6.7 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crop circle | 5/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00 | kb-cron |
Since becoming the focus of widespread media attention in the 1980s, crop circles have been the subject of speculation by various paranormal, ufological, and anomalistic investigators, ranging from proposals that they were created by bizarre meteorological phenomena to messages from extraterrestrial beings. There has also been speculation that crop circles have a relation to ley lines. Some paranormal advocates think that crop circles are caused by ball lightning and that the patterns are so complex that they have to be controlled by some entity. Some proposed entities are Gaia asking to stop global warming and human pollution, God, supernatural beings (for example Indian devas), the collective minds of humanity through a proposed "quantum field", and extraterrestrial beings. Responding to local beliefs that "extraterrestrial beings" in UFOs were responsible for crop circles appearing, the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) described crop circles as "man-made". Thomas Djamaluddin, research professor of astronomy and astrophysics at LAPAN stated, "We have come to agree that this 'thing' cannot be scientifically proven." Among others, paranormal enthusiasts, ufologists, and anomalistic investigators have offered hypothetical explanations that have been criticised as pseudoscientific by sceptical groups and scientists, including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. No credible evidence of extraterrestrial origin has been presented.
==== Changes to crops ==== A small number of scientists (physicist Eltjo Haselhoff, the late biophysicist William Levengood) have claimed to observe differences between the crops inside the circles and outside them, citing this as evidence they were not man made. Levengood published papers in journal Physiologia Plantarum in 1994 and 1999. In his 1994 paper he found that certain deformities in the grain inside the circles were correlated to the position of the grain inside the circle. In 1996, Joe Nickell objected that correlation is not causation, raising several objections to Levengood's methods and assumptions, and said, "Until his work is independently replicated by qualified scientists doing 'double-blind' studies and otherwise following stringent scientific protocols, there seems no need to take seriously the many dubious claims that Levengood makes, including his similar ones involving plants at alleged 'cattle mutilation' sites." Nickell also criticised Levengood for using circular logic, stating: "There is, in fact, no satisfactory evidence that a single 'genuine' (i.e., vortex-produced) crop-circle exists, so Levengood’s reasoning is circular: Although there are no guaranteed genuine formations on which to conduct research, the research supposedly proves the genuineness of the formations." Advocates of non-human causes discount on-site evidence of human involvement as attempts to discredit the phenomena. When Ridley wrote negative articles in newspapers, he was accused of spreading "government disinformation" and of working for the UK military intelligence service MI5. Ridley responded by noting that many "cereologists" make good livings from selling books and providing high-priced personal tours through crop fields, and he claimed that they have vested interests in rejecting what is by far the most likely explanation for the circles.
== Related art == Patterns similar to crop circles can also be made in snow, by using skis, snow shoes or just walking with ordinary shoes. Images can be made in forests by cutting trees, especially in areas with snow. Celebrating the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, a 360 m (390 yd) tall stylised image of an Olympic torch runner was made in a forest close to one of the arenas.
== Folklore ==
Researchers of crop circles have linked modern crop circles to old folkloric tales to support the claim that they are not artificially produced. Crop circles are culture dependent: they appear mostly in developed and secularised Western countries where people are receptive to New Age beliefs, including Japan, but they do not appear at all in other zones, such as Muslim countries. Fungi can cause circular areas of crop to die, probably the origin of tales of "fairie rings". Tales also mention balls of light many times but never in relation to crop circles. A 17th-century English woodcut called the Mowing-Devil depicts the devil with a scythe mowing (cutting) a circular design in a field of oats. The pamphlet containing the image states that the farmer, disgusted at the wage demanded by his mower for his work, insisted that he would rather have "the devil himself" perform the task. Crop circle researcher Jim Schnabel does not consider this to be a historical precedent for crop circles because the stalks were cut down, not bent. The circular form indicated to the farmer that it had been caused by the devil. In the 1948 German story Die zwölf Schwäne (The Twelve Swans), a farmer every morning finds a circular ring of flattened grain in his field. After several attempts, his son sees twelve princesses disguised as swans, who take off their disguises and dance in the field. Crop rings produced by fungi may have inspired such tales, since folklore considers that these rings are created by dancing wolves or fairies.
== See also ==
== Explanatory notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading == Delgado, Pat & Andrews, Colin (1989). Circular Evidence. London: Guild. ISBN 978-0-933999-95-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Dunning, Brian (22 August 2007). "Skeptoid #62: Crop Circle Jerks". Skeptoid. Glickman, Michael (2009). Crop Circles: The Bones of God. Frog Books. ISBN 978-1-58394-228-4. Noyes, Ralph, ed. (1990). The Crop Circle Enigma: Grounding the Phenomenon in Science, Culture and Metaphysics. Bath: Gateway Books. ISBN 0-946551-66-9. Schnabel, Jim (1993). Round in Circles: Physicists, Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-017952-6. Taylor, Richard (2010). "The crop circle evolves". Nature. 465 (7299): 693. Bibcode:2010Natur.465..693T. doi:10.1038/465693a. Taylor, Suzanne (2011). What On Earth? Inside the Crop Circle Mystery (DVD 81-minute feature). UBC. ASIN B00468JOFE.
== External links ==
Robin, Jean-Baptiste (2012). Crop Circles for large orchestra. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. "Temporary Temples". temporarytemples.co.uk. Website with pictures, since 1994, of crop circles in the UK. The Beautiful World of Crop Circles. YouTube. 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.