Scientists with names often ignore topics that relate to "Bigfoot", UFOs or aliens operating on Earth. According to experts, there are too many fictions around these issues. However, it is difficult to ignore the theme of the Namibian "circles of death" or as they are commonly called "witch circles". Mysterious circles in Namibia were and are. And no one has yet been able to reveal their secret …
Bushman legends
The Circles of Namibia are one of nature's greatest mysteries. If you look at the Namibian desert from a bird's eye view, it looks like the wildest and most desolate place on the planet. Scorched earth, no vegetation, barren plains.
However, if you go lower, you can see that there is still grass in the desert, only now it grows very strangely - in circles.
For centuries, these mysterious circles have been revered by the local Bushmen, who call them the "circles of death."
One of the local myths says that the circles are the footprints of the god Mukuru; the other, that they came from the underground dragon. The monster breathes fiery bubbles, which burst on the surface and burn the vegetation in the form of almost perfect circles. The Bushmen are sure that if you enter such a circle, you will soon die.
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The most desolate place on the planet
The area of the Namibian Desert, which was "chosen" by the "circles of death" - a long strip (2,000 km), stretching south from Angola to the Northwest Cape of South Africa. There is practically no precipitation on this territory. And only thousands of circles gaze intently at the sun, like thousands of unblinking eyes.
The circles are scattered throughout the landscape and they never overlap. The diameter of the magic circles in Namibia ranges from two to 20 meters. The sterile center is in the ring of grass.
“They look like little satellite dishes,” says Florida State University biologist Walter Chinkel. - Alas, we can explain the design of satellite dishes, but we don't know anything about the Namibian rings.
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Despite decades of research, as well as many theories, scientists still have no definitive explanation for the existence of the Namibian phenomenon. To this day, the "circles of death" remain one of nature's greatest mysteries. Scientists have not yet been able to confirm any of the existing theories.
The researchers ruled out the poisoning of the earth by toxic substances that emit local plants and soil contamination with radioactive materials. They also rejected the idea that the circles were created by ostriches basking in the dust.
“I love the UFO theory more than others, because it is the one that explains the origin of the spots better than others,” says Don Cowen, professor, director of the Center for Ecology and Genomics at the University of Pretoria (South Africa), laughing.
The scientist jokes, but the fact remains. There is still no definitive explanation for this strange phenomenon.
“Every scientist sees the solution in terms of their own particular area of expertise,” Don Cowen continues. - Biologists say that the circles are created by termites; plant physiology researchers think that this is some kind of adaptation, but chemists say that the circles are the result of toxic poisoning by underground gases …
Termites-agrarians
And yet, if there were a reward for the time spent studying magic circles, the prize would undoubtedly go to the ecologist from the University of Hamburg (Germany) Norbert Jürgens. The researcher made 40 expeditions to the area and collected samples from 1200 mysterious circles. Exploring the soil, vegetation and organisms that are inherent in the ecosystem, Jurgens found only one common component - these are termites. Ants or the remains of their vital activity, he said. found in almost all circles.
According to Jurgens' theory, termites feed on plant roots. They kill them so that the roots do not absorb moisture. However, termites do not destroy all plants. They leave a kind of empty circles lined with grass. Such "bowls" allow termites to conserve soil water and survive during the dry season.
“Insects create a kind of plantation and use it,” Yurgens says confidently.
After the publication of his research, many began to say that the riddle of the Namibian circles was solved, but the theory was immediately criticized.
Questions remain
“Jürgens never answered the question of whether termites are a cause or a consequence of magic circles,” says Florida State University biologist Walter Chinkel. - Many researchers have not found any termites on the territory of the circles. More like the truth, the plants themselves have learned to function as a single organism. In conditions of lack of water and nutrients, plants compete with each other and are forced to "organize" themselves far from other plants. Perhaps this is how this amazing ecosystem is created? Alas, at the moment, field research is not able to solve this problem. So this is not the end of the history of the "circles of death" …