51 lines
2.8 KiB
Plaintext
51 lines
2.8 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: CIRCLE EXPLAINATION FILE: UFO1223
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LONDON (UPI) -- International experts said the mysterious crop circles
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appearing in Britain and around the world are the work of Mother Nature, not
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aliens from outer space or pranksters, according to a report published
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Sunday.
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The newspaper Independent on Sunday said speakers at the first
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international conference in Oxford on the phenomena of crop circles said
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weather and topography cause the flattened circles which suddenly appear in
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fields.
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'They seem to form in conditions of warm days and cold nights when a
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temperature inversion is established,' said Terence Meaden, head of Britain's
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Tornado and Storm Research Organizaion.
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Meaden was one of 150 scientists and UFO enthusiasts at the Circles Effect
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Phenomena Conference. Several other experts put forth other meteorological
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and topographical theories on the causes of the mysterious circles.
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The circles, nearly perfectly round and ranging from a few yards wide to
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half the length of a football field, appear overnight during the crop-growing
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season. Sometimes their arrival is accompanied by noises and lights, witnesses
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have said.
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More than 200 have been sighted in Britain this year, most in English corn
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fields, the newspaper said. Their unexplained appearances and varied patterns
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have led to a variety of popular theories. UFO fans offered them as proof of
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extraterrestrial landings a decade ago. Others said drunken farmers or
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pranksters were to blame.
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But Mead and the other scientists said they believed the cause was much
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more down to earth. Meaden said the circles form when a layer of cool air
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becomes trapped under warmer air.
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A 'trailing vortex' develops in the form of a column of rapidly spinning
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air, Meaden said. When the vortex settles in a field, it sweeps out a ring of
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damage as it expands.
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John Snow, a professor at Purdue University in Indiana and Tokio Kikuchi
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of Kochi University in Tokyo said that the humming and bright lights witnesses
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report are the product of electrical charges built up by the friction inside
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the air columns.
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The mystery surrounding the circles encouraged some scientists to become
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crop circle experts and has drawn hundreds of circle spotters to tour
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farmlands. Farmers have complained of trampled crops left by the spotters.
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The circles were mentioned in 17th century accounts and have been found in
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the United States, France, Australia and Japan as well as in Britain. England
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may have more of the circles because of the combination of the weather fronts
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and land features, experts said.
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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