Can Anyone Explain The Latest Crop Circle?
Image credit: Eva-Marie Brekkestø
An unusual circle with a simple design but a complex texturing method appeared in the famous (for crop circles) Alton Barnes district of the UK between 4:00 and 5:18 AM (a witness is said to have observed the field at these times) on July 14th. From Whitley Strieber’s site:
This formation is a 170 foot diameter woven structure in wheat, with bundles of wheat gently laid aside and woven under other bundles, so that the effect is that of a woven rug or piece of cloth. It would not be possible to do this over hours or even days, and there is doubt among researchers that it could be done at all.
Which researchers doubt that this could be created by humans? Why do they doubt it? The careful weaving of individual stalks has been observed in other circles, but this example doesn’t seem out of the realm of human ingenuity, at least not in a way that is obvious from the photo. Is the witness sure about the times and the observation? Sunrise in the area on June 14th was at 5:00AM and the moon had not risen. Was there enough light to see the field at 4AM? It would be nice to know more before assigning a mysterious cause to the formation.
Does anyone know if there has been a concerted effort to place video surveillance cameras in active crop circle areas? Are there any images or time-lapse from satellites?
More images available at the always up-to-date Crop Circle Connector site.
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on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 8:11 pm and is filed under Anomalous Phenomena, Breaking News, Crop Circles, Wake Up Down There. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed.
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Jul 18 2009 
July 18th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I came here for sensible, and that’s what I found. Thanks for taking the skeptical, yet open-minded approach that Strieber has not the capacity to adopt himself.
Not trying to kiss your ass. I’m so sick of these fricken paranormal celebrities and the way the Internet allows them to amass ever bigger and bigger Moron Armies. Strieber has never never seen anything in the sky that he didn’t believe was exotic (follow him on Twitter for proof of that).
As far as this formation goes, I think it’s actually pretty damn interesting. Greg you mentioned you’ve seen that weave pattern before — was it as consistent and impressive looking as this one?
Of course Strieber et. al, are claiming this as the smoking gun of non-human crop circles. How good are Nick Redfern’s contacts in the crop circle community in the UK? I would love for the humans who made this (assuming it WAS humans… I’m completely open to more mysterious interpretations) to come forward with proof and a strong dose of ‘Anti-Cred’ (anti credulity) for all those so willing to jump to massive conclusions without doing the slightest bit of research.
(for another fine example check out Michael Salla’s article today on the examiner.com about a story he got directly from Bill Knell)
July 19th, 2009 at 12:42 am
On one hand anyone who has seen a thatched cottage up close perhaps has the answer in hand. On the other, how precise was the thatching, was it mechanical damage or is this more “steaming” of the internal cellular structure? These reports are non reports without any in depth investigation to point to a perpetrator,human or otherwise. What I find more anomalous, is that with the recent incident of a gun toting farm and, the enormous loss of income to these farmers, someone in officialdom doesn’t get off their posterior and do some real investigation whether it be a stake out, random aerial surveillance,detection devices etc. I think we have an income of the third kind, which are tourist dollars. Is this the impetus for the dragging of feet? These geographic areas have recurring circles, it isnt like anticipating an event over global air space. The only complainants are the farmers who seemingly always draw the short straw in a comedy of errors. While I suspect some are anomalous, some are not. We will never be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, unless more action and less talk occurs.
July 19th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Someone at Crop Circle Connector left a comment on this circle. I wonder how long it would take Nick’s circle making friends to make a circle like this? That comment is not meant to sound snarky or to be a slight at Nick, I honestly wonder. Anyway, here’s the comment from the Crop Circle Connector:
RICKY (Updated Thursday 16th July)
Just to let you know, that I was covering Eastfield the night/morning that the formation went down … and had clear view of the field up to 4:15 approximately - after that a fog rolled in very quickly and the field was fog bound until I left, some time after 5 am. I attach two frame grabs from the Milk Hill side of the midfield, looking towards Woodborough. At 3:15, the field was still clear; when a party of Dutch circle visitors arrived at the edge of the field. As you can see from IR cam 3, the field was clear at that time. At 4:18 was the last chance to see the whole field before the fog set in and at 4:25 the Dutch team walked the divider between the two crops in towards the direction of Woodborough to investigate the field - found nothing and returned from the field at 4:36 - as seen here on cam 3. By now, the field was fog bound.
There were a series of interesting phenomena captured on camera, starting at 12:24 am which I am still investigating and studying the footage - more on that later … but it is fair to say, that it is very exciting. This area of the field was covered by cameras 3 and 4, plus a long exposure still camera - so a we have a good record up until the fog at 4:18.
July 19th, 2009 at 6:17 am
I agree with Bruce Duensing about this topic. I don’t think anyone really wants to get to the bottom of the crop circle mystery. Maybe someone could do a REAL documentary about it — calling it “Stalking the Stalks.”
July 20th, 2009 at 4:33 am
The ‘woven’ texture of the crop circle is perfectly parallel to what appear to be vehicle tracks that cross the field. Should those tracks be considered part of the phenomena, or are they agnostic to the phenomena? Were they there before, or did they arrive after the discovery of the design?
Although fascinating, it’s for this reason that I don’t regard this particular design as self-evidently paranormal.
It sure is neat looking, though!
July 20th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Gareth,
The “weaving” I was referring to were reports of individual stalks in circles which were apparently woven together (crossed over each other) in a way that would not be done by stomping on boards. I remember seeing photos of this phenomenon in reports given at conferences. Still haven’t seen any explanation for that.
I read that Salla piece. I have long since cased listening to Salla after he gave me a negative review of Project Beta and debated with me online about my sources, which I answered. He inadvertently ended the discussion by stating that people had problems with his method of research because he didn’t “rely on documented evidence or corroborated testimony.” I stated that we had nothing to talk about at that point.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Bruce,
Once again, we agree pretty much completely and you have completed my thoughts on the post!
I think that some answers have been found, namely that a small portion of the circles are most likely due to causes other than people sneaking into fields late at night armed with string and ropes attached to boards. That’s a working hypothesis though, and open to amendment.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Ben,
Thanks for the info.
A “FOG” COVERED THE FIELD!? Seems like it might be one of those cases that gets curiouser in a way that turns most people away very quickly. Multiple witnesses to this would be helpful, and this still does not rule out circle artists/ hoaxers. To me. Yet.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:14 am
autobono,
Those lines in the field are in almost all crop fields and are called “trunk lines.” They are where farm machinery roll through the fields for fertilizing, harvesting, etc. Crop circle researchers use these to get to the formations without damaging more crops.
At least that’s what I think you were referring to.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Greg:
Thanks for the clarification. That’s definitely what I was referring to: I saw that the ‘weave’ of the design runs sympathetically parallel to the trunk lines.
Why would a design of non-human/paranormal origin be dependent on the angle of the pre-drawn trunk lines? If the tractor/combine that drew the trunk lines beforehand had pointed in a slightly different angle, would the design have ended up cocked at that angle, too?
If that’s the case, then whoever made the design seems to be dependent on the trunk lines to provide them with an angle from which to form their design. This points to the design being of prosaic, human origin, because using the trunk lines to orient yourself sounds like a perfectly practical way to start working out such a complex pattern, once within the field.
The time issue is a different problem. Less available time in which to complete the design = more hoaxers/circle artists needed to complete the design; meanwhile, more hoaxers/circle artists = increased chance of detection.
Heck, either way, it’s an achievement!
-A
July 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Greetings Greg et al - Too tempting of a topic and worthy discussion to pass up a comment this morning. I have been visiting the UK crop circles for the past nine summers. My formal education is technical (BS, MS) but my informal education is steeped in philosophy, alternative medicine, unexplained phenomenon, and the like.
Indeed, Whitley’s criteria for “absolute proof” is quite flimsy. Always a good idea to be skeptical, yet open minded. The biggest problem is that the answers to many “mysterious phenomena” are inaccessible to mainstream science. Either their toolboxes are inadequate to detect and compile the pertinent data, or their intellectual filters don’t allow them to ask and explore the most appropriate questions.
On the the crop circle of question. Statistically, East Field receives more crop circles than any other in world. It is also surrounded on its north and south flanks by high hills, allowing for convenient surveillance. Much could be learned if someone were to offer a grant to cover night time filming/observation of this field from two or three vantage points every evening of July and August. However, no one has ever funded such a project.
Still, those individuals that desire to observe a formation being made themselves are usually drawn to the hills overlooking East Field. All amateurs, some have no equipment, others carry some of the latest in low light level technology. I believe the observations by RICKY detailed above and could likely track down a number of others that were on the hills or in the field that night with a similar story.
A slight correction to Greg’s comment, the lines in the field are known as “tram lines” as that is what they call their tractors here. Some formations seem to be laid out in unison with the lines, others don’t seem to have any correlation. Since the tram lines are the only way to access a virgin field without leaving evidence of your intrusion, I have always been more skeptical of the formations whose centers and key elements are on or right near to tram lines. But, that does not constitute proof either way of being man made or “genuine”.
I have seen some very intricate weaves and lays of the grain in the formations over the years. This particular one is uncommon, beautiful, and complex. Often, more telling, is the method of construction. From my own observations in the formation four days ago, the circle was not created based on locating a center point and flattening the wheat. The first crop laid down were alternating 10″ wide lines spaced about 24″ apart. One would run north, over 24″ then another would run south, leaving a two foot wide column of standing wheat running north and south. Still no ring or circle evident, except that the ends of the varying lengths of the 10″ lines created a spherical shape. Next was a two foot wide ring outlining the edge of the circle. For humans it would have been exponentially easier to have reversed those two steps. Then, the 24″ standing wheat was laid down in 24″ sections alternating east and west on top of the 10″ lines. This is what created the “basket” or “waffle” effect. Impossible for humans? No. Extremely difficult? Yes. Especially considering the precision, darkness, and short amount of time.
I am somewhat familiar with the techniques used by the human circle makers and am always fascinated to find details in the construction that can’t be accounted for by their methods. I will admit that I do not know “all” of their methods. I have found examples more compelling that this one this summer as well as seasons past. I occasionally have the chance to investigate and observe commissioned man made formations, and get to compare. Very educational. Some human circle makers are far more capable than most allow to be possible. However, there are still some qualities that man made ones can not replicate.
In 20 years of research and 9 years of visiting the formations first hand, I have yet to find a fool proof “recipe” to tell you if a circle is man made or genuine. I caution you to believe anyone that says they have! Having said that, it is clear that somewhere between 10-90% of the known formations are not man made. This means hundreds or thousands have no known origin. Wow! And, clearly, the man made ones are copying a genuine phenomenon.
Echoing Bruce’s point, if these are all man made, then each summer, for the past 20 years and beyond, a repeating crime spree of vandalism occurs, on a large scale, across the Wiltshire county countryside. Where are the police? What are they to do? Why haven’t they caught even one person in the act, so to speak? While there is a micro tourism effect out here, it is not significant enough to account for a conspiracy to hush the farmers and let the vandalism continue. Also, if they are predominantly man made, the artwork and craftsmanship is unique, beautiful, and astonishing. The mathematical and geometrical knowledge mind blowing. Where are the science, math and especially ART communities on this phenomenon? Awards, showings, and grants ought to be showered on these anonymous artists. Hmmm . . .
Fascinating phenomenon, possibly, with huge implications. Enjoy!
August 11th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Ross,
Thanks for a great post.
Two things.
First, Matthew Williams was arrested for circle-making.
Second, I wonder if you’ve seen the documentary ‘Cirle-makers’. It’s on google video. It’s two hours of interviews with circle makers.
I was hoping you would watch it and comment. Thanks!