textfiles/ufo/UFOBBS/2000/2181.ufo

SUBJECT: The Changing Face of the English Crop Circles       FILE: UFO2181
By George Wingfield



The summer of 1991 was undoubtedly the Golden Age of  the English crop
circles.  There seemed to be no stopping them, and a series of staggering
geometric shapes was evolving rapidly throughout the season culminating
in such masterpieces as the great Mandelbrot.  The circles had a huge and
enthusiastic following throughout that summer comprising scientists,
researchers of the paranormal and New Agers alike.  The leading thinkers in
each of these camps were all finding in the circles ample confirmation of
their non-conventional origin and the unmistakable signs of design and
purpose.  Only the British press held back with reservation, unsure of how to
treat the strange phenomenon.  Large sums of money were spent on surveillance
and research of one kind or another and such was the confidence in the
phenomenon that no one could have foreseen the doubt and paranoia which
would replace it during the following year.

What brought about this unfortunate change in perception in 1992 was not so
much a well-publicized hoaxing scam (which in retrospect had very little
credibility) as the increasing indication throughout 1991 that the crop
circles were the product of some form of intelligence.  That conclusion, by
the time of the appearance of the Barbury Castle formation, had become quite
irresistible.  For those seeking a solution in terms of a natural phenomenon
there was nowhere left to go.  The remaining question left was whether the
intelligence involved was human or non-human in origin.

For some, the possibility of non-human intelligence comes neither as a
surprise nor as a threat to their particular world-view.  The intelligence
is not necessarily extra-terrestrial and nor is it necessarily even physical.
Such intelligence in many guises from poltergeists to angels and from nature
spirits to spirits of the dead, or even the collective human unconscious
itself, has always been with us as an expression of the metaphysical
interaction with the physical world throughout our history.
Just because modern western science has banished such concepts it does not
mean that they have gone away or that they can be neatly explained in terms
of the laws of physics.

But for others, the interpretation of non-human intelligence was met with
the objection:  "You are asking me to think the unthinkable!"   Rather than
draw the obvious conclusion, they would shy away and cling to the entirely
insupportable belief that all the circles must be manmade.  Some of those who
had sought a natural phenomenon now desperately strove to maintain a highly
implausible combined explanation.  Dr. Terence Meaden attempted to maintain
this middle path, to the effect that simple and ringed circles were "genuine"
and pictograms and complex circles (which do not fit his plasma vortex
theory) were "hoaxes."  Even apart from the fact that simple circles on
their own have become quite a rarity, such a proposition cannot be seriously
entertained.

Because of such blinkered thinking, and because of various claims of hoaxing
(some justified), the circles have lost their innocence and 1992 has been a
year of doubt and suspicion.  The circles phenomenon itself has not changed
that much but we, the audience, have.  What has become abundantly plain is
that no one currently has any 100% fool-proof method of distinguishing the
genuine article from the cleverly made fake.  Sometimes we can be nearly
certain that we have the real thing if we are lucky enough to find a virgin
formation.  We could point to a dozen telling characteristics that were
indicators of true circles.  But 100% certainty of what really occurred
during an unwitnessed event is, as I have said before, impossible.  If one
goes to examine a circle just a day or two after its arrivals, visual
assessment will probably be of little value since it will already have been
trampled by dozens of visitors.

If we find that there is no definite "litmus test" for true circles, we will
be forced once more to listen to our own intuition, or else to take far
greater notice of the downing results which perhaps amounts to the same
thing.  The fact that dowsers are not infallible does not mean one should
abandon such methods; scientists too make mistakes and this does not cause
us to abandon science.  All of us can be deceived or mistaken and such
failure should not cause us to lose heart.  We have here a real phenomenon of
extreme significance and the temporary confusion in 1992 should never cause
us to lose sight of this.

Those who would have one believe that every crop formation is manmade have
obviously never spent much time in the circles or engaged in active research.
There is a host of effects of a quite extraordinary but intermittent nature
that leave the investigators bewildered but convinced that intangible forces,
or energies, are at work even long after the circle has formed.  Apart from a
whole catalogue of sightings of strange lights and luminous objects above the
circles, or even down in the corn, there have been many reports of anomalous
noises and of the anomalous, but inconsistent, behavior of cameras and
scientific measuring instruments used in the circles.  Some of these luminous
objects have been recorded on videotape and the sounds associated with the
circles have also been recorded.  Preliminary results of scientific testing
done in 1991 (and being continued in 1992) shows organic changes to the crop
which is consistent with a high temperature, of perhaps between 120 dg. and
220 dg. C, having acted for just a microsecond or two.  Whether this is
microwave radiation or some other agency is not clear.  Nor does it explain
the bizarre shapes that are being produced in the fields.

Neither does the suggested manmade origin of the formations, whether by
conventional manual means or by "star wars" high technology, explain the
quite extraordinary effects which the circles have had on people.  These can
be divided into a range of physiological effects, for which there is
insufficient space for discussion here, and also what we may call spiritual
effects that have evidently changed many people's lives.  It is not too much
of an exaggeration to say that the pursuit of the crop circles has taken on
the aspect a religious following for many people.

Given the prevailing atmosphere of doubt and suspicion I consider myself
lucky to have had the chance to examine several of the 1992 formations when
they were completely fresh.  One such was the magnificent triplet at Overtown
Farm, just a mile north of Barbury Castle, which formed on June 4th.  The
barley in these three circles was laid with a perfection that left little
doubt as to their authenticity.  Two of these circles sported long curling
tails terminating in small (1.5 metre) circles at the center of which were
standing tufts of just two or three plants.  Beside one of the tailed circles
was the new "signature" of 1992, an alpha or symbolic fish design similar to
that of the early Christians, was about 14 feet long.  This appeared with
several of the new formations in that part of Wiltshire.

Besides this curious signature and a noticeable predilection for triplets,
several other themes were also apparent in the 1992 circles.  Tailed circles,
first seen at Cheesefoot Head in 1989 but largely absent in 1990 and 1991,
were often seen this year.  Some of these gave a distinct impression of a
seed with a shoot coming out of it.  sometimes the tails developed into long
curving paths where the circle making agency had swept through the crop, in
one case crossing over itself.  Certainly the total number of formations in
1992 is comparable with the 1990 and 1991 totals.

Other themes included circles with plain crosses attached, similar to the
'female' sign or the astrological sign for Venus.  Dumb-bells and pictograms
similar to those seen in 1990 and 1991 were also found in many parts of the
country.  These sometimes embodied spirals and crescents which were never
previously seen.  One huge pictogram at Hyden Hill two miles south of East
Meon in Hampshire displayed some of the unmistakable characteristics of the
1990 pictograms at Pepperbox Hill and Hazeley Farm fields (otherwise known as
the Gallops Pictogram of 4/8/90). At its centre was a large ring bisected by
a straight pathway on either side of which were single boxes parallel to this
axis and within the ring; at either end of the pathway, outside the ring were
circles of equal size.  This format later developed in to the insectograms of
1991.

The 1992 pictogram of this shape was examined by several seasoned
cereologists who gave it their blessing.  Richard Andrews dowsed the
formation and said that he was confident of its authenticity.  This casts
an interesting light on the claims of Doug & Dave (now retired) who
previously laid claim to authorship of these earlier formations but whose
highly questionable claims appear to have shrunk even more of late.

The Cereologist's Manmade Circle Making Competition at West Wycombe was held
in mid-season.  Although it was anticipated that it would never provide
conclusive answers, it certainly taught us two things;  that impressive
geometric formations can be produced at night by diligent fakers and that
in the past, many of us have too readily accepted as "genuine" circles which
could have been hoaxed;  and that man-made circles generally lack the flow
which we usually see in the genuine formations--there is a fluidity to this
flow which sweeps the plants with it in a way that was not displayed in the
man-made circles at West Wycombe.

Interestingly, the more successful competitors used substantial amounts of
equipment to scribe their pictograms and bridge the gap when climbing into
isolated parts of the design they were making.  At least half the teams
managed to leave behind small items after they had finished.  And in every
case the flattened crop in the manmade circles was broken or buckled, which
is not generally the case in "genuine" formations.

Even without these insights it was apparent that there were several hoaxed
formations being made in the cornfields during the circle season of 1992.
No one can seriously deny this.  Some of the more spectacular hoaxes of 1992
will soon be revealed in THE CIRCULAR together with photographs of their
creators.  However this hoaxing does not in any way vindicate the heavy-
handed campaign, which is currently pursued by one particular group, and
invisibly encouraged, to say the least, by some people close to government,
to rubbish the circles phenomenon as a whole.

If one set out to run a successful campaign to discredit the circles
phenomenon, how would one best proceed?  Governments at war have, in the
past, counterfeited large quantities of their enemy's currency in order to
devalue and ruin the economy based upon that currency.  The same strategy
might be used against the circles by whoever is running such a disinformation
campaign.  Some would interpret the following happenings in this light.

On July 9th a vast formation, 440 ft long, shaped like a fully extended snail
with curious L-shaped eyestalks appeared after a misty night in the
celebrated East Field at Alton Barnes.  Despite the fact that several groups
had been watching the field no one saw people making this formation.
Nevertheless, such was the heightened state of paranoia that prevailed, all
sorts of accusations were made and anyone in the vicinity that night was
regarded by some, at least, with deep suspicion.  One absurd and malicious
accusation was that farmer Tim Carson had commissioned hoaxing of the "Snail"
for financial motives.

Was the "Snail" genuine or a fake?  There were many indications that it was
indeed the real thing.  Distinctive dowsable patterns were found and the
initial close examination gave no suggestion of hoaxing.  Many people
reported strong energies in different parts of this bizarre formation.
Fifteen days later a second snail appeared 2 miles away at Stanton St.
Bernard.  This was much rougher, apparently did not dowse, and was soon
condemned as a hoax.  A third huge snail appeared on July 29 near Pewsey,
and a fourth at Manningford Bohune some days later.  These too were
considered to be extremely dubious.

The very idea of a huge snail-shaped agriglyph is outrageous.  Surely all
such formations must be hoaxes?  It is too early to make a full assessment
of the snail conundrum but the phenomenon continues to stretch and test us
and the "Snails," true or false, are all part of the extraordinary crop
circle enigma.  Certainly there were some very elaborate hoaxes during 1992.
Two of these, at Upton Lovell near Warminster and at Froxfield near
Marlborough, were specifically aimed at deceiving CCCS and discrediting leading
circles researchers.  However these were detected as fakes by CCCS, who are
aware who is responsible, and this may have forestalled the anticipated
debunking article in popular newspapers which the circle fakers no doubt had
intended to publish.

Snails apart, the quickening pace of the phenomenon as the 1992 harvest
approached (especially in the usual area of mid-Wiltshire with several new
formations reported every day) began to test even the most skeptical.  Their
thesis rests of an invisible army of unseen hoaxers -- quite apart from the
small number of actual hoaxers -- who are never caught and never acknowledged
and who never abandon their formations half-made.  In July and August
considerable numbers of circle enthusiasts gathered and watched night after
night.

What they sometimes did see near Alton Barnes and Milk Hill were luminous
orange globes low over the fields and which, on at least one occasion,
descended into the crop.  What these objects -- these UFOs -- are, we
simply do not know but they appear to move and behave in a purposive manner.
Whatever they turn out to be, it seems more likely that they are progenitors
of the circles and pictograms.

On August 17th the final mystery of 1992 was sprung on us in a wheat field
close to Silbury Hill.  There was found a large ring, in the centre of which
was a quandranted circle like the ancient swastika.  On the ring were eight
devices that included many of the symbols which we had seen singly in the
fields earlier.  There was a crescent, a circle with antler-like horns, a
quincunx (with only three satellites), a "hand of God," a ring with a key,
a heart (?) and a dumbbell.  The eight devices on the ring were distorted
beyond recognition as it had come down in the position of a water trough
which stood in the field from the time when it had been a pasture.  This
curious detail and other factors gave indication that this formation was
not of manmade origin.

Magnificent from the air, the new prodigy, known facetiously by some as the
"Happy Eater Cosmic Mega-Menu," immediately posed all sorts of questions.
It appeared that despite the determined campaign to rubbish the circles and
the often expressed expectation that they would decline or stop, the
phenomenon stays very much with us and will most likely reappear in 1993.

George Wingfield
August 1992.


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