There are some very intriguing Army helicopter-BOL stories. I’m aware of several where there was clear and direct interest in the formations. Of course, skeptics maintain that it was just the guys in the copters having a look for themselves out of curiosity. In some cases that could very well be true. They may just be as curious as the research community is. But the collective body of evidence suggests a far more official undertaking and interest.

I realize I’m a little late in responding, but the most intriguing thing about the BOLs that I’ve seen is when goverment heliocopters have actually emerged on the scene to chase them down. It is very likely that the UK (and most likely U.S. as well) goverment knows a lot more than it lets on to the public, and the attempt to get Colin Andrews to disseminate disinformation intentionally makes me convinced of that.

There were rumors flying around a few years ago about “the government” being behind Crop Circles. Could it be done? Maybe. But, as you note, the problem is the older reports from decades (and sometimes centuries) ago. Maybe there are several things going on.

The balls of light are indeed intriguing. In fact, at a private level if not a public level, certain human makers of circles are privately convinced that they are being guided to make the “faked” ones.

I know of several such people who have had unusual experiences in circles that they have made - balls of light, “shadow people”, missing time, etc.

Though with the crop circles, what I always found the most interesting were the reports of balls of light seen around the formations, and the active interest that the UK government has shown in the circles.

Ironically, that happened in the UK to a well-known human circle maker. He envisaged creating a formation in a particular pattern, told no-one, and then it appeared.

He felt (and still does) that the human makers are themselves unconsciously guided by “something” to make these formations.