George Terence Meaden, a physicist who works for the Tornado and Storm Research Organization, states that the cause is "atmospheric plasma vortices" or ionized air masses . . .


Pat Delgado, the co-author of a book on the circles, says that they are created by "an unknown intelligence." 


. . . Colin Andrews (co-author of Circular Evidence [with Pat Delgado 1989]) said: "The circles seem to be elaborate pictograms created by some sort of intelligent life force as an attempt to communicate with mankind."

Charles d'Orban (of London University's School of Oriental and African Studies) responded to the complex Wiltshire field designs of 1990 by explaining: "The shapes in the field look like the work of Sumerians, from late fourth and early third century BC."

If so, it is speculated that one of the messages read (in Sumerian); "Multiply your wells."  Interestingly, top British meteorologists were predicting dry weather at that time.


When a BBC crew was at a circle taping an interview with Delgado, they were interrupted by a blast of noise.  Delgado said, "It was so loud the sound engineer tore off his headphones and I felt myself being physically moved by the energy force."

David Morgenstern, a BBC producer, elaborated: We picked up very powerful radio interference from the center of the circle but, when we moved out, it disappeared.  BBC crews tend to be very cynical about this sort of thing, but we were very taken aback."

Technicians have analyzed the recording with, to our knowledge, no identification forthcoming.

Another of Meaden's witnesses, a Mr. Barnes, who waited years to come forward, describes a wave that moved through the crops and then stopped and began to pivot on one end and, inscribing a circle with a 75-foot radius.  The dynamics here seem very strange, and the circle is vastly larger than most, but it's just grist for Meaden's mill.

(Setting aside for a moment the spirit of skepticism, I was delighted to see that one of the first witnesses to come forward was a man named Bell.  This, of course, is one of the so-called significant surnames that seem to pop up more often than they should in connection with strange phenomena.)

Although the books contain various stories labeled eyewitness reports, only Bell and Barnes actually claim to have seen circles created by something like Meaden's vortex.  One other claimed sighting, by Arthur Shuttlewood, occurred while some people were "sky-watching" (i.e. looking for UFOs) . . .


All the experts agree on one issue: that the circles cannot be attributed to hoaxers except in a few cases.  It is said that attempts to hoax a circle invariably fail to duplicate the effect and damage the crop.


For years we have heard about science's demand for physical evidence, for a phenomenon that repeats frequently enough and predictably enough to be "scientifically" studied.  Now we have just such a phenomenon — and scientists are largely ignoring it!  Whatever their cause, the circles have performed an admirable service for us by exposing the hypocrisy and empty excuses of modern science.

A few witnesses have reported seeing "strange lights" at night in the vicinities of crop circle appearances, and some magnetic disturbances recorded within circle formations mimic those reported in the wake of UFO encounters.  We haven't seen the pictures yet, but distinguished crop circle researcher Colin Andrews supposedly was able to photograph a "silver ball" that was "floating over the field" where a formation was found.


The majority of circles has sprung up only a short distance away from that immortal relic of natural, mythic wonder, Stonehenge.


. . . as many as 500 circles were recently reported to have appeared in Britain within a period of 10 weeks.


The UFO, or cosmic finger or whatever, is apparently gentle in its still indecipherable inscriptions to the earth-born.


The crop forms display whimsy, precision and covert manipulations.  In those senses, too, they're like the UFOs.

The stalks of the crops are laid down in straight or swirling patterns, sometimes with overlapping layers.  The patterns show distinct borders, and display odd shapes as well as geometric patterns.  This includes circles, ellipses, semi-circles, arcs, bars, rectangles, triangles and rings.


. . . the stalks are bent and not broken, and the crop is essentially undamaged.  When someone tries to hoax a circle, the plant  is damaged, broken at the bend and usually killed by the hoaxer.  Genuine formations, on the other hand, contain crops that are still growing.

Another curious aspect, described by Pat Delgado in Crop Circles, the Latest Evidence, is the combing effect.  For example, when a rectangle is seen from the air, there appear to be distinct edges to the design.  But if all the crop inside the rectangle is laid down bending north, then you would expect at the north end of the formation that the erect standing stalks would interfere with bent stalks, creating a tangled confusion of erect and flattened plants.  This is not the case.  Instead, the bent stalks are neatly combed and interleaved between the standing plants.

Another significant observation is the increase in number, and the increase in complexity of the crop circles.  Table 1 shows counts for the U.K. as reported by George Wingfield, based on the database of Terence Meaden, of Circles Effect Research (CERES) in England. 

The counting method used is to consider each non-contiguous glyph as a separate event.

     TABLE 1

COUNT                           YEAR

17                                   1985

17                                   1986

75                                   1987

110                                 1988

305                                 1989

1000+                             1990

The crop circles phenomenon seems to have started in England, but now there are similar formations appearing all over the world.


The popular views are that the crop circles are produced by UFOs, or non-human intelligences, such as nature spirits (as in the Celtic fairy faith), the earth spirit (Gaia), by the collective human consciousness, angels or other heavenly hosts.  Some symbols have been traced to ancient scripts, American Indian sand paintings, Eastern mandalas, Buddhist vajras, and even weather map symbols.

There are hundreds of mysteries around us every day.  What could be more mysterious than sleep and dreaming?  Or a human being growing from a single cell?  Or dowsers finding water?


This spring, two of the main investigators were talking to each other.  They believed they were on the verge of solving the puzzle.  One said to the other, "We've really grasped this phenomenon by its tail."  The next week, what happened?  They were greeted by the appearance of a large new circle — with a magnificent sweeping tail.


It's not an isolated instance.  Take the case of Terence Meaden. . . .


But just a month before New Scientist published his article, the first of the new rectangular shapes appeared.  The first dumb-bell.  There was obviously no way that [only] circulating air or plasma could create these new shapes, with their straight lines and precision geometry.


Here's another example.  There was a week-long crop watch mounted this spring.  No circles appeared.  But just as the investigators were packing up their equipment, they noticed that a new circle had appeared in the field behind them.


I'm speculating.  But it could be to do with pollution.


Look at the last ten years.  the crop circles have boomed.  So has pollution, and awareness of pollution.


Well imagine it.  You are busy getting on with growing plants, say, when someone drops a whole load of foul chemicals on your vegetable patch.  It makes it really hard for you to do your job, or even enjoy it.


Worse still, they don't even believe you exist.  What can you do? 


Protest.  Demonstrate.  It's the only option.  You can't complain, because no one is listening.  You can't strike, or go slow, because no one realizes you are doing the job in the first place.  All you can do is demonstrate.


More like graffiti.  Think of the disenfranchised.  People in human society who have no voice.  No representation.  They are swept under the carpet and forgotten about.  But then suddenly whole series of graffiti start emerging, on walls or on the sides of underground trains.  No one sees them appear.  There is no content or message.  They are simply saying: "We are here.  You ignore us.  But we are alive and well.  And we have decided to leave our mark the only way we can."