Apparently, the first modern circle appeared on January 19, 1966 near Tully (Queensland, Australia).
Tractor driver George Pedley was driving a tractor through a neighbor's sugarcane field when he saw a "spaceship" flying off from Khorshu Lshun, a small swamp about 30 yards from the tractor. The ship was bluish gray and was approximately 25 feet wide and 9 feet high. “He rose vertically upward, while rotating at a monstrous speed. Having reached a height of 60 feet, the ship froze, sank slightly, and then again sharply rushed up in a northwest direction, gaining fantastic speed. In a few seconds he disappeared from sight. " When Pedley found the place from which the ship had taken off, he saw a circle 30 feet in diameter, within this circle the cane trunks “without exception were all bent or broken so that they were below the surface of the water,while the reed was twisted, as if a monstrous rotational force acted on it. Two more circles were discovered not far from the swamp, on their territory the plants were pulled out of the moist soil by roots. This all happened shortly before the reports of mass UFO sightings began to spread and, as a result, many people became interested in this phenomenon. In parallel with the UFO phenomenon, there has always been a crop circle phenomenon. In parallel with the UFO phenomenon, there has always been a crop circle phenomenon. In parallel with the UFO phenomenon, there has always been a crop circle phenomenon.
In southern England, this phenomenon was recorded only in August 1980. One morning, Wiltshire farmer John Scull discovered an unusual circle in one of his oat fields: the circle was about 60 feet in diameter and appeared to have appeared under the influence of some kind of vortex. When a report about this event appeared in local newspapers, many local amateur ufologists became interested in it. Very soon the whole district was only talking about giant aircraft landing on the fields of southern England.
More and more unusual circles appeared in the fields of Wiltshire and Hampshire every year. It must be said that there are many ancient monuments in this area, including Avebury, Silbury Hill and Stonehenge. In some years, up to 50 circles were discovered - and each time there were no witnesses of their appearance. The study of this phenomenon has become something of a modern quest for the Holy Grail - researchers from all fields of both traditional and esoteric science participated in the search for truth. A wide variety of assumptions appeared in large numbers: it was argued that whirlwinds, tornadoes, the fun of hedgehogs, traces of the landing of Air Force planes, pranks of pranksters and charlatans, the intrigues of British and American special services, UFOs, rays of cosmic energy … were to blame for everything …
Archival research has shown that this phenomenon was observed not only in the modern era. The first recorded report of the appearance of a circle in a corn field came from the Dutch city of Assen in 1590. In the seventeenth century, the English scientist Robert Plot suggested that crop circles are formed as a result of the impact of sharp vertical gusts of wind. In the twentieth century, this theory was adopted by at least one researcher of this phenomenon.
The appearance of one of the circles, which happened in the seventeenth century, was attributed to the "devil-mower". A contemporary explains where this assumption came from:
Let's go back to our time. Research work in the Wiltshire fields continued, and sometimes events even took a dramatic turn - for example, a conservative scientist turned into the paranormal. Terence Meaden, as a true scientist, would never seek a supernatural explanation for this phenomenon, but during his research work in the fields of southern England, Meden, a former physicist from Oxford University, had to deal with ufologists, dowsers, psychics and healers more often than most scientists in their entire lives. Meaden's knowledge of atmospheric phenomena initially led to the conclusion that crop circles are formed as a result of vortexes or small tornadoes on plants. But after formations of a more complex shape began to appear on the margins, Meden had to modify his theory so thatso that it would correspond to the new facts: now an atmospheric phenomenon called "plasma vortex" was blamed for everything, that is, a rotating column of ionized gas that completely or partially releases a charge after contact with plants.
In the mid-eighties, UFO publicists, Pal Delgado and Colin Andrews, devoted much attention to the study of the crop circle phenomenon. As ufologists, they adhered to the theory that some intelligent extraterrestrial life form was responsible for the formation of increasingly complex forms in the fields. Delgado and Andrews flew over the fields in an airplane piloted by their friend Basti Taylor and took aerial photographs. They tirelessly recorded all the variety of formations in the fields - simple circles, circles with "satellites", concentric rings, circles connected to each other through other figures, and even a complex pictogram that began to appear in the late eighties. Researchers using dowsing equipment scanned circles for mysterious energy flows,recorded stories about television and electrical equipment failures occurring in such places, about the healing effects of circles, about the observed energy effects. The shape of the circles became more and more complex, "reasonable", and it was no longer possible to explain all this with the help of Meden's theory. "Probably, plasma balls are messages from UFOs, forming drawings of complex shapes in the fields" - this was the new edition of his theory.
From all parts of the earth, explorers arrived in southern England, equipped with a variety of measuring instruments. At the same time, the number of reports of the formation of circles on zero began to grow around the world - these messages now came from countries as far from the UK as Brazil, Japan, India, Canada and Switzerland. The phenomenon, first noted in the Wiltshire fields, has become global in ten years.
With the onset of the nineties, the controversy around this problem became even more fierce. Fueled by a desire to maintain the reputation of science, Terence Meaden has collected several impressive eyewitness accounts supporting the theory that crop circles are the result of some atmospheric phenomenon. Spouses Gary and Vivienne Tomlinson stated that in August 1990 they were present at the formation of the circle on the field:
“It was about nine o'clock in the evening, we were returning from a walk in the fields lying in the vicinity of Hambledon. At some point, we stopped to admire how the wind sends waves to the corn field - from this it became like a golden brown sea. I have always been fascinated by the wind and the sounds it makes - watching this natural phenomenon, I forget about everything in the world. Suddenly, something happened to the wind - it seemed now it was blowing from both sides. In the place where the streams meet, the wind increased noticeably, and the corn sea under this place "boiled". The whistle of the wind in the stalks of the corn intensified, now more like a shrill sound made by a flute.
We raised our heads together - it seemed to us that a helicopter hovered over this place. Oddly enough, we saw nothing in the sky. Then a gust of wind came over us, the wind spun around us in a downward spiral, and the corn began to press to the ground. It seemed that we were at once in the center of the tornado, then another one separated from the first whirlwind, and the whirlwinds swirled over the corn, pressing the stems to the ground.
The events taking place around us became more and more interesting. One by one, tiny vortices formed, the vortices gathered in groups and circled around the field. After a few laps, their strength waned.
We stood and watched in amazement - the corn stalks were twisting before our eyes and gently lowered to the ground. We noticed that the wind had died down, and its whistle was not heard. Only the whirlwinds continued to be born and, having made several circles over a section of the field, died - it seemed that their number was increasing. I panicked, squeezed my husband's hand and pulled him away from the formed circle.
All this seemed to us very unusual - at least, we did not find an explanation for what we saw. I believe that scientists need to reconsider the understanding of the wind and the forces that cause it."
The theory put forward by Meden was confirmed by other reports that appeared even before the beginning of the discussion about the reasons for the emergence of crop circles - it seems that simple-shaped circles appeared in the fields quite regularly over the years. In 1990, the Sunday Express received the following letter from Cambridge resident Kathleen Skin:
“In 1934, I witnessed the formation of a circle in a corn field. I was admiring a field of ripe corn when I heard a crackle, as if a fire was burning somewhere nearby, and I saw a tornado in the middle of zero, rotating a column of torn stalks, cobs and ached. The pillar was over a hundred feet high.
Then I found a circle of ideal shape in the field, formed from the fallen stalks, along the edges of the circle the stalks of corn were intertwined. Plants lying on the ground felt hot to the touch. The sky was clear, there was no wind, and there was silence. Perhaps, on such a windless day, the stalks of corn could acquire an electrical charge, which attracted currents of air of the opposite charge, and these rotating currents exerted such strong pressure on the stalks that they were pressed to the ground. Something like a miniature tornado has formed."
The tumultuous discussion between Meden on the one hand and Andrews and Delgado on the other naturally attracted the attention of the British media. It was Pat Delgado's activity that drew the British press into the controversy, but in 1990 the situation seemed to get out of control: the press inflated eyewitness accounts, people artificially creating crop circles, as well as those who gave the press false interviews beneficial to one from the parties, significant sums were offered. It seemed that the phenomenon of crop circles would soon be completely discredited by numerous falsifiers and falsifications. However, as it turned out, the worst was yet to come.
In September 1991, all those involved in one way or another with the crop circles were struck to the core by the story of two former actors, Doug Bauer and Dave Chorley. "Doug and Dave," as they were nicknamed in the media, admitted that they had faked hundreds of crop circles since 1978. Doug and Dave even claimed that they were inspired by the news of Australian crop circles left behind by a landing UFO, as you remember, George Polly told about this in 1966. Ironically, both Bauer and Chorley were quite interested in the UFO phenomenon. In the beginning, Doug and Dave even claimed that they were responsible for the formation of absolutely all zero circles - although this was clearly not true, and they knew about it very well. Doug and Dave kept in touch with other "field artists"also falsified crop circles.
After that, many people who were interested in crop circles and believed that supernatural forces were behind these formations, experienced a crisis of faith. Some of these people went into the shadows and began to "lick their wounds", but the most convinced remained - they were not frightened by the idea that absolutely everything was a product of the "creativity" of falsifiers. Ironically, Doug and Dave's confession seems to have strengthened Dr. Tereps Meeden's position - his theory of plasma vortices has been "rehabilitated" to explain the simple circles that Doug and Dave witnessed.
It must be said that throughout the nineties the ingenuity of the forces behind the formation of the circles continued unabated. On the contrary, every year these formations became more and more complex in form - it seemed that mathematical and geometric symbols were used in their formation. “The Whole Workers” ceased to be ashamed of their creativity - now they were no longer considered falsifiers, but rather artists who applied their creations to the canvas of a field of grain crops. Oddly enough, many "grain artists" still believe that some mysterious forces took part in the formation of part of the crop circles. Some of these people claim that they experienced supernatural sensations while creating the circles:
“We drove to zero, where, as we decided, circles could form. Everything worked out as planned - soon we began the process of forming a circle. When the work was in full swing, there was a powerful flash of light. We all stopped, looked around, scratched our heads and continued to form a circle. After a while, the flash of light occurred again. I would compare what we have experienced with the feeling that a powerful searchlight was directed at your face, as a result of which you became “blind” for a while.
In 1996, it seemed to many that the mystery of the formation of crop circles was finally solved: the process of formation of circles was filmed on video. On the videotape, filmed near the town of Oliver Castle, Wiltshire, you can see how over a wheat field, synchronously, almost "intelligently", describe circles of two small luminous balls. After some time, circles began to form under the balls on the field, then the balls left the "scene of the incident", hiding behind the fence. Finally, the researchers of this phenomenon have in their hands the evidence they have been looking for for so long!
This video was brought to Colin Andrews one evening by a man who identified himself as John Wiley. But when Viley did not come to the next meeting appointed by Andrews, he was seized with doubts. An undertaken search for Viley yielded no results. A month later, Andrews gave a press interview, in which, in particular, he stated that, in his opinion, the video was almost certainly a falsification, fabricated by some video or TV company in order to lure him into a trap. If all this is true, in this case it is possible to trace the scenario that is standard for the field of crop circles: first the inexplicable phenomenon itself is observed, then its supernatural explanations begin to appear, and at the end the falsifiers enter the scene. Over the crop circles hangs such a dense cloud of suspicion, accusations of falsification and disappointment,that a field of research that once aroused genuine enthusiasm is now plagued by an epidemic of disbelief. Researchers of this phenomenon either adhere to the point of view that "absolutely all circles are just the tricks of forgers", or they are convinced that "absolutely all circles appear as a result of the influence of supernatural forces", and the polarization in their environment has not weakened at all since the early eighties … Now, the enmity between the warring parties has even penetrated the "Internet" - rival websites are spreading information and disinformation designed to discredit the enemy camp. One such site, held by the "circle makers" - that is, groups of people who get a lot of pleasure from the nightly demonstration of their artistic and creative abilities in the fields of crops,- posted a series of angry messages received from a group called the Black Guard:
"Friends! If your health and well-being are dear to you, immediately stop your criminal tricks in the English fields! Do not take this warning down. There are a lot of us! Black Guard ".
It has been suggested that the goal of groups like the Black Guard is to place the fields at the disposal of the “real” forces behind this phenomenon. The future will show if this strategy brings positive results.
On July 7, 1096, an amazing thing appeared on a field near the famous Wiltshire megalith of Stonehenge? education. Consisting of 149 individual circles, the spiral-shaped pictogram was a simplified depiction of a fractal - a geometric figure known to mathematicians as the Julia set. This image soon became known as Julia's Stonehenge Set, and a few weeks later it appeared on websites and T-shirts and mugs sold around the world. Most observers were struck by the incredible complexity of the image: how could falsifiers "without a single blot" create such a complex image on a dark night on the field? Colin Wilson again dared to provoke the fire of criticism: “If it is proved that the given Julia sets were created by people, thenwe just have to leave this area of research - personally, in this case, I will not touch on this topic any more.
Journalist James Hockney described the reaction of the scientific community to the emergence of this formation as follows: “Even the staunch skeptic and materialist Terence Meden, after examining the field, was speechless - after all, it is obvious that one person cannot create such a complex image. Meden suggested that between thirty and one hundred people worked to create this image and that it allegedly took them a whole day - apparently, the owner of the field gave his consent. " Indeed, how could such a large-scale image appear over an interval of about 45 minutes, and no traces of human presence were found? This question was attempted to be answered by the "circle-maker" Rod Dickinson: in an interview that appeared on the Internet, Dickinson claimed that he knew who and how created this image. According to him,Julia's set was created by three people over the course of three night hours. Dickinson detailed the way to create this image:
“You start with a large center circle that forms next to the laid rails (narrow passages are created with a tractor or spray guns). Many people wonder why the central circle was needed - after all, it was at some distance from most other circles. The answer is simple in order to avoid unnecessary damage to the ears growing around it, a “central foothold” formed in advance is required from which the diameters of other parts of this formation can be measured”.
However, when Dickinson was asked to create such a 'circle' in front of witnesses, he refused to do so: than to connect the formation of such circles with supernatural forces, it is necessary to obtain more reliable evidence of this. " Dickinson, like many other "circle-makers", does not completely deny the possibility of the existence of "real" circles. He even claims that during the creation of circles in the night fields, he several times observed very bright flashes of unknown light. Rod Dickinson also has his own opinion on which circles should be considered real: “I can tell youwho took part in the formation of the most famous circles since 1991. I personally created several dozen such formations … Perhaps some of the simplest circles were really created by supernatural forces. I don't know for sure."
The views of some circle-makers on their art have undergone certain changes: they do not at all consider themselves falsifiers, on the contrary, according to them, what they do is true art (as well as "true circles"). Some of these people even claim to be able to create "energy imprints", which, according to psychics and dowsers, can be felt at the place where "true" circles are formed. The “All-Creators” are trying to convince us that through the manipulation of powerful healing energy they create “temporary sacred places”. A certain unnamed circle-creator described the connection between "falsification" and paranormal phenomena in the following words: “Our creativity generates a response, usually this reaction follows from other circle-creators,but sometimes our creativity serves as a catalyst for the start of a wide variety of paranormal processes. I am convinced that the phenomenon of crop circles is indeed a phenomenon, but in the same way I am convinced that we are an integral part of it."