Crop circles is a term used to describe patterns created by the flattening of crops such as wheat, barley, canola (also called "rapeseed"), rye, corn, linseed and soy.

Examples can be found world wide.

Various hypotheses have been offered to explain their formation, ranging from the naturalistic to the paranormal.

Naturalistic explanations include man-made hoaxes or geological anomalies, while paranormal explanations include formation by UFOs.

Many circles are known to be man-made, such as those created by Doug Bower, Dave Chorley, and John Lundberg,

A 2000 study into circle hoaxing concluded that 80 percent of UK circles were definitely man-made.

The Circle Makers: The most famous group of crop circle makers, founded by Doug Bower, Dave Chorley and John Lundberg.

This Link (How Stuff Works:) explains how crop circles are made and how to make your own, with step by step pictures and complex circle patterns.

This Link (Lucy Pringle) The de facto standard for comprehensive aerial photographs (from Lucy Pringle and others) of the UK's crop circles.

By: Jorge Franca