I saw the story on Headline News, can’t seem to find a link, so hopefully some others saw the story too.
It was very elaborate and there were a lot of them, it had been raining the night before, but there were no footprints, or signs of humans being there. Of course it was in England
I’m almost totally skeptic, but that little voice in the back of my head is saying, “maybe?”
So I wanted to hear what others thought of this story, and give me explanations so that stupid little voice will shut up.
If you find that interesting, I have another story for you. Note that I don’t believe this myself.
Last week I heard a newsreport on the Dutch radio here about a man who saw a crop circle appear right in front of his eyes. The man was a Dutch ‘scientist’ out there to investigate the phenomenon for a US agency of some sort. He told that while investigating one of the circles with a few of his colleagues, he felt a vibration in the air and when he looked around, there was a completely new circle only a few hundred metres from where he stood.
I’m trying to find a news article or cite of some sort for you but haven’t had any luck yet.
Have a look at this site.
Situation: Geometric designs, starting with simple circles but working up to much more complex forms, have been apearing in crops for years.
Possible theories: 1) they are the work of hoaxers, 2) they are the work of extraterrestrial aliens.
Evidence in support of theory 1: crop circle makers have come forward, explained the techniques, demonstrated them before observers, shown videotapes of themselves making crop circles.
Evidence in support of theory 2: none.
Conclusion? Up to you.
What Steve Wright said.
And here is some more logic:
1a. How to spot an urban myth:
Jup, I realised that. Suffice to say is that I did hear this on the radio, but that I also don’t believe the claims. The name of the ‘scientist’ was mentioned, but I don’t remember it. It also had an interview with the guy in question. I’m not sure if the US agemcy was mentioned.
So, this is only an urban myth insofar of his claims. He actually did make those claims on the radio.
I’m still looking for a news article of some sort.
I don’t think we’ll ever really know what’s causing them. A pair of British hoaxers have stepped forward but I doubt they can be responsible for every single UK circle. Circles have also been seen in US fields and in the sand of a West Coast beach. Take a look at the circles pictured here, if these are hoaxes then some people were extremely busy!
This may be the source of the Dutch scientist story.
Crop circles are made by hoaxers using string and planks. They enjoy the publicity.
There are far more than 2 UK hoaxers, and since you will get a lot of attention from pseudo-scientists, people try this game all over the world.
Some quotes from the Dutch link:
“Jan Willem used dowsing rods to determine energy ley lines.”
Ah, yes. Dowsing is that psychic ability that never works when you ask to see it demonstrated.
(See http://www.randi.org for details.)
“When I entered the 8th circle, I was stupefied to see that there was a brand new circle added to the tail! **I counted and re-counted the circles of the tail. **There were 9 circles instead of the 8 we counted before. During our research, there was an extra circle added. Just like that, and we didn’t see or hear anything. About ten minutes before, Jan Willem had taken some samples from the last circle, the 8th of the tail, and he didn’t see a new circle. He is 200% sure that there wasn’t a new circle at that time.”
"My nephew, Jan Willem, he felt (the crop circle) with his hands and he told us that it felt warm. I tried, but I was completely astonished so I didn’t feel it. But he told me it felt warm. "
No point in using a measuring device like a thermometer. One guy says it feels ‘warm’, another doesn’t. Conclusive proof then.
“And then the next step is a lot of clues to make a crop circle without entering the field. … If we succeed making a crop circle without entering the field and we find the blown nodes and all the other stuff, then we know which technique the crop circle makers use. After that, we want to try making formations without being in the field.”
Now we already know you can make a crop circle using just string and planks, without leaving any traces like footprints.
But these guys think there must be another ‘technique’. Occam must be spinning in his grave.
“The next step after that is communication and maybe in the future, we meet some of the ‘guys’ (crop circle creators). I don’t know, but that’s a far away future.”
Ah, so you’re going to e-mail the English hoaxers, then?
“Eltjo’s research connects spherical energies above the crop to plants going down in formations. I don’t know what the balls of lights are. Maybe it’s intelligence that is controlled? Or maybe the lights are on their own. I don’t know that. But there is a relationship. Absolutely.”
No, apparently not.
A friend of mine bought a wooden medallion with a crop circle pattern on it. She would go around and, jokingly, ask people if they knew what it said, figuring that anybody who knew what it meant must be an alien.
I told a friend of mine about her, and the next time he ran into her, she asked what it said, and he said, “No services this exit.”
I have to say that, if I’d been responsible for any of those designs, I’d feel a real sense of accomplishment looking at those aerial photos.
But I don’t think I’d feel anything like as proud if i’d done them in ten minutes with a Gravitational Wibble Ray…
I note that the farmer in this and in many other cases charge people £1 a time to go and have a look at the phenomenon, not a bad sideline and I bet the taxman doesn’t get to see his share of it.
It must have been a good earner too as the crop circle expert said that there had been so many visitors that he could not make out any potential evidence.
This crop circle group of around 400 circles in a nice pattern was alledgedly formed overnight but I would like to have proof that this is the case, so far all there is is a farmer saying so, and he is making money from it.
I find it interesting to note that this formation is on the highest part of the ground in the area, so anyone working there could not be observed from elswhere, and the only way to see it is either to go by air or to pay the farmer to walk on his land, it just seems very convenient that it is not is down in a valley where you would not have to do this, in fact this is true of most crop circles.
This one just registered with me. (I’m very tired today.)
Now, believe it or not, properly conducted trials have been carried out here, by some 80s-era BBC1 series on the paranormal… dowsing rods do not detect ley lines. They had dowsing “experts” wandering across fields, some of which were crossed by ley lines, others of which were not… and the dowsers could not tell the difference.
Wish I could remember the name of the show…
It doesn’t prove anything, of course… but a workable explanation would be 1) there is no such thing as a ley line, or 2) there is no such ability as dowsing, or 3) both of the foregoing. All three would fit the observed data…
Wasn’t Tomorrow’s World was it? I seem to remember something about that experiment.
Anyway, I can prove crop circles are the work of mysterious aliens, in fact I will do so in my book, which will be expensive.
Mangetout,
you’re going to prove it in an expensive book?
It must be true!
I’m sorry for my sarcasm earlier.
Would you autograph my copy?
I look forward to the follow-up ‘How psychic powers can be profitable’.
Of course I’ll autograph it, for a nominal fee (I have to charge this so that I can empower the book with mystic energies (or vibrations or something, whatever).
I hadn’t realised that you’d seen the Advance Information sheet for my next book, I was torn between that title or ‘Mysterious Powers; fleecing the gullible’, but my publisher made the decision for me.
Of course, there’s a third book in the pipeline, the working title is ‘Credulity; pushing the envelope’
The programme wasn’t “Tomorrow’s World”… it was in that sort of time slot (half an hour, pre-watershed), but it was all about the paranormal - ran six episodes, I think the dowsing/ley lines one was number four or five…
Does anyone else remember it? Did it happen at all? Have I been unwittingly brainwashed by the Men in Black? Help!