“I heard that the crop circles were all shown to be fake– I
mean, made by people.”
A crop circle – no matter how beautiful or complex – is
considered a “hoax” if it is made by humans by familiar
means: for example, using ropes for measurement and boards to flatten
crop. It’s true that a few formations have been made this
way. But just because some circles are made this way doesn’t
mean all crop circles are made this way. Hundreds of crop formations
are now appearing each year, on several continents, often several
in one night. They are sometimes found in remote locations, but
more often appear in plain view of a major road. Some are incredibly
elaborate, with areas swirled down in a number of different patterns;
clean, sharp lines (sometimes only one or two crops thick); and
several hundred feet across. Many show no visible path leading
into or out of the formation. They appear within a few hours of
summer darkness or, in some cases, within a few minutes of broad
daylight. Could all these formations (over ten thousand since
1980 alone) have been made by a few groups with ropes and
boards?
Here are the findings of three peer-reviewed, scientific studies
conducted over a ten-year period of more than 250 crop formations:
• In many circles, crops have been bent to a ninet degree
angle or more without breaking them. In fact, they continue to
grow to maturity. Early in the season, when the plants are still
flexible, this can conceivably be done with a board (though the
bend is often one or more feet off the ground). Crop circles continue
to appear on up to harvest time, long after the plants have become
too stiff and dry to be bent by simple pressure.
• The joints (or nodes) of plants in crop formations are often
found either stretched or blown open, as if they’d been put
in a microwave. This is not observed in plants found outside the
circle.
• Unusual amounts of magnetic iron oxide particles have been
found in crop circles. Their spherical shape suggests a meteoritic
origin.
• Seeds taken from plants that were immature when the crop
circle was formed produce weak, nonviable seedlings (as compared,
of course, to plants immediately outside the circle). Seeds from
mature crops, on the other hand, sprout quicker, grow taller, and
produce greater yield– often five or six times faster
than seeds taken from plants outside the formation. In a few cases,
the rate of growth of these plants has been found to be synchronized.
In hybridized crop, this would be expected (modern crops are bred
to mature at the same time in order to make harvesting easier)
but this effect has been observed in seeds taken from crop circles
in non-hybridized crop.
None of these effects can be attributed to any known natural or
mechanical process.
Outside of these tests, it’s not always easy to tell, even
for experts on close examination, which formations are “fake” and
which are “real.” A circle need not be elaborate or
pristine to be authentic, and by the time one gets to examine it,
people have often already tromped through it, making it difficult
to know what is original and what is not. That’s why those
who have been studying crop circles the longest are usually the
last to make their pronouncements. They’re also the ones
least concerned with the question.
Most veteran researchers are no longer interested in evaluating each and every
crop circle because for one, there’s just too many to keep track of, and
second, there’s no longer any need to do so. Given the above findings,
there is virtually no doubt that the phenomenon is real. You can’t stretch
plants with ropes and boards.
Moreover, at least twenty-five people (including two long-time investigators)
have actually witnessed a crop circle being formed. Many more have experienced
spontaneous healings in crop formations, seen balls of light flying over or near
them, or had electronic equipment fail as soon as they stepped inside. And finally,
crop circles cannot be ascribed to some new secret technology because documented
formations go back at least several centuries. It’s quite possible, in
fact, that many traditional accounts of “fairy rings” actually refer
to crop circles.
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The mystery of crop circles is by no means “settled.” What
is almost more amazing is how most people, including the media,
manage to ignore them. It’s mystifying how readily people
write off the crop circles, apparently eager to dismiss them as
a hoax.
The problem, of course, is that if regular people aren’t
making the crop circles, then someone or something else is.
For many of us, this is a creepy proposition. Why is the prospect
that “we are not alone ” so scary?
People tend to fear what they don’t understand or cannot
control. When we don’t know who or what is doing something,
or why, it just doesn’t feel safe. How do we know these
unseen forces aren’t really out to hurt us?
Some say “the circle-makers” are here to help us through
a time of transition. If you’ve ever tried to help a bird out
of your house, you know that it’s not about to let you come
near it, even if you’re only trying to help. How do we know
when unfamiliar forces are only trying to help us?
“Are you saying that crop circles are made by ETs?”
Not necessarily. Aliens, angels, secret societies, and super-humans
have all been suggested, along with the collective unconscious and
the Earth itself. There are even cases of people thinking about a
certain image and having it appear in the fields the following morning.
It’s intriguing to speculate about the authorship of crop circles,
but does it really matter who is making them? They say anything is
possible as long as it doesn’t matter who gets credit for it.
Yet when people talk about crop circles, the only thing most people
want to know is who or what is responsible. Most don’t seem
to care what message or significance the designs might have, aside
from who is making them and how. It’s as if you were handed
a note and rather than read it, you spent all your time interrogating
the messenger or analyzing the ink.
Let’s say the crop circles are simply art. Is a painting any
less valuable when it’s unsigned or a poem when it’s
anonymous? Do you have to know who made something to appreciate it
or how it was done to enjoy it?
Whether or not crop circles are human-made, they are still spectacular – and
no doubt, significant – in and of themselves.
So what do the crop circles mean? Are they some kind of message?
Crop circles almost certainly carry some kind of information, and
many have spent decades trying to “crack the code.” It
is possible, however, that trying to decipher the circles just by
looking at them could be like staring at a compact disc and wondering
what it’s for.
A bigger challenge is the fact that the crop circles are constantly
changing. As soon as we think they are a certain way, a new kind
appears. It’s as if who or whatever’s making them was
somehow always able to stay one step ahead of us, like a carrot before
a horse.
But what difference do crop circles make in my life or to our culture?
Are they just a fun pastime, a trivial pursuit?
For some, yes they are. For many, however, they restore a sense of
wonder. They re-enchant the world. They literally bring us back down
to earth, motivating those who study them to spend time “in
the field,” paying attention to the land and the plants.
The mere fact that there are real crop circles says that human society,
at least the part we’re aware of, isn’t running the show.
Here is something we can’t control, something beautiful and
apparently consciously conceived. Crop circles can teach us humility,
something our race could probably use.
I find crop circles breathtaking. They tell me that we live in an
age of revelation: that miracles are not and never have been restricted
to Biblical times and places. I find this so exciting. I also find
it wonderful that crop circles are so universal. Having no religious
or political affiliation, they can be enjoyed and appreciated by
everyone. As Andy Thomas, the most prolific writer on the subject
of crop circles, has said, “it is the mystery, of course, that
remains the phenomenon’s greatest gift, leaving us free to
take whatever journey we choose with them.” And now we can
take that journey, right here in the Appalachians.
Alan Muskat is an author, editor, and educator. He can be reached
at onedream@alanmuskat.com. |
