Sir,
          I read  with  interest  your report on the reappearance  of  crop
       circles (July 16).  Hoaxing  is  undoubtedly  taking  place  in some
       cases. We in  the Centre for Crop  Circle  Studies  are  cooperating
       closely with the  Wiltshire police in the hope of  eliminating  this
       nuisance, which is  not  only troublesome to farmers but muddies the
       scientific record.

          The event in the field near Alton  Barnes  which occurred on July
       1-2 (there has since been a second formation in the  same field) was
       seen within hours  by  members  of  CCCS.   It will by now have lost
       much of its  delicate texturing  as  a  result  of  sight-seeing  by
       members of the  public.  But  in its pristine state  it  showed  the
       hallmarks of a  genuine  occurrence,  particularly  in  the  complex
       layering of the grain where the main  shaft of the formation crosses
       the central elements of a ring and circle.   We do  not  believe  it
       could have been a hoax. Mr. and Mrs. Carson, who farm the land, have
       our full support in repudiating the suggestion of trickery.
                    Yours faithfully,  RALPH NOYES
                    (Honorary Secretary, Centre for Crop Circle Studies),
                    9 Oakley Street, SW3.  July 16.
       (c) Times Newspapers Ltd.
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             1991 SOURCE: The Times                DATE: 12 June 1991

                      Tokyo scientist rustles up corn circle
           Yoshi-Hiko Ohtsuki By Nick Nuttall, Technology Correspondent

       A JAPANESE scientist   who   has   been  enthralled  by  the  annual
       appearance of crop circles in Britain  has created the phenomenon in
       his laboratory.  The shapes, identical to those which started to re-
       appear last week, were made without the assistance of UFOs, farmers'
       lads, rutting deer, frenzied hedgehogs or any of  the  other  exotic
       theories which have sprung up around the phenomenon.

       Yoshi-Hiko Ohtsuki used a machine which he developed to produce ball
       lightning.  The professor  of  physics  at Waseda university, Tokyo,
       has thus helped to confirm theories  proposed  last  year by Terence
       Meaden, former associate   professor   of   physics   at   Dalhousie
       university in Halifax,  Canada,  and  founder  of  the Tornado Storm
       Research Organisation at Oxford polytechnic.

       Dr. Meaden suggested,  to  gales  of  derision  by  lovers  of  more
       outlandish explanations, that  the topography and  climate  of  such
       counties as Wiltshire and Hampshire triggered the formation of mini-
       whirlwinds.   As they  broke  down  over  fields,  he  suggested,  a
       doughnut-shaped eddy within the column swept downwards, swirling the
       crop.

                                      Page 4





       Dr. Meaden said  yesterday that Professor Ohtsuki, who first visited
       Britain two years ago to examine the  phenomenon,  had told him in a
       letter that he fired mini-whirlwinds over plates of  fine  aluminium
       powder in his ball-lightning machine to replicate the swirls.

       The findings have  been  lent  further  weight  by  another Japanese
       scientist, Tokio Kikuchi of Kochi  university,  who  has developed a
       mathematical model based on Dr Meaden's theory which  has  been shot
       on video.   It  also  creates more complex shapes, similiar to those
       that have appeared in recent years.

       Supporters of more exotic theories  had said that a scientific basis
       for corn circles is defied by these complicated configurations.  Dr.
       Meaden believes that  the final answer to the circles'  complexities
       might be found  in  the  appearance  of  sun  spots  which  lead  to
       electromagnetic changes in the Earth's atmosphere and crust.

       If so, the number of complicated  corn  circles  may  fall  over the
       coming years.   Solar activity is believed to be  on  the  point  of
       declining from a  200  -  year  peak.      (c) Times Newspapers Ltd.
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            1991  SOURCE: The Times             DATE: 10 September 1991

       LONDON'S most famous occult bookshop,  Waktins,  is  having no truck
       with the Southampton hoaxsters who confessed to newspapers yesterday
       that they were responsible for the mystery of the corn circles.

       ``The newspapers are full of lies,'' said an angry spokesman for the
       shop, which specialises  in  books on magic, astrology  and  psychic
       phenomena. The enigma  remains,  insists the shop. So, too, will its
       window display, erected  last  week,   of  books  on  crop  circles,
       explaining the phenomenon by reference to aliens from  outer  space,
       energy currents and  other  causes  far  more plausible than two men
       with a ball of string, an old baseball  cap and 4 ft wooden plinths.
       (c) Times Newspapers Ltd.  1991

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