» Crop Circlesby Heidi Keller - February 5, 2004 |
Crop circles are those mysterious formations that appear on plantations or fields and that some love to say that are all faked, others love to say they're all true and others still say that among the fake ones there's the real thing as well.
In this article you can find information about all these points of view, but the final solution to this mystery is still far from being found.
Young Or Old "Phenomenon"?
Crop circles are strange circular or elliptical patterns that can be simply a group of circles one inside the other or be more complex, like those who look like fractals.
Although this subject only recently started to be talked about on the media, which gives a first impression that these formations started to appear (or be made) only in the last 25 years, the cereologists (those who study this matter) say it's quite old and date the first reports back to the 17th century (!).
In spite of the most famous formations have appeared in England (more precisely in the Wiltshire region), they have also appeared throughout Europe and even in Australia.
It seems that through time there was an increase in the complexity of the formations. For example, the first crop circles to call attention of the media appeared in the
1970s and were only simple circles and lines, then the 1980s ones showed patters similar to Celtic crosses or motives. The
1990s ones showed fractal-like patterns like the Julia fractal pattern in the first image on this article.
The Real Thing?
The moderate cereologists use to mention that for some time after the circles are formed there's a certain level of radiation and electro-magnetic interference which causes malfunction of cell phones, cameras and such. This may be caused by the "plasma-vortex phenomenon", which was a theory created by them to try to explain the formations and doesn't have a proper explanation yet.
Also they say that if you compare the crop of a true circle with that of a fake one, you can find clear evidencies that certain circles aren't made by humans.
For example, the crops of the real circles are heated and bent in a way that in normal conditions would make them break. Even modified like that, the crops of the real circles can still get back to their former position and grow up.
They point out that the fake circles aren't as well done as the real ones, which have a slightly elliptical shape that can't be faked through the use of apparels.
The moderate believers are more "down to earth" and prefer not to attribute these formations to some group of paranormal beings, although some of them mention that there were sightings of UFO in the area of those circles.
Other interesting point about the "real circles" is that they appear in crossing points along the Earth's electromagnetic energy currents and in Europe they may appear nearby some prehistoric site. Or so the cereologists say...
The Skeptics Attack The Hoaxers!
The year of 1992 was one of the most eventful of the crop circle history. Hundreds of circles appeared not only in Europe and the main ones, those who appeared in England were all made by two old farmers: Doug and Dave...Or so the skeptics state....
Certain believers talk even about a conspiracy of the British Ministry of Defense and the CIA to cause confusion among the public so that they won't know the truth about this and Doug and Dave may have been paid to claim the authorship of certain circles that appeared since the late
1970s.
After their fame, faking a crop circle (or claiming authorship of one) became a hobby to several people in England and in other parts of the world, which makes things difficult for those who are trying to know if "the hole is deeper".
Now back to the skeptics, who call the people who research this matters "croppies" in a derisive way, deny that this phenomenon is possible in all ways. And not without making sense.
They point out that the hoaxers (including here the cereologists) use all kinds of parafernalia to make the circles, including tractors, rope-and-plank devices, garden rollers, etc, and obviously all these apparels leave clear marks on the crops.
Now when the cereologists mention bent crops, the skeptics say that from mid-May to early August (in the Northern hemisphere) the crops are green and pliable, which make them difficult to break.
They note that the frequency of crop circles increased in the 1980s because of the attention of the media and that as much as the media coverage grew, the circles started to appear not only in England but throughout the world and in a greater quantity.
Also the complex patters of the late years are a proof to the skeptics that the circle makers are merely sophisticating their hoaxes and the intelligence behind all of them is perfectly human (the fractal patters are an example of it).
And if they are a natural phenomenon or something made by beings from another world, why can't these formations
ever be really witnessed, recorded or tested?
Thing is that the truth may be out there, but is far from being reached by the majority...
Next month, the subject is another hoax (or secret truth) that has been much talked on the internet and that is even harder to describe. History, science, superstition, political intrigue, and even aliens and extrasensorial powers are part of it, so don't miss the next article! ;)
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