Crop Circles - A Deeper Look
By Debra Bates

Crop Circles are not a modern day phenomenon. They have been around as early as 1648 and probably thousands of years prior to that. In that specific year, a book was published called The Mowing Devil, describing circular formation in the wheat fields of Hertfordshire, England. It showed an engraving of a circle in a wheatfield with a devilish image flattening the wheat. The book also mentioned that the cattle would not go anywhere near the wheat. Not much was documented after that until 1966 with the first modern occurrence. In 1980 the phenomenon made a strong re-emergence starting with singular circle formation in the wheat fields of Wiltshire and Warminster, England. These locations are also curiously associated with ancient structures, such as Stonehenge and Silbury Hill. Dowsers have found that they occur mostly on major ley lines. In 1981 the singular formations multiplied into triple circles and in 1982 into quintuplets. In the 80's the number of circles averaged out to approximately 300 per year and 500 in the 90's. There were a good number of hoax circles, which obviously accounted for the large numbers. Since 1991 new and more complex circles, also termed "pictograms", appear each day at a phenomenal rate. The term pictogram can be used to describe these anomalies since many complex symbols, such as swastikas, Celtic crosses, spider webs, The Mandelbrot set (mathematical design symbolizing "order from chaos"), insect like designs, and ancient Hebrew characters, have appeared in wheat fields. To date, an estimated 9,000 circles have been documented.

Scientific Characteristics of Genuine Formations
     Crop circles have been of the most complex designs in England, but circular formations are not limited to the UK. Circles have been seen in Japan, Canada, the US, Russia, and Australia. Legitimate circles are confirmed by certain characteristics. Dowsing rod effects occur as well as camera problems, with expensive television cameras being rendered useless by a circle's energy. There is a changed cellular structure within the wheat and shafts appear burnt from above the ground. Normally wheat has one seed, but the affected wheat showed multiple seeds which were genetically altered (a "supposed impossibility" as stated by Dr. W. C. Levengood a microbiologist and crop circle researcher). He states that the "nodes are blown open which can only be by a very hot, rapid rate as if micro waved." The fragrance of malt has also been noticed as if the plants were cooked from the inside. The stalks of wheat are bent 1" above the soil, with no signs of damage with the wheat continuing to grow after having been bent. The soil chemistry also changes, containing radioactive isotopes that are not produced in nature. The ground shows evidence of being exposed to radiation. The soil inside the circle is dry and parched, even if the surrounding area is drenched with water. Freddy Silva, a noted crop circle researcher and author of the book Secrets in the Fields, states that there is a "strange outcome to the genuine circles, with the next year yielding better crops and fewer insects."
     Colin Andrews has discovered that a "trilling, chirping, or humming sound" usually occurs before a formation, which is coupled by a complete silence in nature. Curiously, this "silence" has also been described when people have been witness to a UFO, which is closer to the ground than most. Most circles are formed during the night, although some have been formed at dusk or dawn. Silva suggests the benevolent nature of the intelligence behind the phenomenon in that they are formed when most people are asleep and not in contact with the circles, since soon afterward, people who enter them have experienced strong physical effects.

Physical Effects
     The strongest effects occur within a 2-3 hour time frame of the actual formation. Severe dizziness, nausea, and headaches are the most notable symptoms. Some, however, report feelings of peacefulness, and healings. Another parallel with ghost hunting is the realization that the more people that are present, there is less chance of something occurring. Too many people on a ghost investigation tend to "chase" the entity into hiding. Lucy Pringle, in her chapter "Headaches or Healing" in The Crop Circle Enigma states that "A number of people come quietly out of a circle with a look of awe and humility: a far cry from the person who went in! For this reason I would like to say that the likelihood of this occurring would be greatly, if not completely reduced, if with a group of people. There would be too many different energies present."
     Concerning animals, one researcher allowed his dog to enter a newly formed circle. The dog became violently ill and vomited for about an hour afterward. Sheep in the area go into a frenzy. Many people have noted a trilling sound while sitting in a genuine circle, describing the sound as "intense, hypnotic, and penetrating". The noise also moved around within the established circle as if it was guided by some sort of intelligence. Some have experienced a sense of "missing time" while inside. Interestingly, some people within the circle at the same time did not hear the sound, but those with more developed psychic natures heard it.
     Some area psychics began to pick up messages from some intelligence associated with the circles, predicting the very next formation; it's design and location. Sure enough, their predictions came true. This leads us to some other fascinating occurrences surrounding this phenomenon.

Mysterious Intelligence
     There is indeed an intelligence behind this phenomenon. One afternoon in 1986, crop circle photographer, Busty Taylor, was flying solo over an open field. He thought in his head, silently, "Celtic Cross, I'd like to see a Celtic Cross". He never uttered a word. The very next morning, while flying over the same patch of field was...a Celtic cross! A group of six individuals who sat within a circle, said, "make us a circle". The next day a new circle was formed just yards away from the one they were in the day before.
     This intelligence also seems to possess a mischievous quality. John Mitchell, in the book The Crop Circle Enigma, states that the circle maker's response to human ideas about them, "may take on a mischievous form, as thought the phenomenon delights in confounding its investigators and upsetting their theories, More than once, the scientists have had to abandon hypotheses when their enunciation was immediately followed by evidence which refuted them." If the scientists came to the conclusion that the phenomenon had to be natural due to the fact that they were always on flat stretches of ground, the very next day one would appear on the side of a hill. When they concluded that the circles were always made by something hovering from above the ground, the next day and afterward, crop circles were seen directly underneath power lines. The Plasma Vortex theory, where it was proposed that the swirling of plasma created the circles, was disproved when a series of boxes appeared on a wheatfield, completely destroying that line of scientific reasoning. The intelligence behind the phenomenon has a strong link between circle scientists and observers. As the excitement in the circles grew, so did the amount of formations. Some people have reported strange psychic experiences after witnessing UFOs and the glowing balls of light associated with the formation of circles.

Strange Paranormal Events
     An odd phenomenon tends to happen to people who start to study the paranormal, UFOs, and Crop Circles intensively, in which a person's whole life begins to be affected by the objects of study. John Mitchell states "A remarkable and disturbing effect of the UFO phenomenon is its tendency to 'home in' on its researchers." This effect is elaborated on in John Keel's book, Operation Trojan Horse. Mitchell highly recommends this book for those interested in UFOs and crop circles as it warns the reader of the odd experiences "which force their way into the lives of all who inquire into such subjects". One person who observed a glowing orb in the sky had immediately undergone a personality change. Such changes have also been noted along ancient sites. Severe personality changes are occurring as you read this article in the Old City of Jerusalem, where approximately 40 tourists per month of every race and nationality suddenly take on the personalities of biblical characters. Normal, well-educated, people have dressed in the bed linens from their hotels and began preaching on the city's streets. These people are usually transported to local hospitals that are constantly dealing with this phenomenon, called, "The Jerusalem Syndrome". After approximately a week, the affected people revert back to their normal personalities and have no recollection of what happened. This phenomenon is definitely on the increase and area hospitals are having a difficult time caring for such a numerous amount of people. UFOs, the paranormal, crop circles, and religious "signs and wonders" have a very strong link in the circumstances of their appearances and some effects on the observers and participants.
     Poltergeist-like happenings seem to occur in the homes of researchers of such phenomenon.
Mitchell states, " When Keel began his professional UFO studies in 1966, he was immediately caught up in a world of strange lights, sounds and smells, spirit messages, unearthly beings and ominous coincidences. He felt at first that he was losing his sanity. Among the UFO contactees he studied, some had indeed been driven mad, others had become, at least for a time, inspired prophets, and in extreme cases the UFO messages had caused their recipients to found cults and millennial movements which often led to the destruction of themselves and their followers."
     Colin Andrews, one of the original crop circle researchers, had the strange experiences follow him home. In 1986 he had brought home a soil sample from a site in England called Wantage. His house was plagued by poltergeist like activities and accidents. Colin's wife said that she strongly felt that a malevolent presence was in their household. He had locked the soil sample up in a strongly secure place. When he went to retrieve it the next day, it was gone. None of the alarms on the guarded area went off, nor was there any sign of tampering.
     As in sites that are haunted by an entity, the phenomenon of malfunctioning cameras, expensive equipment, drained batteries, and highly reactive EMF meters is commonplace within genuine circles.

Music and Design
     Professor Gerald Hawkins made the connection between his Euclidian Geometry theorems, which produce diatonic ratios, linking crop circles with the notes on a musical scale. Musical notes are produced by sound vibrations and they in turn create different shapes. A low frequency of sound will produce a simple circle, while an increase in frequency will produce concentric rings around the circle which multiply as the frequency increases. Each year the crop circles or pictograms become more and more complex. Soon after Hawkins' discovery, crop circles began to emerge that would confirm his theories. It is very interesting to note that NASA has found that the frequency of the earth's "hum" has also increased over the last few decades.
     Music and it's effects on plants were studied years ago. For those old enough to remember the days where people would play classical music to their plants, those people were really onto something. Classical music had bent the plant stems toward the source of the music, while heavy metal music bent the stems away! Freddy Silva, in his book, Secrets in the Fields, mentions the fact that Ravi Shankar's sitar music had bent the stalks at an angle that most closely resembled the bends in the wheat from crop circles.
     As the researchers come closer to the answers, newer and deeper questions arise. Will we ever find out the answers in our lifetime? We can only hope for now.

Resources:
The Crop Circular Website: http://home.clara.net/lovely
Truefax: http://www.trufax.org
The Crop Circle Enigma, edited by Ralph Noyes
Secrets in the Fields, Freddy Silva
Operation Trojan Horse, John Keel