crop circles signs of contact colin andrews

Crop CirclesSigns of Contact

by Colin Andrewswith Stephen Spignesi

New Page BooksA Division of The Career Press, Inc.Franklin Lakes, N.J.

Copyright ©2003 by Colin Andrews and Stephen J. Spignesi

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International CopyrightConventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any formor by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafterinvented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

CROP CIRCLES

EDITED AND TYPESET BY JOHN J. O’SULLIVAN

COVER DESIGN BY LU ROSSMAN/DIGI DOG DESIGN

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. BY BOOK-MART PRESS

The article published in Chapter 12, “The Diatonic Ratios in Crop Circles,”is ©1996 Gerald Hawkins, which is used with permission.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Andrews, Colin.Crop circles : signs of contact / by Colin Andrews with Stephen J. Spignesi.

p. cm.Includes index.ISBN 1-56414-674-X

1. Crop circles—Miscellanea. 2. Curiosities and wonders—Miscellanea.3. Science—Miscellanea. I. Spignesi, Stephen J. II. Title.

AG243.A54 2003001.94—dc21 2002045245

Dedications

To Synthia, my wife,who has been a tremendous pillar of support,

and a friend I love and respect so much.

—COLIN ANDREWS

To my brother, David Spignesi,a stalwart paladin of self-awareness and self-improvement.

—STEPHEN SPIGNESI

Acknowledgments

Colin AndrewsIn the past 20 years, many people have contributed to my research in various

important ways, and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart. To name but a few:Gordon and Elsie Andrews (Mom and Dad), David Andrews, Peter and Jean

Andrews, Helen and Hayley Andrews, the late Richard Andrews, Mary and Jean NoelAubrun, John Barrell, Mandy and Peter Butcher, Terry Butcher, Ian Chistopher, IrisDemauro, Pat Delgado, David Duhig, Marie Galbraith, Yeva Gladwin, Dave Haith,Gerald Hawkins, Simeon Hein, Victoria Jack, Pam Jones, the late Count Carli Kanitz,Countess Irene Kanitz, Shelly Keel, Toby King, Franz and Mona Lutz, Chris McMillan,Sue Paruch, Reg Presley, Suzie Ramsby, Quinn Ramsby, Laurence Rockefeller, JaneRoss, Ron Russell, Valerie and Evan Scurlock, Freddy Silva, Peter Sorensen, SteveSpignesi, Busty Taylor, Ruben Uriarte, Valenya, Chuck Walker, John White, Mat-thew Williams, and the tolerant farmers.

Stephen SpignesiAs usual, I received more help and support with this book than I could have ever

hoped or prayed for. The gratitude I feel for all of my caring angels knows no bounds. Pam Spignesi, Lee Mandato, Dolores Fantarella, John White, Barbara White, Colin

Andrews, Synthia Andrews, Jim Cole, Bill Savo, Gayze DiRienzo, Mike Lewis, RonFry, Stacey Farkas, John J. O’Sullivan, Anne Brooks, Georgio Simeon, Production Tran-scripts Inc., Mick Garris, Jay Holben, Steve and Marge Rapuano, Busty Taylor, LauraLattrell, Carter Spignesi, Kim McDonald, Paul Vigay, Lucy Pringle, William Gazecki,Kevin Quigley, Publishers Marketplace, Stan Wiater, Jodi Branson, Dr. Michael Luchini,the University of New Haven, Dean James Gustav Speth and the Yale University Schoolof Forestry and the Environment, Utrecht Inc., Manischewitz and Streit Matzos.

The nature of God is a circle

of which the centre is everywhere

and the circumference is nowhere.

—Empedocles, c. 500 B.C.

Contents

Introduction:The Telling, by Stephen Spignesi ...............................................................................13My Mission Statement, by Colin Andrews ................................................................. 15My Friend Colin, by Reg Presley ...............................................................................19Circular Evidence, the Story Behind the “Crop Circle Bible” ................................... 21

Part I:A Holy Curiosity .........................................................................................................23Madison Square Garden:The Beginning ............................................................................................................25Chapter 1:The Path ......................................................................................................................27Chapter 2:What Are Crop Circles? .............................................................................................37Chapter 3:The Undeniable Evidence: Facts in Search of a Theory ............................................ 51

Part II:The Making of a Crop Circle...................................................................................... 57Madison Square Garden:Geography ..................................................................................................................59Chapter 4:The Theories ...............................................................................................................61Chapter 5:Location, Location, Location: A Crop Circle Gazetteer .............................................75

Part III:Stonehenge..................................................................................................................83Madison Square Garden:Insecurity .................................................................................................................... 85Chapter 6:The Stonehenge Julia Set: Out of Nowhere? .............................................................. 87

Chapter 7:Stonehenge: A Coincidental Discovery ...................................................................... 91Chapter 8:An Interview With Busty Taylor ................................................................................. 95

Part IV:Weird Science ............................................................................................................. 99Madison Square Garden:Spiraling Views ........................................................................................................ 101Chapter 9:Sounds From the Fields: Insects, Birds, or the Circles Themselves? ....................... 103Chapter 10:Operation White Crow .............................................................................................107Chapter 11:Hayley’s Connection: Crop Circles and Remote Viewing ....................................... 111Chapter 12:The Diatonic Ratios in Crop Circles, by Gerald Hawkins, Ph.D., D.Sc. ................. 115

Part V:Crop Circle Counterfeiting: Liars in the Fields ........................................................ 119Madison Square Garden:A Message From the Environment? .........................................................................121Chapter 13:Crop Circle Hoaxes and the Circus in the Fields ..................................................... 123Chapter 14:Operation Blackbird .................................................................................................131Chapter 15:The Oliver’s Castle Video ........................................................................................139Chapter 16:Crop Circle Empowerment: The Cost of Deception, by Synthia Andrews .............. 145Chapter 17:The “80/20” Statement: The Politics of Truth ..........................................................153Chapter 18:Half and Half: Where I Stand Today ........................................................................159

Part VI:At the Movies ........................................................................................................... 167Chapter 19:Crop Circle Movies and Documentaries ..................................................................169Closing Words:Carrying Out Instructions ......................................................................................... 173

AppendicesAppendix A:A Crop Circle F.A.Q. ................................................................................................ 175Appendix B:A Crop Circle A to Z .................................................................................................183Appendix C:A Crop Circle Who’s Who........................................................................................193Appendix D:Crop Circle Websites ................................................................................................ 203Appendix E:The Andrews Catalog ............................................................................................... 205Index ........................................................................................................................ 233About the Authors ................................................................................................. 239

Introduction: The Telling / 13

Introduction

The Tellingby Stephen Spignesi

13

Credible people telling of incrediblethings. This is the center, the goal, even

the “mission statement” of this book.And Colin Andrews is in a unique placeas the premier authority on the cropcircle phenomenon.

When one reads Colin’s findings, it isself-evident that he is such an expert. Butthis is not all: He is also an intelligent, kind,spiritual gentleman with whom it has beena pleasure to work. Sometimes, a book canact as a catalyst for change. I think Colinwould agree with me that if Crop Circles:Signs of Contact inspires even one readerto be more environmentally conscious, thenwe will have done our job. There is prob-ably no greater mission for us all.

It has been an honor to work with ColinAndrews on this book, this “report to theworld” that has been two decades in themaking. Crop circles have meaning, andthat, in as succinct a way as this sometimesprolix writer can state, is the essence of thisbook’s mission statement.

There are real crop formations all overthe world, and science does not know howor why they are formed. There is hard sci-

entific evidence that some circles are un-deniably not manmade. Changes in theplants that cannot be duplicated in hoaxedcircles; odd sounds that have been re-corded in authentic crop circles; and, per-haps most astounding, the suddenappearance of enormous formations inmere minutes—creations that would takemany men many hours to produce appearin minutes. Skeptics have their work cutout for them—I ask them to read the chap-ter in this book about the 900-foot JuliaSet near Stonehenge that appeared in aspan of 45 minutes before leaping tomanmade conclusions.

This book is Colin Andrews’s story,and I am grateful to have been sittingaround the particular campfire where andwhen he decided to tell it.

My CircleThere are several stories in this book

of people who have “requested” a crop for-mation, and one has subsequently appearedfor them.

The words “wished for,” “prayed for,”and “asked for” are used to describe thesepetitions to the “circlemakers.”

14 / Crop Circles: Signs of Contact

In early November 2002, I, too, joinedthe ranks of those who have had such anexperience and, at Colin’s request, I relatethe story here.

During the weekend of November 2,2002, I tried a crop circle experiment. I hadbeen working closely for weeks with ColinAndrews on this book, and he had told memany intriguing stories about crop circlemanifestations appearing “upon request.”I decided to give it a try.

Outside my office window is the“backyard” of our condominium develop-ment. It is all pristine green grass and, dur-ing that autumn weekend, I asked for apattern to appear in the grass, but I alsorequested that it be in a precise spot: thespot where my eye fell when I turn myhead to the right and look out my window.

A few days went by, but I saw nothingin the grass. I began to wonder if I had notworded my request properly, or if I wassimply not attuned to the circlemakers inthe manner in which the others whose wishhad been granted had been.

But then, on Wednesday morning,November 6, 2002, I saw something. Tues-day had been a stormy day in Connecticut,with a great deal of rain and wind. OnWednesday morning, I looked out my win-dow, and there I saw a design in the grass—and it was in the exact spot where I hadasked that it appear. I saw a perfect circleof grass in the middle, surrounded by awide ring of soil, with a spur of soil ex-tending out of the northwest corner of thecircle. I grabbed my copy of the AndrewsCatalogue and began flipping through thepages, quickly stopping on page five. Thereit was: T107. The exact grass design, turnedclockwise, and with two small satellites thatI did not see in my grass.

The grass was pressed down from therain and wind, creating a perfect T107. I esti-mated it as approximately 3 to 4 feet long,and 2 to 3 feet wide. I later realized that not

only was this pattern one of the recordeddesigns, it was also very similar to an ice circlethat had appeared in Churchill, Maryland, inFebruary 2001—and which I had been writ-ing about around the time I made my request.

I did not take a picture of the design, andthe following morning, it was gone. The grassdried in the sun and wind and filled back in,and the soil ring was covered. I could stillglimpse a shadow of the center grass circle,but overall, it was now nothing but a normalexpanse of suburban grass.

I know what I saw, and I know that thedesign was most assuredly not there whenI initially requested it.

What has this experience taught me?It has confirmed for me that Colin

Andrews is truly on to something with hisbelief that human thought plays a role inthe crop circle phenomenon. What I foundmost intriguing about this experience is thatthe design appeared in the only possibleway I would be able to see it: by flatteningordinary backyard grass. Grass is not a ce-real crop, and yet nature spoke up (steppedin?) with her rain and wind, and then therewas a perfect circle of grass surrounded bya ring.

In the introduction to my book TheWeird 100, I wrote that I remain open to allthe wonders of reality, consciousness, andthe unknown because I do not believe thatI know everything. I experienced a UFOsighting one time in my life. And now I haveexperienced a crop circle.

There are wonders to be discovered.They may make themselves known to usin the sky, or in the fields, and I truly be-lieve that the 90 percent of our brains thatwe do not currently use must have beengiven to us for a reason. Perhaps it is whatwe will use to understand all that we donot now know.

—SJSDecember 30, 2002

Introduction: My Mission Statement / 15

Introduction

My Mission Statementby Colin Andrews

15

With Crop Circles: Signs of Con-tact, I hope to inform the gen-eral public about the crop circle

phenomenon in an accurate and truthfulfashion.

I also hope to remove the “weird”stigma attached to crop circles.

We have deliberately tried to write abook for the mainstream reader, the worldcitizen who knows about crop circles, mayhave seen the movie Signs, is curious aboutwhat is actually going on, but is not inter-ested in complicated discourses on plant bi-ology, mythology, mathematical theory, orpaleoclimatology.

People do want to know what is goingon in their world, on their planet, and areinterested in what the crop circle enigmameans for their future. People know theearth’s environment is in trouble. Parentstoday know that their grandchildren, andpossibly even their children, may enteradulthood worrying about water shortagesand breathing problems caused by pollu-tion. Our problems are not of the future;they are here now. It is our belief that cropmanifestations may somehow be tied intothis.

I have researched this mystery longerthan anyone else, and in this book, I sharemy data, views, and findings with my read-ers. I also hope to stimulate discussion, andfoster an atmosphere of open-minded in-quiry and curiosity.

The publication of this book is myopportunity to communicate to my read-ers the importance of the crop circle phe-nomenon, and to provide the evidenceof its significance in an open and honestforum.

About the Photo on the Cover

Mystery creates wonder andwonder is the basis of man’s desire to

understand.

—Astronaut Neil Armstrong

The photo on the cover of this book—a proven authentic crop formation—rep-resents our Solar System, minus the planetEarth, as it will be aligned on September1, 2033, and on May 6, 2101.

The design depicts the Sun, the planetMercury, the planet Venus, Earth’s orbitminus the Earth, the planet Mars, Jupiter’s


orbit without Jupiter used as the outer ringof the solar system element of the forma-tion, an expanse of empty space, and thenan asteroid belt.

This crop formation was discovered onthe morning of June 22, 1995, by a farmeron his land at Longwood Warren, near Win-chester, Hampshire, England.

It was determined to be a “genuine”formation (that is, not manmade) by the re-nowned biophysicist William Levengood,who found distinct and measurable cellularchanges in plants taken from the formation.

Other evidence pointing to its authen-ticity included no damage to the plants orsoil compression; no tracks to vital construc-tion points; and very complex braiding ofplants in the outer ring where numerouscircles were positioned, and which was de-termined to be extremely difficult, if notimpossible for humans to achieve withoutleaving evidence of their presence.

Also, two eminent scientists, GeraldHawkins and Robert Hadley, both con-firmed that the scaling and placement of the“planets” within the crop formation wereextraordinarily accurate and that it was avery precise replica of our solar system.

Also, I personally had extensive discus-sions with members of the only organizedgroup of counterfeit circlemakers workingat that time (to my knowledge) and none ofthem claimed responsibility for the forma-tion, nor knowledge of who else could havemade it.

Frozen in time is our solar system, withthe Earth missing from its orbit.

This formation has a history, and a pro-found meaning.

The first thing this crop pattern does iscall attention to Earth’s empty orbit. Whenwe also consider that this celestial configu-ration is what the solar system will look likein approximately 30 years, and again in 100years, the question arises: Are we being senta message? Is the universe telling us of our

possible fate? Are we being warned that ifwe continue on the reckless, damaging pathwe are on, then the future of mankind is atrisk?

When Marcus Thompson, the writerand director of the crop circle–themedmovie A Place to Stay, came to me todiscuss his project, I suggested that heshould include this solar system design inthe film. I felt that the formation, and itspossible message was important enoughto replicate precisely, and include withinthe storyline of the movie. Marcus wasincluding a powerful environmental mes-sage in the film, and I felt that this designwould contribute to his mission. He agreed,and I supplied aerial photographs (includ-ing the one on the cover of this book) tohis production team to assist them in theirconstruction work. I asked Matthew Wil-liams and his team to create the solar sys-tem formation in the fields.

The formation was ultimately made(and is seen in the movie), and all agreedthat it was a very close duplicate of the origi-nal. But that’s where the similarities ended.The created formation had extreme plantdamage, widespread soil compression, ma-jor errors in the geometry of the design, andit took so long to make that many of thepublic were able to see the half-finishedpattern in broad daylight. Even though weprovided the measurements, ratios, and scal-ing data to the construction team, they werestill unable to complete it in one night and,when it was finished, it was so obviouslymanmade, that it reminded us even more soof the truly amazing nature of the spontane-ous, authentic formation.

All our research convinced us that theoriginal formation was authentic. Its pos-sible message struck a chord with all of us,and thus, my recommendation that it ap-pear in the movie, and my decision to high-light it on the cover of Crop Circles: Signsof Contact.

Introduction: My Mission Statement / 17

The MadisonSquare Garden Speech

Scattered throughout the book are ahandful of excerpts—greatly abridged andheavily edited for clarity and space—froma two-hour speech I gave at MadisonSquare Garden in the fall of 1996. Some ofthe subjects discussed in this speech are

covered in greater depth elsewhere in thisbook. Please look to the Contents or theIndex for further information on any of thetopics in this speech about which youwould like to know more. The completespeech I gave is available on videotape, andincludes the slides and graphics I showedat the presentation.

My Friend Colin / 19

My Friend Colinby Reg Presley

19

Reg Presley is the lead singer andsongwriter for the legendary bandThe Troggs. He sang the song

“Wild Thing,” and wrote the classic“Love Is All Around” and countless oth-ers, and his first book, Wild Things TheyDon’t Tell Us, was recently published.Reg and I were neighbors in England formany years and I count him as one ofmy cherished friends. I am grateful andhonored that he agreed to write some-thing for this book.

•••

After 12 years investigating crop for-mations, it seems to me that we still havea long way to go before we can trulybutton down the answer to the question:Who are the circle makers?

If we put aside manmade formationsfor the moment, and concentrate on whatsome investigators claim are the realphenomenon, there are still too manytheories one can choose from, and each,in their own way, is believable. It re-ally does depend on your own point ofview and how your understanding sitswith what you have experienced alongthe way.

Too many profess to know the an-swer, and if their view is challenged, thenthey will usually throw a fit and ostra-cize anyone who doesn’t quite see ittheir way. That, I’m sure, is not the wayto the truth.

I see my friend Colin as a mentor toall would-be-followers of this circlemystery. He has thrown his life into it,trying to get at the truth. Although oth-ers have come and gone in a flurry ofpublicity, he has stuck it out, determinedto get to the end of what has become avery long road. I take my hat off to himfor his perseverance.

At this point in time, I have an over-whelming feeling that a higher intelli-gence is not only helping mankind, butis trying to save us from ourselves.

Perhaps it is Mother Earth herself?Or our new neighbors that as yet wehaven’t met?

We may see the outcome; we maynot.

Whatever or whomever that higherintelligence ultimately belongs to maynot have unlimited patience, especiallyif they were around when the dinosaursinhabited our planet.

Introduction


History dictates that we very rarelylisten when new ideas are first put for-ward. When some said the world was asphere, we took no notice and still be-lieved it was flat. When someone putforward the theory that the Earth wentround the Sun and not the other wayround, we did not believe it. If we hadat least listened to minority thinking, itcould have sped up all our learning pro-cesses over the last 2,000 years or more.Instead we usually ignore them.

When minorities are ignored, the fa-natics rear their ugly heads and all hellbreaks loose. We humans should learnto listen and listen to learn. The way themajority think and live is always evolv-ing but only with the help of new ideas—we are living in the status quo whilethose new ideas are being born by theminority.

Colin is willing to share all his find-ings with anyone who is willing to lis-ten, and you don’t even have to get outof your armchair.

This book is a must for any thinkingperson.

Reg Presley, singer/songwriter with The Troggs,and now, also an author and paranormalresearcher. Reg’s book, Wild Things They Don’tTell Us, was published in 2002.

Circular Evidence / 21

Circular EvidenceThe Story Behind the “Crop Circle Bible”

21

When Pat Delgado and I co-wroteCircular Evidence, the firstbook ever to look at the crop

circle phenomenon, we never imaginedthat such a small pebble dropped into sucha big pond could create such enormous,ever-expanding rings of influence. Thebook ultimately sold over a half millioncopies, and was translated into several lan-guages, including Spanish, Italian, Japa-nese, and German.

The book was originally Pat’s idea. Atthe time, he had been studying crop circlesfor eight years, and I had been at it forsix.

One day, as we were going over thevoluminous data and great number ofaerial photographs we had amassed overthe years, he suggested we should write abook about our findings. We then talkedat length about the effect such a book mighthave on our privileged access to thecircles. Many of the farmers had long beensupportive and helpful in our research, andwe were often allowed access to fields toinvestigate virgin formations before any-one else was even aware something hadoccurred. We knew that this situationmight change if we went public about thesubject. We also wondered about the

possibility of damage to crop formationsand to farmers’ lands if people began traips-ing through the fields looking for cropcircles after reading our book.

We ultimately decided that it was moreimportant for the public to know about thephenomenon, and so we decided to moveforward with the book.

Most of the photographs in the bookwere taken by Pat and I, with a half dozenimages contributed by Busty Taylor. I didmost of the writing, and the book was pub-lished within six months of Pat’s initialidea. We both had a great deal to say aboutthe phenomenon and the information andphotos in the book were new and excitingto readers who were just becoming awareof the crop circle mystery.

The book ultimately became an inter-national best-seller, and we followed it in1990 with a sequel, Crop Circles: The Lat-est Evidence, which likewise became aworldwide best-seller.

The book generated an enormous me-dia response and it wasn’t long before Patand I were in all the newspapers, on TVand radio, and the book was being talkedabout in as varied settings as the street cor-ners and the pubs, and all the way up toBuckingham Palace.

Introduction


The royalties from Circu-lar Evidence allowed me toresign my government job anddevote myself to researchingcrop circles full-time.

The book caused twothings to happen: Hoaxedcrop circles began to prolif-erate like wildfire, and scien-tists and researchers beganto take the subject seriously.The book touched the imagi-nation of people all aroundthe world and it soon becameknown as the “Crop CircleBible.” Interestingly, in theseearly days of the phenom-enon, the book was takenquite seriously by both thescientific community and by the media.Today, after decades of counterfeits, andbizarre theories, crop circles have astigma attached to them and are often

Colin Andrews and his co-author for Circular Evidence,Pat Delgado.

lumped into the same category as UFOsand Bigfoot sightings. This is a pity, andhoaxing had a great deal to do with thischange in perception.

23

IPart

A Holy Curiosity

Madison Square Garden: The Beginning / 25

Madison Square Garden:The Beginning

25

My name is Colin Andrews, and Ihave been in a unique positionsince 1983, a position, my

friends, that I did not ask for.I was an electrical engineer and a lo-

cal government officer in England and,one day, as I was simply driving betweenmy offices, a chance glance out of my carwindow pulled me into this phenomena.

This is a unique situation. I have seenthe growth of a mystery which was, at thattime, new to the world. I’ve seen the“people problems” grow with it; and I’vewitnessed the media response in all itsmanic intensity.

I have also seen how intelligenceagencies on either side of the water haveinfiltrated the research organizations andI have seen firsthand how they pull youaboard, offer you money to write bookson the subject, and all of it is simply towrite you off and remove you from thescene.

This has been one hell of an opportu-nity, and I have learned by it.

As I said, I am an electrical engineerby profession. I went into government dur-ing the reorganization of local municipalities

in Great Britain back in 1974, and I rosethrough a number of posts fairly quickly. Iwas fortunate to be given a promotion aboutevery six months or so.

My position looked pretty good.Things were looking rosy and then I sawfive circles in a field. As soon as I saw myfirst crop circles, something threw a switch.

I was not aware at the time that Iwalked into that field that, within hours, Iwas to become one of only three people inthe world researching these phenomena.

Within days of that July afternoon in1983, I joined forces with Dr. TerenceMeaden, who was, and still is, the head ofthe Tornado and Storm Research Organi-zation in Great Britain. I also teamed upwith Pat Delgado ,who had just retiredfrom his job at NASA tracking the Mari-ner Project at the Woomera TrackingRanges in Australia and Busty Taylor, adriving instructor and light aircraft pilot wholived in my home town.

I became known in the area veryquickly by tapping on lots of doors:farmer’s doors, military doors, policedoors—just about everybody I could getto—asking them what they knew about


these things, howlong had they beenthere, and anythingelse they could tellme.

The first thingthe farmers told mewas that these fivecircles were notthe only ones theyhad ever had.

Almost everyfarmer whosedoor I knocked onin that area ofsouthern Englandtold me that theirforefathers hadhad these things ontheir land, and they had all heard them spo-ken of when they were children. This wasconcrete evidence that crop circles hadbeen around for at least 30 years.

I was then formally approached by amilitary person who asked me to supplytechnical and scientific reports—the firstreports about the crop circles—to the sec-retary of state for the Margaret Thatchergovernment. The reports were for a seniorman in the cabinet, one of the top five peoplein Great Britain.

The outcome of my three reports wasthat, in the mid-1980s, an announcementwas made in the British House of Com-mons that they accepted that there was areal phenomenon. Their official positionwas that crop circles were an unusual phe-nomenon, but it was not any type of paran-ormal mystery.

A common theory was that they werebeing caused by a new kind of whirlwind, anew meteorological phenomena, one com-monly referred to now as a plasma vortex—a rotating field of electrified air, which duringthe night, would account for the golden ballsof light people claimed to have seen above

the fields in which crop circles appear.I spoke to many of the leading meteo-

rologists with whom we were working inEurope, and most of them found it hard toimagine that that kind of phenomena couldcause even a single crop circle because ofthe well-defined cut-off edges, and the lackof damage in crop circles. There was noevidence that that kind of plasma vortex couldcause an effect of that kind.

Remember that Pat and I and our col-leagues were all investigating crop circlesbefore hoaxing became a part of the scene.

In 1989, Pat and I decided to write abook, Circular Evidence. Frankly, the de-cision to write the book took an awful lotof debate and we had many discussions asto whether or not we should, indeed, dothis, because we would be “showing ourcards,” so to speak, and putting the phe-nomenon of crop circles right into the pub-lic domain.

But at the same time, we thought it wasvery important that this should be sharedwith the public and so we published ourbook. The result was an extraordinary levelof hoaxing.

This crop design which resembles a snail first appeared at CheesefootHead, Hampshire, England in 1991. (This was found in the same fieldthat I saw my first Celtic Cross formation in 1983.)

The Path / 27

Chapter 1The Path

27

An opening thought: Would man-kind have a collective nervousbreakdown if it was revealed that

UFOs were real and that crop circles weremessages from extraterrestrials? The oddsof that being true are unlikely, but even ifit were the case, I give humanity morecredit: I do not think that we as a specieswould automatically reject a new neighborwho has sent us a greeting, do you? This issomething we should keep in mind as weexplore the crop circle mystery.

1.1 In the Beginning “This is the beginning of something

important.”The year was 1993, and I spoke those

words at the Omega Communications UFOExperience conference in North Haven,Connecticut during my presentation on cropcircles. During that talk, I described the cropcircle formations that had been appearingaround the world as “signs.” The Mel Gibsonmovie was a decade away and yet I sensedsomething was happening, something of a

global, and possibly cosmic scale, somethingI interpreted even then as a sign. Withoutfully understanding the scope of my jour-ney, I had taken the first steps down a long,and tumultuous path.

1.2 Life ChangesAfter seeing my first crop circle in July of

1983, my life changed in every imaginable way.At that time, I was an electrical engi-

neer employed by regional government inGreat Britain. My work was based upontraditional science, and I had devoted mycareer to investigating, studying, and chroni-cling things you can see, count, measure,weigh, and record. I solved problems in astructured, logical manner.

And then, in July of 1983, I sawsomething very unusual, and instantlycompelling; something that seemed toexist outside the boundaries of the me-chanical sciences in which I had beenworking my entire professional life. I wasintrigued, and my curiosity—both personaland scientific—was immediately piqued.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason forexisting. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of

eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely tocomprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.

—Albert Einstein


Over the years, I have applied as muchhard scientific research practices and pro-tocols to the study of crop circles as pos-sible. I have turned to the disciplines ofengineering, chemistry, radiography, phys-ics, and geometry in an attempt to under-stand this phenomenon. I have come torealize that when trying to understandsomething that may be of paranormal gen-esis, there is as much—if not more—to belearned by the intuitive instincts and abili-ties that we possess, and that many of usignore and often fail to utilize.

I have had some unusual experiences.Many I would classify as paranormal. Idon’t know how else to explain them. How-ever, throughout my years of study of cropcircles, I have always tried to maintain anopen-minded approach, and to listen andrespond to the intuitive part of my psyche.

Over time, I have become more intui-tive. Some might say I’ve become morepsychic and there have certainly been ex-periences that suggest that I am a differ-ent person in many ways.

My life has changed in more practicalways as well. I was doing a regular day-to-day job, which I eventually left as a re-sult of what I saw in the fields in July 1983.I resigned my position to participate full-time in researching crop circles and tryingto unravel this mystery.

That admittedly somewhat drasticchange in my lifestyle was not well re-ceived by members of my family. In fact,my marriage broke down because of mynew interest and focus, and because of thetime and energy I was putting into study-ing the crop circle phenomenon. My wholeworld changed literally almost overnight.I had a new group of friends; I was travel-ing constantly and my financial situationwent from secure to drastically insecure,again, almost overnight. My first wife andI ultimately divorced and, in addition tothis personal trauma, I came to realize that

many of my friends and professional col-leagues were embarrassed by me and mywork. I was very visible on television inGreat Britain in the 1980s, and the unusualnature of my research mortified my formerco-workers, many of whom made it quiteclear to me that they wanted nothing fur-ther to do with me, as long as I was com-mitted to pursuing this odd line of inquiry.

And so, every aspect of my lifechanged following my first glimpse of theenigma in the fields.

Eventually, all of these elements con-spired to have a much larger effect thansimply turning one man’s life upside down,My work, and the continued appearanceof authentic crop circle formations,changed Great Britain itself. I realized thatthe subject of crop circles was a fuse that Ihad lit, and I needed to make some deci-sions about how to continue my work.

I came to the United States in 1991 tospeak about crop circles at a UFO Confer-ence and it was there that I met my wifeSynthia. We ultimately married, and wemutually decided that we would live inBranford, Connecticut. I relocated perma-nently to the United States and I now main-tain the home office of Circles PhenomenonResearch International out of Branford.

I am still pursuing this mystery, but nowunder a very different set of circumstances.

1.3 Mistakes and RegretsVery early on in my research, one of

the biggest mistakes I made was mention-ing publicly the possibility of crop circlesbeing formed by extraterrestrial intelli-gences. In the early days of my investiga-tion, I began to feel that there could wellbe some external factor creating the for-mations, and that perhaps it could be someform of intelligence. I was not stating withcertainty that this possible intelligence wasextraterrestrial: It could just have easilybeen terrestrial in nature. But the media in

The Path / 29

Great Britain (and later around the world),interpreted my speculations cynically,exploitatively, and in a very sensationalisticmanner.

They painted a picture of me as aneccentric proclaiming that crop circleswere being created by little green men,and I was, as might be expected, ridi-culed and attacked. This caused me tre-mendous anguish and embarrassment.Looking back with absolutely flawlesshindsight (as hindsight is always wont tobe), I think I would have handled thatquite differently. My thinking now is thatthe media, and by extension, the public,were not adequately prepared for what Iwas suggesting. The world needed to beeducated about the mysteries ofcereology, and that knowledge base hadnot been disseminated widely enough formy more “unusual” theories to be ac-cepted, or at least considered, with rea-son and open-mindedness.

I should have been somewhat morecircumspect when presenting the oddertheories. We would have come to thesetheories eventually: They are all part of theequation. But I now know that I offeredcutting-edge ideas too soon. I was lookingat something new, and was engaged andmotivated, and my entire being was fo-cused on uncovering the truth and on un-derstanding what was happening. I wasnaive in my assumption that others wouldbe as enthusiastic as I was about the moreradical ideas relative to the crop circlesphenomenon.

I became a target. And today, it is worse,because of the widespread crop circle coun-terfeiting problem. (And as I state repeat-edly throughout this book, hoaxers could notcreate counterfeit crop circles if they did nothave real ones to copy.)

I have modified and refined my posi-tion on the possible genesis of crop circles,and yet the resistance by certain factions

remains. It is an understandable paradigm:Crop circles and their de facto “oddness,”combined with a team of “artists” layingclaim to actually being the ones respon-sible for them, combine to make the seri-ous researchers of the phenomenon objectsof ridicule, who are too often dismissedwithout being taken seriously.

I’ve tended to be something of a “one-man band” when it comes to making state-ments about crop circles and as to how the“movement” to study the formations hasdeveloped and acted over the years. I de-liberately, and with great forethought, haveworn and continue to wear, this mantle ofresponsibility. This is because I am theone putting myself out there in a very vis-ible position, and I expect to be the onetorn to shreds by critics and skeptics. Ihave worked with a great many peopleover the years—good, sober-minded,smart people who have contributedgreatly to the study of crop circles. Thesepeople have helped me at my request:they should not have to deal with beinglambasted for my conclusions.

If I could do anything differently, Iwould involve more people in the decision-making process regarding the furthering ofthe discipline and the directions of thestudy. I would invite input as to the spe-cific avenues of research we should em-bark upon, and I would consult on whatshould be stated publicly.

1.4 Sharing the MysteryIt is better to understand little than to

misunderstand a lot.

—Anatole France

My instincts and my intuition tell methat an important purpose of the crop circlemessage is to call attention to what we aredoing to our world. We need to wake up andrecognize what we have been doing—for fartoo long—to the earth. Our environment—


the plants, the animals, the waters, the sky—all are integral parts of the earth’s ecosys-tem, and we are mistreating every elementof this complex and fragile biological total-ity. The element of respect is missing fromour behavior: We do not act out of respectfor the other living entities on this planet.We are not alone. And yet, we act as if theearth and everything on it exists solely toserve man.

The crop circle phenomenon may be,in essence, a wake-up call. Or it could be acry for help. The day must come when weunderstand this, and act for positive change.

I do not think it is a coincidence thatcrop patterns have been appearing regularlyat places that for millennia have been cen-ters of spiritual focus—places wherepeople have gathered for hundreds andthousands of years for prayer, meditation,worship, and to seek enlightenment. Thehuman quest for peace and higher con-sciousness has often been expressed inoutdoor places such as Stonehenge, and incathedrals and temples. Crop circles oftenappear in or near these places, and in myopinion, this is a critical part of the overallmeaning of the phenomenon.

These places manifest an energy thatspeaks to our inner selves, and crop circlescould, in effect, be serving as living signsidentifying and calling our attention tothese sacred places.

Emotions have consequences. Positiveemotions that have love as their source,result in positive energies. The exact op-posite occurs with negative emotions.

I think that crop circles are giving us alla spiritual nudge, and that they are part ofthe process of understanding ourselves.Humankind is inching along, with innumer-able setbacks, of course, towards enlight-enment, and a God-centered consciousness.Perhaps by focusing on a common mys-tery, we are creating a unified energy thatwill ultimately be our salvation.

I have met an extraordinary range ofindividuals in crop circles. They have runthe gamut from priests to politicians andeveryone in between and the only thingthey—we—all have in common, asidefrom our innate humanity, of course, is thesharing of a mystery.

The crop circle mystery brings us alltogether, and a new bond is created. Theprocess is painfully slow, but it is occurring.

My thinking is that this interaction andthis common interest—the sharing of themystery—will ultimately show us that wehave so much more in common than wehave differences. We all share a livingplanet, and there is only one race—the hu-man one.

We must keep an open mind, andwe must eliminate animosity from theequation.

We must act with a sincerity of en-deavor to seek knowledge and truth, andto reach a higher place of consciousnessand understanding. And most importantly,we must all have faith.

I am not speaking solely theologicallyhere. I personally believe that God is dif-ferent for everyone, and that each religionis essentially a different road to the sameplace. I am speaking about faith that some-thing greater than us exists, and that wehave the power and ability to strive for thiselevated state of being. We must have faiththat there is something beyond us and thisplanet. Our goal should always be to reachhigher.

The answers are coming, and they willnot come solely from science.

We do need to keep scientific inquiryat the forefront of our investigation into themystery, but we must also allow room forinformation to come to us through differ-ent doors and open windows.

We need to continue to evaluate thecrop circle phenomena rationally, scientifi-cally, and logically. We need to continue

The Path / 31

to measure, and record, and test, and study.But we also need to open our hearts andallow our intuitive side to speak to us.

We are moving forward, albeit slowly,but the journey will be well worth the wait.Incredible times await us.

1.5 My Quest for the TruthOnly the curious will learn and only

the resolute overcome the obstacles tolearning. The quest quotient has always

excited me more than the intelligencequotient.

—Eugene S. Wilson

I have long referred to my cropcircle research as a quest. The genesisof this feeling was the very momentback in 1983, when I saw the first setof five circles forming a traditionalCeltic Cross in a field. I have often saidthat it felt like a switch was thrown inmy stomach. There was an overwhelm-ing emotional and spiritual effect on me,but there was also a palpable physicaleffect as well. This was quite specialand a feeling I have experienced manytimes throughout my decades of re-search. I was quite conscious of a senseof mystery, of awe, of something beyondour mortal ken.

I can recall being overwhelmed uponfirst seeing the formation, and I also re-member how this feeling grew inside meas I walked closer to the circles. The aweand wonder embraced me like a white lightpermeating every cell of my body.

This powerful sense of mystery trig-gered a resolve in me to learn as much as Icould about this phenomenon. It did, in-deed, become a quest. It became a questfor understanding and for truth.

A part of this process has been the re-alization and the acceptance that my workwith the crop circle phenomenon may bepart of a larger plan for me.

I say this because of something thathappened when I was around 12 years old.This did not happen to me, however, but tomy parents and younger brother.

The time was the late 1950s. I livedwith my parents and my younger brotherin England near Salisbury Plain, not veryfar from Stonehenge. On Sunday after-noons, we would often pile into my dad’sold jet-black motorcar and go for a drive.The fields and landscapes of that part ofcentral southern England are absolutelyglorious, and we all found a leisurely driveto be quite a respite from the bustle of theprevious week.

One particular Sunday afternoon, forsome inexplicable reason, I chose not togo with my family for our weekly drive.I remained home while my parents andmy younger brother headed out in dad’smotorcar.

Off they went, and from what I wastold, the drive started out as quite normaland very pleasant.

Then something extraordinary hap-pened and, to this day, I regret that I wasnot with my family at the time.

As my dad was driving in the country-side, just northeast of Stonehenge in a veryremote area near an ancient English manor,they came upon a narrow country lane,which was no more than the width of onevehicle. As my dad drove carefully downthis lane, a disk-shaped object suddenlyappeared over the top of some conifer treesalong the side of the road.

The object was swaying from side toside in the air, and it was perfectly visibleto them all. The road was next to an openfield and there was a clear line of sight tothe stand of trees over which this objecthovered.

My father stopped the car and he andmy brother got out and walked to the sideof the road. They were less than 100 yardsfrom this object and both had a very clear


view of it. It was a silvery craft and, asthey watched, it began to rise up. Mymother, who had remained in the car, be-came very frightened at this and begancalling to my father and brother, pleadingwith them to get back in the car. She latertold me that she was afraid that the craftwas going to fly right at them, and she des-perately wanted to flee the scene.

As she shouted at my father andbrother—“Get back!” she cried—suddenlya narrow beam of white light shot out ofthe bottom of the craft, and then the UFOtook off. It shot away incredibly fast overthe top of the trees and my parents recalledthat it veered slightly to the right as it flewaway. It did not just vanish, or “pop out.”It flew away at an extraordinary rate ofspeed. In fact, my parents later told me thatit moved so quickly that they were unableto follow it with their eyes. They were ada-mant about what they saw: a solid objectwas there one minute, and then it was gone.

My father and brother hurried back tothe car and they sped off home. As soon asthey entered the house, they told me whathad happened and, even at the age of 12, Iwas strangely affected by what they hadexperienced. As they told me of their UFOencounter, I felt somewhere deep insidethat I should have been there with them.Never for a moment did I doubt their story.Aside from the unconditional trust I had inmy parents, I also knew, even then, thatthese were credible people telling of anincredible event.

Now, fast forward to 25-years later. Amere 15 miles from where my family hadseen the UFO, I had my first crop circle sight-ing. All of what had happened to my parentsand my brother came flooding back to me.At that time, I actually reexperienced theemotions of that day back in the 1950s—notonly those of myself, but also what my par-ents were feeling as well. Here I was, seeingmarkings in a field, and I couldn’t help but

wonder if, somehow, that it was related tothat UFO sighting from so long ago.

This time, however, the event was nottransitory, and it was not elusive. It did not“fly away.” This time, I was being pre-sented with something physical, somethingthat could be measured, and photographed,and tested. Something that remained in thefields until it was plowed under, patient andquiet, allowing me to take all the time Ineeded to study it.

I knew then that I was being given anassignment: a mission. It was, and still is,a mission of understanding. It has becomemy quest.

1.6 Answered PrayersI have long believed that our minds

are part of the crop circle phenomenon.Human consciousness is a force unto it-self, and I believe that it is possible, per-haps even necessary, that humans as aspecies work towards positive use of thepower of enlightened minds and higherconsciousness.

One of the most important events inmy life was the manifestation of a cropformation after I consciously wished for itto appear. Could this even be possible? Thatis the question I asked myself followingthis experience. And yet, the facts are thefacts.

Shortly after my introduction to thecrop circle mystery, I began to ponderdeeply, thinking about what they meant,and asking myself why I seemed to bedrawn to them.

One night in the mid-1980s, in the earlyyears of my research, I asked for a cropformation. Some may call such a requesthubris; some may call it folly. At the time, Iwas (and still am, for that matter) ardentlyseeking understanding and knowledge aboutthese unusual manifestations in the fieldsand, thus, I boldly requested that a cropcircle appear for me.

The Path / 33

I asked for a Celtic Cross formation—four circles surrounding a center circle witha concentric ring through the center of thefour satellite circles—and I asked that it ap-pear as close to my home in central southernEngland as possible. A Celtic Cross had, tothe best of my knowledge, never appearedbefore. I visualized the cross in my mind, andI sent out a request for one to appear in thefields near my home.

The exact formation that I had visual-ized in my mind did appear in a field nearmy home—the only field in the area thathad not yet been harvested. The field wasapproximately four or five miles away fromwhere I lived, and the farmer who ownedthe land called me the morning after I hadmade my “request.” A few days after visit-ing the site, I realized that the field in whichthe cross had appeared was the closest fieldto my home in which it could have ap-peared. Because all the fields in the areahad already been harvested, the CelticCross appeared in the closest field possible.

I was stunned by the response fromwhatever intelligence is creating these de-signs. And yet, I feel that this is much toospecial for me to claim as my own. How-ever, it did appear at my behest and the oddsof it not being associated with my psychicrequest are quite slim, indeed.

This experience—combined with oth-ers that have followed—convinced mewholeheartedly that our minds are part ofthe phenomenon.

And I believe that we are getting closerto the truth as each year goes by.

1.7 An Evolving PuzzleFacts do not cease to exist because

they are ignored.

—Aldous Huxley

More than a decade ago, I used the term“evolving” to describe the increasing complex-ity of crop circle formations. I was seeing

changes in crop formations that clearly indi-cated an evolution in design and intricacy.

In the early days, at the start of ourresearch, the patterns in the fields werequite simple: single circles of varying sizes.

But then a single circle was joined bya smaller circle nearby; and then we sawthree in a straight line; and then five form-ing a cross. And then, in 1986, we sawthe first rings around circles. On May Day1990, for the first time, we suddenly sawtwo circles connected by a straight line.

It cannot be denied that these pat-terns have been evolving before our eyes,and they have also been expanding in theirgeographic distribution. Their reach hasnow extended to almost every countryon earth, and the density of reports withinindividual countries has also been on therise over the past several years.

The unavoidable conclusion is thatthe phenomenon is evolving, and this hasconvinced many people around theworld—many of whom were long-timeskeptics—that the crop circle mysteryis real, and that it has meaning.

The simple has now become com-plex; few has become many; random hasbecome commonplace. Logically, thiskind of measurable evolvement—thisgracious unfolding of spectacularbeauty—must have a purpose, and Ibelieve that purpose to be the transmit-tal of some kind of information. The phe-nomenon is moving towards something;perhaps towards many things, and itsincreasing complexity and its insistenceon making itself known through bolderand more widespread formations, mayhave great import for mankind and thefuture of this planet.

It is my belief that the meaning of thecrop circle mystery has evolved into some-thing that needs to be understood by man,and that this message is important and shouldnot be ignored.


We began by not knowing anything be-yond the fact that we were looking at flat-tened plants in a circle. We now know thathundreds of plants flattened into a series offorms creating an overall geometry—theJulia Set (Chapter 6) comes immediately tomind—arises from the science of fractalmathematics. We know that all of nature iscomprised of fractals and that we can seetheir geometric patterns in everything: fromthe Nautilus mollusk shell, to the spiralingarms of the galaxies. The science of fractalmathematics describes a geometric patternthat is repeated endlessly at ever smallscales to produce irregular shapes and sur-faces that cannot be represented by clas-sical geometry.

Fractals are paradoxes. Using nothingbut squares and straight lines, a curve canbe created. As the squares decrease in size,a graceful spiral curve is created by con-necting specific points of the smaller andsmaller boxes. This spiraling “infinite curve’can be found in flowers and other naturalforms, and its proportions have been used inart and architectures since man firstscratched symbols onto cold cave walls. Wedo not know how or where this will end.

I have long believed that the most im-portant “door opener”—the “Eureka mo-ment”—will be when we are able to fullyunderstand not only the meanings of theindividual patterns, but also the meaningof the designs within the context of all theauthentic worldwide formations. Place-ment will become a key factor in tying ev-erything together, and where designs appearwill become as significant to the overallmeaning and understanding of the mysteryas to what particular patterns appear in anygiven year.

For instance, seemingly random occur-rences will become meaningful. Circle Awill appear around the time of Event B,which will take place near ancient archaeo-logical site C, and all of these clues will

come together and give us the answers weare seeking.

At some point in the future, the cropcircle phenomena will have done its joband we will all fully understand its truepurpose. That moment has not yet arrivedhowever, and so we must continue ourwork, and continue to open our hearts andminds to the enigma in the fields.

1.8 Spirituality and Crop CirclesThe first act of awe, when man wasstruck with the beauty or wonder of

Nature, was the first spiritual experience.

—Henryk Skolimowski

I have often used the term “spiritualnudge” to describe what I consider to be oneof the fundamental purposes of crop circles.

Throughout recorded history, man hasresponded to symbols in a spiritual way.The symbol of yin and yang, the mandala,the cross, the symbol for infinity, and otherstylized, geometric designs have long beenused as aids to meditation, prayer, study,insight, and personal growth. Meditatingon these symbols expands consciousnessand opens the door to spiritual growth.Religious symbols create a certain state ofmind in people, often described as feelingsof well-being, serenity, and a sense of themysterious. These are aspirations towardshigher consciousness, towards enlighten-ment. Crop circles often appear near an-cient archaeological sites that were onceused for prayer and meditation. People visitthese sites and almost always come awayfeeling rested and at peace. Is there a con-nection? There seems to be.

The crop circle mystery may very wellbe part of a broader spiritual plan, con-ceived by authors who, so far, prefer toremain anonymous.

Why would mankind need to be givena spiritual nudge?

The world is a tinderbox.

The Path / 35

On any given day, a war is ragingsomewhere on our planet. There are hatecrimes, kidnappings, political torture, ter-rorism, pollution, poverty, starvation, geno-cide, assassination, embezzling, drugaddiction, domestic violence, illiteracy,rape, murder, homelessness….

The list goes on and on and on, and itall adds up to one undeniable fact: Theworld needs a spiritual nudge; a push to-wards the higher aspirations of peace andenlightenment.

An important fact to keep in mindwhen attempting to fully understand thecrop circle mystery is that the phenom-enon not only manifests itself in beautifulgeometries that speak to the humanyearning for harmony and brotherhood,but also that these magnificent pictogramsare formed with an obvious respect forthe plants involved; they embody a non-destructive modus operandi that does notkill. This “regard for life” is unquestion-ably subliminally communicated to thosewho experience crop circles, and all re-port being fully aware that they were inthe presence of something mysteriousand special.

Simply seeing these formations elicitsthis identical feeling of well-being. Peoplein aircraft flying above the fields have re-ported a sense of serenity when looking atcrop formations from above. There seemsto be absolutely no difference between theeffect of the crop circles on people fromthe ground or from the air.

We are living in difficult times. Every-one knows this. And we are all searchingfor answers. Right after September 11,2001, attendance at churches around theworld rose dramatically for a spell. Theyearning for answers, and the longing forpeace is everywhere.

Perhaps the crop circle mystery’s pur-pose is to move mankind into a mindset inwhich the most positive elements of human

nature will be brought to the forefront, andacted upon with passion.

1.9 Intelligent Design?Let us permit nature to have her way;

she understands her business better thanwe do.

—Michel de Montaigne

I believe that there is an intelligencebehind the creation of crop circles. It isapparent to me that intelligent design isvisible in the authentic formations; the“hand of an author,” if you will.

The placement of these designs seempurposeful to me: it is clear that they wereintended to be seen, and that their beautyand fascinating geometric patterns wereintended to intrigue us, and to stimulate us.This again speaks to intelligent design anddeliberate purpose.

Bolstering this view is the fact thatthere is consistent, ongoing interaction be-tween the phenomenon and the research-ers; some might say the phenomenonresponds to the researchers.

There have been cases involving thedesign and placement of formations thatargue against simple coincidence. For in-stance, there are reports in the literature inwhich an identical pattern has appeared afew days after the original pattern wasplowed under. Why? And what can thismean? This has only happened when a for-mation was destroyed before researchershad a chance to study it. Again, it is as ifthe intelligence behind the mystery wantsto be sure that those who are paying atten-tion receive all the information they areattempting to communicate to them.

We do not know the nature of this in-telligence. I have been lambasted in the pastfor using the word “intelligence” somewhatimprecisely. I was excoriated because manypeople interpreted my use of the word “in-telligence” to mean aliens. Extraterrestrials.


Thus, I use the word cautiously now,and when I do, I am careful to explain that“intelligence” can mean many things, andthat I am not specifically referring to E.T.coming down and making crop circles.

For instance, there is an intelligence tothe human immune system. This complexbiological system continually evaluatesthreats to the human body and, in a sense,“decides” when to respond to danger andattack the intruder. This type of automatic,non-human “thinking” goes on in varyingdegrees of complexity and sophisticationthroughout the entire spectrum of life forms.

I am using this analogy vis-a-vis cropcircles to illustrate that it is possible thatthe manifestations that we all can see—the authentic patterns and designs—couldbe an autonomic response from the earth,similar to the innate, and undeniably intelli-gent responses of the human immune sys-tem. This does not demand a conscious

entity “wielding the controls,” so to speak.It simply reacts as a highly functioningbiosystem, much like the human body, orthe global ecosphere.

The concept of intelligence does notalways have to include use of tools and thedevelopment of language.

Nature is intelligent. It reasons, itthinks, it responds. Astronaut EdgarMitchell, the 12th man to walk on the moon,believes that the universe itself is an intelli-gent, self-correcting entity.1

Intelligence does not always requireconsciousness. Sometimes, intelligent ac-tion is simply part and parcel of the matrixof all reality.

Notes1 Stephen Spignesi, The UFO Book ofLists.

This formation appeared close to the town of Devizes, Wiltshire, England in the year 2000.The pattern was joined within days by other significant formations in nearby fields.

What Are Crop Circles? / 37

Chapter 2What Are Crop Circles?

37

2.1 Crop Circles:a Definition of Terms

Crop circles are circular shapes usu-ally found in cereal crops in which the veg-etation is bent over at right angles andspiraled into an often complex pattern. Au-thentic crop circles show no damage tothe plants, unlike hoaxed circles in whichthe stalks are broken and crushed. In au-thentic crop circles, the plants are gentlybent over, yet continue to grow. The plantsin faked circles are often killed by the“circlemakers.”

Initially, in the early years of the 20thcentury manifestations of this phenom-enon, the shapes were nothing more thansimple circles. In later years, the patternsactually became much more complex, andhave consisted of combinations of com-plex geometric designs, including straightlines, spirals, angles, and other clearly dis-cernible and recognizable patterns.

2.2 NumbersThere have been 3,000 fully docu-

mented crop circles that have occurred inthe last two decades. In my master data-base of crop circle formations, there areover 10,000 documented formations. Therewere over 700 crop circles during 1991.This was the highest number of occur-rences during the last 20 years, but on av-erage, approximately 200 crop designsappear worldwide each year.

2.3 Obvious IntelligenceIt is clear to me that the evidence is

growing exponentially that whatever orwhomever is involved in the creation ofthe genuine crop circles around the worldhas a collective “mind.” There seems tobe a consciousness at the very source ofthe formations, and it is obvious that thereis thought involved. Where or what thatsource is at this moment in our history, and

They contain information which is as much about our past as our future. They aresubtle nudges, tweaks you might say, to our consciousness. The information gives us

vital building blocks, which will help with changing our attitudes and actions towardslife on our planet. You could say we are looking at our future and as long as we are

open to that idea, it will take us to a new place,

—Colin Andrews on The Sally Jesse Raphael Show


in the history of the phenomenon, is verydifficult to ascertain. However, I believethat we are all involved in a process, thefinal goal of which is a complete under-standing of precisely what is going on. Anintegral part of this process is the continu-ing interaction between the events in thefields and the researchers. In some cases,this interaction includes a few of the peoplethat are making some of the formations(that is, the hoaxers). I suspect that we areall players in an enormous cosmic play, andthat we all have our part. I do not thinkthat many of us—researchers, farmers,witnesses, and hoaxers—fully understandwhat our ultimate role will actually be.

2.4 MagicMy fascination with crop circles is, in

essence and at its core, a deep-rooted be-wilderment. I continually marvel at the lackof human presence, and I revel in the magi-cal atmosphere that exists when I visit theseformations. The feeling is palpable. Thereis something elusive and thrilling at thesites of the authentic formations. I reallycannot define it; nor can I measure it, butit is there: a tangible sense of...well, magicmight be the right word. What is remark-able about this feeling for me is that, out-side of crop circles, I have onlyexperienced this sense of awe in churchesand cathedrals—special places where thereis clearly an undercurrent of revelation.

Sometimes, some of us seem to be ca-pable of receiving “transmissions” fromother places, other states of being, otherdimensions. Many of us often talk aboutintuition, hunches, the feeling that some-one is watching us, or the knowledge thatsomeone is talking about us. We seem tohave a kind of sensory radar that sometimesallows us to pick up messages that speakto us without words. There is usually norational explanation for these kinds of ex-periences, but I have personally felt this

sense of awareness when visiting authen-tic crop formations, and it continues to fas-cinate me. I am constantly trying to learnmore about it.

2.5 Crop Circles of the PastThere are many historical accounts of

crop circle formations before the 20th cen-tury, some going back many hundreds ofyears.

The first recorded account of an eventthat has many of the characteristics com-mon to the formation of a crop circle datesfrom August 8, 1590, and was detailed in abook published in 1686 called The Natu-ral History of Stafford-Shire by RobertPlott.

A peasant named Nicolae Lang-Bernhand was walking to his home aroundmidday that day when he noticed somepeculiar activity going on in a field by theside of the road. Upon closer investigation,he saw a group of people dancing in a circlein the field. Upon even closer investiga-tion (close enough to see their legs and feet)he saw that some of them had cloven feet.As Lang-Bernhand observed them, thedancers all suddenly rose into the air anddisappeared. In the field where they hadbeen cavorting appeared a circular inden-tation, which remained on the ground un-til the farmer who owned the field plowedit under the following harvest time. Accord-ing to Plott, many people from the sur-rounding area visited the crop circle whileit existed. No mention is made of what hap-pened to the cloven-foot dancers. Plott alsostates that powerful whirlwinds rose upduring this event, and that one of them wasstrong enough to pick up the farmer andcarry him to a field some distance away.

A measure of skepticism is called forwhen evaluating this account since it was,after all, recounted almost 100 years after itsupposedly took place. But even if we stripaway some of the more fanciful elements


of the story (such as the cloven-foot danc-ers and the daylight vanishing), the essenceof the tale is that a crop circle appeared ina field, and many people witnessed it.

In John Aubrey’s Natural History, thestory is told of a school teacher who, in1633, saw fairies and elves dancing in afield and then spoke of “the green circlesmade by those spirits on the grass.”

And later still, recorded in Englishfolklore dating back to 1678, there wasreference to an event that many of us to-day might describe as an account of theformation of a crop circle. There are dif-ferences in some of the specifics of thecase, but there are too many similaritiesto a classic report of a crop circle to dis-miss it out of hand.

The event occurred in Hertfordshire,England. In writings of the time, the localpeople speak of a fiery devil coming outof the sky and cutting a circle in a field ofoats—again, cereal crops—in a village inHertfordshire. A woodcut exists of whathas come to be known as a “mowingdevil,” a horned and tailed creature cut-ting through a field of oats with a scythe.

The story is told of a farmer whoasked a local laborer what he would

charge to cut his field of oats. Apparentlythe farmer was not too pleased with thelaborer’s estimate, and so they argued,reportedly with great choler and exchang-ing of curses.

The farmer had the final say, though,when he declared boldly and with seem-ingly little Christian fear, that he wouldrather pay the devil himself to mow hisfield than fork over the exorbitant amountdemanded by the worker. “May the Devilreap it!” he is reputed to have shouted.The laborer stormed off, the farmerstormed off, and the fields remained un-cut, until later that evening. Supposedly,the farmer’s oat field was bathed in a fi-ery light. The following morning, his en-tire crop was neatly cut, arrayed in “roundcircles.”

There are many other similar refer-ences dating from the 15th century in En-gland. Many can be dismissed as purefiction, although one could see the medi-eval mind interpreting natural phenomenaas paranormal occurrences.

Moving into the 19th century, one ofthe most compelling accounts of this phe-nomena comes from 1880. In a letter pub-lished in the July 29, 1880 issue of Nature,

A 1678 depiction of what many believe to be the formation of a crop circle.


John Rand Capron reports on an anoma-lous event he witnessed in a field nearGuildford in Surrey, England:

The storms about this part of Sur-rey have been lately local and vio-lent, and the effects produced in someinstances curious. Visiting aneighbour’s farm on Wednesdayevening [July 21, 1880], we found afield of standing wheat considerablyknocked about, not as an entirety, butin patches forming, as viewed from adistance, circular spots.

Examined more closely, these allpresented much the same character,viz., a few standing stalks as a center,some prostrate stalks with their headsarranged pretty evenly in a directionforming a circle round the center, andoutside these a circular wall of stalkswhich had not suffered.

I sent a sketch made on the spot,giving an idea of the most perfect ofthese patches. The soil is a sandyloam upon the greensand, and thecrop is vigorous, with strong stems,and I could not trace locally any cir-cumstances accounting for the pe-culiar forms of the patches in thefield, nor indicating whether it waswind or rain, or both combined,which had caused them, beyond thegeneral evidence everywhere ofheavy rainfall. They were suggestiveto me of some cyclonic wind action,and may perhaps have been noticedelsewhere by some of your readers.

There are also accounts of crop circlesfrom the early years of the 20th century.

After the broadcast of a BBC programon which I appeared and talked about thefield in which I saw my first crop circle in1983, I was contacted by a farmer namedChapel. Mr. Chapel told me that from 1923to 1925, his farm had been on the parcel of

land I showed on the program, and that inthat same field, he had witnessed four cropcircles form a square. Also, farmers inWhiteparish, Wiltshire saw simple circlesin 1946 and 1947.

In 1966 in Tully Queensland Austra-lia, farmers witnessed aerial phenomenaafter which crop circles appeared. Vegeta-tion was seen to spiral and collapse in cir-cular forms.

In the mid-1960s at the Stonehenge site,a farmer witnessed simple circles but didnot report it until just recently. In that fieldtoday, there are complex geometric shapes,a seeming evolution from the simple circlesthe farmer saw in the mid-1960s.

From 1975 on, crop formations haveevolved and increased in complexity andgeographic distribution.

2.6 Crop Circlesand Sacred Sites

In 1985, my colleagues and I noticedsomething remarkable about the geographi-cal location of some crop circles. For yearswe had been gathering information aboutthe location of circles and their dimensions,and eventually it became clear to us thatthere were large clusterings of crop circlesaround what have come to be known as“sacred sites.”

As we continued to gather the data re-garding the location of the crop circles, itbecame evident that there were largeclusterings of formations around sacredsites in southern central England, particu-larly at Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill,and other ancient tumuli. My fellow re-searcher Freddy Silva now describes thisarea as “the heart of crop circle country.”

In later years, when we began to re-ceive reports from the United States aboutthe appearance of crop circles there, wewere not surprised to learn that many ofthem were very close to Indian burialgrounds.


This spurred us to look much more closelyat this element of the phenomena. Since thebeginning of our involvement with the mys-tery, we have had computers continuouslylooking for correlation in the massive amountsof data collected about crop circles.

That research has resulted in two con-nections that stand out dramatically: welearned that many of the crop formationsappear close to circular archaeologicalsites and/or underground water reservoirs.Those are the two major correlations, butwith the archaeological connection—theappearance of formations near ancientsites—there is more to it than simply prox-imity.

The dimensions of crop formationsthat are near specific circular sacred sitesare very similar proportionally.

2.7 StonehengeI recall a day back in 1985 when my

friend and fellow researcher, pilot BustyTaylor, casually told me something that hadoccurred to him one day as he was flyingover Stonehenge. During his flight, he sud-denly realized that he was looking at approxi-mately the same proportions in Stonehengeas in the crop circles that he had just re-cently begun to see from the air. This wassomething of a revelatory moment for all ofus, but we needed some kind of confirma-tion for Busty’s “hunch.” For the next sixmonths, we looked again at all the data wehad compiled, and we concluded that his in-tuition had been correct.

Astonishingly, we discovered that thedimensions of the earliest simple circles, thefirst circles with rings around them, and thefirst double circles, were all within centime-ters of the dimensions of the horseshoe semi-circle of the Stonehenge monument. Wewere looking at the same geometry, the sameproportions, the same scale.

This has continued, and sacred sites inother countries also reflect this relationship.

In Malta, for example, there are churchesand temples built with the same “sacredgeometry” scale and proportions.

Throughout history, man has foundthat certain geometric configurations—many of which are mirrored in nature—are meaningful to us as a species.

We don’t know the reason for this at-traction—this intuitive appeal or “pull” thatcertain shapes and proportions have—butit is real, and it is common.

Certain geometric patterns involvingarcs, angles, circles, squares, and othershapes and dimensions are manifested innature. The perfect spiral of the Nautilusshell is a dramatic example.

The Golden Mean is a ratio of anglesand squares that create this perfect spiral.And it is an element that is found in manynatural formations and living beings. It isour suspicion that the seemingly intentional(or at the least, repetitive) use of the GoldenMean design in many crop circles may bea tool that is being used by some higherpower to communicate with us.

Are the circular swirls present in manycrop circles somehow related to the dimen-sions and location of the pyramids?

Is there a connection between themathematical properties of the GoldenMean and the earth’s natural magneticlines of energy?

These questions are still being askednow, decades after the first simple circleappeared, and we are getting closer to adefinitive answer. That answer may ulti-mately prove that there is an undeniableconnection between a simple nautical shell,the complex spirals of crop circles, and theeternal, evolving universe.

Stonehenge, for instance, is believedby many to be a stone monument built onthe site of an early crop circle. This theorycontends that the ancients discovered acomplex crop formation, probably believedit was a divine message, prayed over it and


in it, and then spent years, perhaps decadesor longer, putting up giant stone markersexactly duplicating the layout of the origi-nal formation, assuring that this messagefrom the gods, would be visible and re-membered in perpetuity.

This theory cannot be proven, ofcourse, but even a cursory examination ofStonehenge’s triptychs leads the viewerreflexively to mentally “fill in the blanks”where stones are broken or missing. It doesnot take a great deal of imagination to pic-ture what the original Stonehenge monu-ment might have looked like, and torecognize its similarity to countless cropcircle patterns.

2.8 Sacred Geometry“Sacred” geometry comprises shapes,

equations, dimensions, and ratios that havebeen applied to designs, art, and architec-ture over millennia, especially hallowedbuildings such as churches, cathedrals, andtemples; and prayer and meditation designssuch as mandalas.

The Romans, the Greeks, the Celts,and other early peoples used these sacredratios in the construction of their build-ings and in their artwork, providing evi-dence of their knowledge of thesedimensions, all of which mirror nature—from the spiral of the Nautilus shell, tothe spiral galaxies of the cosmos.

2.9 The TriangleThere is a geographical triangle in

southern central England in which manycrop formations have appeared. The exist-ence and identification of this phantasmaltriangle is very important to me because Idid not recognize its parameters at first. Tothis day, I believe I was deliberately givena message, which I will explain in detail, tosteer me in the direction of understandingits significance.

In the early years of my research, Istudied crop formations one by one. At thattime, I was focused on understanding eachnew crop circle, and documenting its spe-cific characteristics and details. I knew in-tuitively that there had to be some kind ofconnection, some kind of yet uncoverednexus that would link them all and perhapsexplain what was going on, but my atten-tion was mostly focused on each singlemanifestation as it appeared.

What I did do, however, was mount alarge map of England on my office walland, when a new crop circle appeared, Iwould place a colored push pin on the mapat its location. Each year was representedby a different color pin, and thus I wentabout my business, placing a pin whenevera new formation appeared.

As the months passed, more pins wentinto the map. But there did not seem to bea pattern or an alignment—at least to myeyes. I was careful to record each new for-mation, but the placement of the pinsseemed random and unconnected. Therewere the occasional clusters of appear-ances, near Stonehenge and Silbury Hill,but I failed to see a particular overall pat-tern to their arrangement.

As I continued my research, I wouldoften collect plants and soil from insidecrop circles. Usually, these went to labs foranalysis; occasionally, they remained withme for a time. During one field trip to acrop circle in Wantage, England on Sep-tember 4, 1986, I took a soil sample frominside the formation, and then left the areaprecisely at 4:15 p.m. I returned to myhome office, placed the soil sample on mydesk, and then put it out of my mind as Icollated my notes, and tended to householdduties and dinner.

That night—actually the morning ofSeptember 5—something exceedinglystrange happened.


Intruder alarm activations began to oc-cur at my home at precisely 4:15 in the morn-ing. My wife and I, as well as our daughter,were always sound asleep, and the alarmswould wake us, and, of course, terriblyfrighten us. Bright lights would blaze on; buzz-ers would blare. Everyone in my house wouldawaken, as well as several of my neighbors,none of whom, as might be expected, werevery pleased about what was happening. Thiswent on for 14 nights in a row. I am an Elec-trical Engineer and have designed home alarmsystems, so I checked everything out, andthe equipment was functioning perfectly.

One night after the alarm went off yetagain, I walked, mystified and groggy, intomy computer room where I had severalcomputer systems working to record andevaluate all the crop circle data I had beencompiling. I kept asking myself why wasthis sophisticated alarm system repeatedlygoing off at 4:15 every morning?

I sat down at my desk, and my gazeautomatically rose to the map on the wall.I had stared at this map countless times,and yet this time, something struck meabout the placement of the color-codedpush pins. “What was I seeing?” I askedmyself. What was I seeing?

Then it hit me. In a moment of insightthat struck me like a cold wind in the facewhile standing in the middle of a desert, Irealized that the locations of the crop for-mations I had recorded in southern centralEngland formed a perfect equilateral tri-angle. The three points of the triangle wereWantage in Oxfordshire, Winchester inHampshire, and Warminster in Wiltshire,known as England’s “UFO capital” for itsplethora of UFO sightings.

The sides of the triangle were corri-dors several miles wide rather than per-fectly straight lines, but the configurationof the triangle was undeniable.

Colin Andrews in the office where he discovered the Wessex Triangle crop circle alignment.


I was flabbergasted.Instead of seeing this obvious design, I

had been looking through it for years, andall the while it had been hiding in plainsight.

I instinctively knew that this was anexceedingly important development, andso I grabbed my ruler and compass. Plac-ing a point at the center of each of the threetowns of the equilateral triangle, I measuredthe sides of the triangle.

The length of each of the three sidesof the triangle was 41.5 miles.

This triangle has come to be known asthe Wessex Triangle and it is still wherethe vast majority of total worldwide cropcircle activity occurs.

All the hair on my neck and arms stoodup when I realized what this meant. I hadbeen sent a message; a message that hadtaken me time to comprehend.

The 4:15 alarm activations ceased thatvery day. Experiencing this revelationreached deep inside me, and moved mealmost beyond words.

I had been sent a message. I believedit then, I believe it now.

This acceptance has been difficult forme, and an ongoing struggle. The engineerside of me is always doing battle with myintuitive side. I have repeatedly asked my-self why I did not recognize this myself onmy own, without “help” from whateverintelligence or force is behind this phenom-ena. This was clearly something I neededto know, and yet I was not able to makethe breakthrough myself. It had beendropped right into my lap, and yet I missedit. I have accepted this as a part of the learn-ing curve, but I now try to pay more atten-tion to that intuitive voice when I hear itspeak to me. I realize now that not all theanswers I am seeking will come from in-tellectual reasoning.

This experience convinced me that Iwas involved in something very unusual,

and it was, ultimately, the incident that putan end to my first marriage.

At some point during my last day in thehouse, I stood at the top of the stairs, and Isensed a presence. The feeling was quitevivid and very real to me, but I did not seeanything and I did not know what it meant.

I carried on with my business, and thatwas that. I did not sense this presence againfor quite some time. However, two yearslater, something quite unusual happened,and I suspect it may have been the being orspirit from that day when I discovered the415 link.

I was sitting at my desk when suddenly,out of nowhere, a male voice said, quiteclearly and distinctly, “What are you do-ing?” The emphasis was on the word “are”and I immediately interpreted it to mean, Iam disappointed—you’re not getting it.

I have replayed that moment over andover in my mind many times since that day,and I still do not know where that voicecame from, or if my interpretation of thequestion asked of me was correct. Again,the engineer in me began to think techni-cally: I began to muse about how such avoice could be projected in free space, butI knew that this was the wrong approach.The realm of known physics was not theplace I needed to visit to understand whathad happened.

The questioner had imparted informa-tion to me. Yes, a question had been asked,but by the inflection in his voice, I knewthat the answer could actually be foundwithin the question itself.

I sensed disappointment, and I knewthat I was being told that I was erring inmy approach to the mystery.

I had overlooked the 41.5 miles in-formation and I viscerally knew that Iwas not paying attention to what wastruly important.

I was spending days at the com-puter, typing in ratios and dimensions and


locations and measurements—mountains ofboring, and perhaps meaningless, informa-tion—all the while ignoring the intuitiveknowledge being offered to me; the wis-dom being presented to me in the fieldsthemselves, each time I visited a new cropcircle.

Pay attention, I was being told.This I knew at my very core.Pay attention.Heed your senses. See with your third

eye. Listen to your inner voices.And thus I silenced the engineer, and

began to seek the truth. A verse from theUpanishads tells us “He who has foundTruth, seeks no more; the riddle issolved...he is at peace.” And the Chinesephilosopher Lao Tzu tells us “the spiritualand the material, though we call them bydifferent names, in their origin are one andthe same. This sameness is a mystery—the mystery of mysteries. It is the gate ofall wonders.”

Since my experience of being awak-ened to the power of knowing withoutthinking, I have been trying to truly under-stand the mystery.

2.10 A New Language?A friend of mine who is a well-known

authority in higher consciousness and theparanormal recently told me that he wasconvinced that authentic crop formationswere a form of friendly communicationbecause the circles were public, gentle, andbenign. He told me he believed that a higherintelligence would choose just such a formof communication because it was notthreatening or damaging, and it was also amethod that did not require advanced edu-cation or scientific training to understand.He suggested the possibility that the sumtotal of the genuine crop circles amountedto a new, unknown language that we wouldultimately need to translate to understand.

I was extremely interested in myfriend’s thoughts and it occurred to me uponreflection that our own attempt at com-municating with alien life forms (theMarch, 1972, Pioneer 10 plaque sent intospace, currently 7.5 billion miles awayfrom Earth) likewise used symbols anddrawings to communicate a message.

I do believe that the authentic cropformations are an attempt to communicate,but I am not convinced that “language” isthe right word to describe the means ofcommunication.

Rather, it is a new, symbolic, terralinguisticgeography that is intended to arouse emo-tion, and I wholeheartedly agree with myfriend that these symbols are intended to beseen.

They have been deliberately placed infields of cereal crops—life-giving vegeta-tion that has been planted by man—andbecause of their placement, they were guar-anteed to be seen. The natural growth cycleassures that the farmer and his family andcrew will return to the fields to harvest theircrops; plus, the open fields guarantee thatpassersby will also see the huge, beautifulagriglyphs etched into the acreage.

Pictograms are not found in lifelessdesert sands, or scratched into cold, inhos-pitable rocks. They are found in crops thatwill feed people. And, as we discussed ear-lier, the plants found in crop circles do notdie. They continue to grow, often with in-creased vitality.

The glyphmakers want to engage us,and now they have. It took us over fourcenturies to catch on, but now many of usrealize we are being “spoken” to. We rec-ognize the crop formations as being themeans of communication. And we areworking enthusiastically to understand theauthors’ message.

It has been suggested to me that thedesigns of all the authentic crop circles in


the world constitute pieces of a massivepuzzle, and that man has been given the“assignment,” so to speak, of collecting theindividual pieces, dismissing the hoaxes,assembling the puzzle, and figuring out itsmeaning.

What I have learned is that there aredifferent crop designs found in differentcountries around the world, and I suspectthat they all may be part of a huge mes-sage to all peoples, being parceled out tous in individual sections. The notion ofone overall communication may havesome validity. No matter how varied theactual formations found in countriesother than England (where the majorityare still found), we may ultimately learnthat the totality of the information is thesame everywhere. In less-developedcountries, we find that the designs areless complex than in the more industri-alized regions of the world.

And what is that information? First andforemost would seem to be the environ-mental message that the planet is ailing. Inall countries, the authentic patterns havearrived as simple geometries that mirror an-cient markings. All are identical in designthroughout the world.

I contend that this is a deliberate ployto secure our attention. There is a para-digm in the appearance, presence, andeventual decay or destruction of the cropdesigns, which I believe illustrates a stateof chaos in our natural vegetation, on a glo-bal scale.

When one attempts to find meaning inthis model, the deterioration of our envi-ronment comes immediately to mind. Oneof the most convincing elements of this ar-chetype is that the exponential rate of de-terioration of the individual crops in whichpatterns appear is mirrored by the rate ofdegradation of the world’s crops—as mea-sured especially by the expanding aggre-gate of toxic chemicals in our food.

Remember: Many of the designs appear inour world’s vegetation that is at greatestrisk of damage from environmental impact.

There seems to be a deliberate at-tempt to make the message understand-able, no matter where the crop circlesappear.

I have been working for years togather all the data I can from all over theworld, and make this information avail-able to scientists, engineers, researchers,politicians, and other interested parties. Ibelieve it is important to collect all thepieces and make the sum total of the in-formation readily available to anyonewho wants to see it.

I do believe that the overall messagewill only make sense when we see all thepieces of the puzzle.

2.11 To Every Season,Turn, Turn, Turn...

I am frequently asked about what hap-pens to crop circles. Because there is of-ten an emotional component involved forpeople who have seen, or who have beeninside crop circles, there is great interest intheir fate when the seasons change. I amasked, “Do farmers simply plow them un-der?” Is there ever an effort made to per-manently preserve crop formations—andis that even possible?

The sequence of events that plays outwith the crop circle mystery is all part ofnature’s way, and, personally, I consider itquite a wonderful cycle.

As we have seen, crop circles and pic-tograms appear in cereal crops, whichmeans that they are, in a sense, in our food.Life-giving grains are the paints and theearth is the canvas the authors use to formthese incredible designs. Nature’s way isfor seed to be planted, crops to be grownand harvested, and then food to be madewith the harvested grain. One cannot helpbut wonder if this is all part of the plan.


The force creating the authentic crop for-mations must be cognizant of the cycle ofplanting, growing, and harvesting; it mustbe aware of the change of seasons and thecold slumber of the earth in the winter.

Crop formations appear in grown cropswhere they will be most visible, but wherethey will soon disappear.

I have always sensed an inherent re-spect in the crop circle mystery—a respectfor this cyclical pattern that results in life-sustaining nourishment.

It is also quite revealing to me—andquite important, I suspect—that some cropdesigns re-appear if the first formation isignored. We have evidence showing that ifsomeone did not acknowledge a particularformation and photograph it, measure it,and study it, an almost identical design willappear the following growing season.

It is almost as if we are being told si-lently to look carefully, think clearly, andtry to understand. If the genuine forma-tions are, indeed, a symbolic geographic lan-guage, then perhaps we are being told weshould not skip a page—or a chapter.

Crop formations are erased from thelandscape. What is special one day, is re-moved the next. I think this also signifiesthat it is not crucial that we understandeverything immediately. The energy I havepersonally felt in crop circles is patient. Itis positive and respectful of all life. Thereis nothing aggressive, nothing threatening,nothing frightening. I believe this is inten-tional, and that the use of the growth cycleas the means of communication is an im-portant part of the message, as well as be-ing the vehicle by which we are beingspoken to.

2.12 The FarmersI am often asked about the farmers on

whose fields crop formations appear. Howdo the farmers respond when a crop circleappears in their crops? Are they angry?

Do they avoid that area of their field, so asto leave it pristine? Do they ever prosecutetrespassers when a known hoax formationappears? Do they welcome visitors? Arethey resentful of the attention? Or are themajority of them embracing of the phenom-enon, if not the trespassing hoaxers?

There are many answers to these ques-tions, and I will discuss them from twoperspectives: the early years of the phe-nomenon, and the way things are today.

In the beginning, the farmers wereelated when a crop circle appeared on theirland. Farmers felt privileged to have been“chosen,” so to speak, and they were genu-inely pleased at the sudden manifestationof a crop circle—whether it was a simplecircle, or one of the more complex designs.In the early years, farmers considered it anhonor.

Farmers would gather their families atthe site, and they would call their friends tocome and visit the wondrous and beautifulcreation that appeared in their fields. I havearrived at the scene of a crop circle to findthe farmer ushering friends and familymembers through the formation, acting al-most as a tour guide.

That is still the case today with somefarmers, but they are fewer in number asthe phenomenon continues, and as it con-tinues to be bastardized by the hoaxers,many of whom are well-organized andpersistent.

The crop circle phenomenon has beengoing on for decades now, with the major-ity of the formations occurring in the farm-lands of central southern England, and thepatience of many of the farmers in that areais growing thin.

We live in a world where we expectexperts to give us immediate answers. Ifsomething happens, we expect round-the-clock TV coverage, constant media at-tention, and an army of authorities andexperts telling us everything we could


possibly need or want to know, along witha great deal of information for which wehave absolutely no use. A new ailment?Give us the medicine that will cure it. Anew disaster? Send in the rescue effortsand then tell us exactly how the tragedyhappened.

A mysterious phenomenon? Explain it.And that is where the rules change.

Crop circles are real, and while we havemany theories to explain them, the experts—including myself—are somewhat baffled bythis Earth anomaly, this planetary mystery.We have not been able to provide all theanswers to all the questions about this ex-traordinary enigma.

The crop circles have not goneaway. Farmers have improved their se-curity, locked their gates, and put barbedwire around their fields, and yet theystill keep appearing. And the farmers’resolve is being tested.

The hoaxers have compounded theproblem by treating farmers’ private prop-erty as public land. And so we have en-tered phase two of the phenomenon, whichis marked by frustration and, in some cases,anger.

The anger comes when people do notrespect the land. Here are hard-workingmen and women trying to make a livingoff the land, and they have to contend withpeople tramping through their fields.

Much of the visitors’ behavior showsa horrid lack of respect. Crop circle tour-ists have left gates open and there havebeen instances where cattle have walkedout onto the highways and been killed.There have been cases where tourists havetrod over healthy crops with such careless-ness that they have damaged or killed theplants.

In addition to the circus in the fields,there is also the question of liability.

Farmers are, in the end, the ones re-sponsible for the safety of the people on

their land. When cereal crops are very dry,they are very combustible, and one singledropped cigarette could turn acres of cropsinto an inferno. One lit cigarette could wipeout 100 acres of ripened wheat in minutes.Fires in the field happen regularly whenharvesters overheat, but the difference isthat the farmer can usually put it outquickly, and there aren’t dozens, or in manycases, hundreds of people milling about atthe site of the blaze.

In central southern England, there arepatterns that have hundreds of people inthem at any one time. People come fromall over the world to see them, and it is nottoo difficult to imagine what goes througha farmer’s mind when he sees all thesestrangers walking through his fields. Manycrop tourists are quite a distance away fromthe road when they are visiting and photo-graphing crop formations. If a fire started,and a wall of flames fed by the ripenedwheat began racing across the fields, wouldthe visitors be able to outrun it?

How many would die?How many would be seriously burned?How much damage would be done to

the crops?What would be the farmer’s personal

liability?Would he lose his farm?These are the questions that run

through farmers’ minds these days.Added to all these liability worries is

the added stress of the questions and tauntsfrom friends, relatives, and the public.When a formation appears on a farmer’sland, he is often questioned about its au-thenticity. The media has convinced manypeople that all crop formations aremanmade, and farmers have to deal withthose kinds of questions, in addition to theaccusations that they are the ones respon-sible for the formation.

Many of the questions asked of themby friends and the media are outside their


realm of expertise. Some farmers are ex-tremely cooperative with researchers andI have been granted very generous accom-modations for my work. Sometimes, farm-ers will harvest around a formation andthen allow us in to take our notes and pho-tographs before finishing the field. If theyare asked with respect, and we agree towork around their schedule and needs, thenmany are very helpful.

2.13 Anything for a Price?As a response to the problem of

masses of people wanting to visit crop for-mations, farmers, of late, have been agree-ing to allow visitors on their land, but for afee.

Many farmers came to the unavoidableconclusion that they needed to have somemeans of recompense for the damage doneto their fields, as well as for the time theyhad to spend babysitting camera-ladencroppies in their fields. They needed to fig-ure out how to manage the large numbersof people and researchers coming onto theirland, and many decided to charge peoplean admittance fee.

As often happens in human endeavorsthat involve money, the profit motive some-times takes over. This has happened withsome farmers who turned their crop for-mations into a money-making business.

This has caused problems, finger-pointing, and accusations of profiteering,because most of the farmers who initiallybegan to charge an admission fee said theydid so only to recoup their losses. A farmerin Alton Barnes, for instance, sustaineddamage to his crops worth approximately$650. The formation on his land was oneof the first multiple pictograms and he ul-timately collected almost $9,000 frommembers of the public who wanted to seethe formation.

Money was made, and it is not an enor-mous leap to imagine a farmer willingly

allowing a hoax formation to be made andthen charging people to see it.

I personally know of farmers who havecharged crop hoaxers a fee and then al-lowed them to create a formation on theirland. The standard fee has been hoveringbetween $150 and $350. During a recenttrip to England, I spoke to one farmer whohad allowed crop circle artists to make fiveformations on his land, and he chargedthem a little over $300 for each one. Theartists needed a place to make them, andthey and the farmer worked out a deal. Thiswas all done out in the open and, frankly, Ithink this is a much better arrangement thancrop artists trespassing onto a farmer’s landin the middle of the night. In those cases,formations would “mysteriously” appearand then researchers such as myself wouldneed to commit resources—money andpeople—to researching something whichappeared unbeknownst to the farmer.

When a fee is charged and everyoneknows what’s going on, it allows seriousattention—and the commitment of verylimited resources—to the genuine crop for-mations. The artists can do their thing, andwe can then devote our efforts to the realthing.

Regarding these “art for a price” cases,though, to the best of my knowledge, I havenot heard of profit being made from charg-ing people to see it, and in the majority ofcases, the work is made solely for the pur-pose of creating experiential art. This isquite different from deliberately having aformation made, passing it off as real, andcharging people to see it.

I do not know of one single case wherea farmer has actually encouraged peopleto come onto his land and make a cropcircle for financial gain.

Personally, I fully support farmerscharging an access fee to their land. Theexchange of money for a service is nobleand just, and it allows me and my fellow


researchers (as well as the interested public,of course) admittance onto private prop-erty without the fear of having a gun pointedat our backside. Money grants permission,and I am grateful for the opportunity to visitimportant sites, and I am more than happyto compensate the farmer.

2.14 Lighting the Way?There have been many reports of

golden lights seen above fields in whichcrop circles later appear. Sometimes, thelights are reported above existing cropcircles.

What are these lights, and do they haveanything to do with the making of cropcircles?

These lights, which are known as theAvebury Lights because of their prevalencein the Avebury area of central southernEngland, are self-luminous and can be seenduring the day. They have an amber, orgolden color at night, and are approximately14 inches in diameter. A great deal of filmfootage exists of these lights and I myself

have five “movies” of them, showing themmoving around seemingly purposefully.They have also been captured in still pho-tographs on 35 millimeter film.

They do not simply float; they flitabout above the fields and there have beentimes when I felt like they were readingmy mind and responding with specificmovements. Sometimes, they appear assilver balls, and I have gotten the impres-sion that they were made of aluminum orstainless steel, or some other flatly reflec-tive white metal.

These lights are so ubiquitous that ac-counts of them exist in English folklore andthere is actually a hill near Alton Barnes,near the East Field in Wiltshire known as“Golden Ball Hill.”

We do not have any evidence that thesegolden lights are involved in creating cropcircles. And yet, they seem to be aroundquite often in areas where crop circles ap-pear. Thus, the evidence is circumstantialand anecdotal, but there certainly doesseem to be some kind of association.

This design was discovered during the filming of the movie, A Place To Stay. This photo-graph was also chosen by Disney to promote the movie, Signs.

The Undeniable Evidence / 51

Chapter 3The Undeniable Evidence

Facts in Search of a Theory

51

3.1 BiologyThe plants inside crop circles are

changed in a way that is beyond humanability.

—Joseph E. Mason

There are definite biological changesto crops taken from crop circle formationsbelieved to be authentic.

William C. Levengood, an eminentbiophysicist at the Pinelandia Laboratoriesin Michigan, has looked at the plants fromcrop circles from many countries for a num-ber of years. What he has discovered isthat the internal structure of the plants ischanged at the cellular level, and that thecell pit walls within the structure of theplants are fractured and have expanded.What is important about these findings isthat this effect has most assuredly not beenreplicated by human beings tramping onplants.

Along the length of cereal crops are“knuckles” known as nodes. These nodes

What is a scientist after all? It is a curious man looking through a keyhole,thekeyhole of nature, trying to know what’s going on.

—Jacques Cousteau

allow the plant to return to the vertical po-sition if they are somehow placed in thehorizontal position during their growthperiod. These nodes normally expandslightly during growth, and this expansionis a common effect known to farmers allover the world.

The nodal expansion in crops takenfrom within crop circles is extremely un-usual when compared to normal nodal ex-pansion: the ratio of expansion is greatlyincreased and this effect is specific to cropsfound in what are believed to be genuinecrop formations. This greatly amplifiednodal expansion, again, can not be dupli-cated by counterfeit circlemakers stomp-ing around a field with boards and twine.

According to Levengood, the largestexpansion occurs in the center, and to alesser degree, around the periphery of thecircles.

There is a profile of enlargement that isproportional to the profile of the real cropcircle from which it was taken. This appears


to be an explicit connection between thegeometries of the master circle and the di-mensions of the nodal expansion.

And once again, this is not found inhoaxed circles.

Interestingly, Levengood has also de-termined that there is magnetic materialimpregnated in some of the plants fromauthentic crop circles, as well as in the soiltaken from around those plants

This magnetic material, to date, hasonly also been found in a small number ofmeteorites. This would suggest that theconstruction of crop circles involves ener-gies from outside our planet and that somehigh-energy event may have been respon-sible for impregnating magnetic meteoriticmaterial inside the plants from crop for-mations.

Levengood has posited that microwaveradiation could cause many of the expul-sion cavities and nodal changes found incrop circle plant stalks. In fact, as part ofhis research at the Pinelandia Labs,

Levengood was able to duplicate the spe-cific nodal changes by exposing normalplants to microwaves. However, one ele-ment of the changed plants he could notduplicate through microwave exposure wasthe genetic changes to the nodes found incrop circle plants. Further work needs tobe done, but the early results seem to indi-cate that some type of microwave radia-tion, perhaps a form of energy still not fullyunderstood, may be responsible for thechanges in crop circle plants.

Levengood’s research has been criti-cized by skeptics, mostly for the allega-tion that he has not conducted much of hiswork in a double-blind manner. Thus, be-cause the very core of his research prac-tices are challenged, any results he obtainsare cavalierly dismissed as unreliable.

Closer study of his work is revealing,however, and regardless of the skeptics’immediate rejection of even the possibilityof a crop formation being “non-hoaxed,”there are distinct and quantifiable results in

The changes seen in starch crystals from plants taken from crop circles.


Levengood’s findings that are not found inknown hoaxed formations.

There is a great deal in Levengood’swork that should be taken seriously. He haswritten over 50 peer-reviewed papers, andI know for a fact that he does not embarkon a research protocol recklessly, or withless than the highest standards of control,monitoring, and recording.

Seed heads collected from plants in-side crop circles suspected of being authen-tic were malformed, and yet oftenmanifested speeded-up germination. Rapid,widespread heating of the nodes is presentin crop formations that show no evidenceof a human hand.

The negativity of ardent skeptics, in myopinion, does more harm than good. Skep-tics proceed from an agenda that statesunequivocally that paranormal events areimpossible, that they do not happen, andthat anyone who believes they do or takesthem seriously is at the least, deluded, andat the worst, crazy.

From my experience, I have deter-mined that there are two types of skep-tics: Type A and Type B. The Type A’sare malfeasant in intent and deliberatelyinterfere with research and progresswithin any field of endeavor. Their mindsetis one of malice, and they work diligentlyto stifle progress. The Type B’s, on theother hand, are open-minded (albeit ar-dently skeptical), and their input is essen-tial for rational debate.

Why would a scientist of the caliberof William Levengood, the holder of fivepatents—obviously, a serious man—com-mit time, resources, and his reputation tostudying something that is nothing but afantasy? Levengood is one of those cred-ible people, and I, for one, am not so readyto dismiss his work and his findings asnothing but a silly waste of time.

Perhaps he does not have all the an-swers. Perhaps his research could be more

extensive. Perhaps some of his findings arecontroversial.

But who does have all the answers?The skeptics? I doubt it. And what re-searcher couldn’t use more time and moneyto expand their work? And if some researchresults are perplexing and eyebrow-raising, well, isn’t that what the quest fortruth is all about?

All that said, however, I am doubtfulthat the truth about the crop circle phe-nomenon will ever be fully understoodusing just science. As I state repeatedlythroughout this volume, the answers maylie within us, and require looking throughthe lens of the soul, as well as the lens ofthe microscope.

3.2 RadiationSome years ago, the Center for Crop

Circle Studies (C.C.C.S.) commissioned aresearch project in which radiation wasmeasured in crop circles that were believedto be authentic. Some unusual radioactiveisotopes were found in a number of thesecrop circles.

The analysis of the results was donein a U.S. Government laboratory and,after the findings were made public, theprevailing opinion was that they werevery unusual and further research wasrecommended.

And then something odd happened.Within a few days of the announce-

ment of the findings, the government labo-ratory that had performed the analysissuddenly backpedaled and announced thata contamination within the laboratory hadbeen discovered, and that they now believedthat the results on the isotopic readings werea result of lingering contamination from anearlier experiment.

The tests were not repeated, and I nowbelieve that this clearly is something thatneeds to be looked at again. Currently, as itstands, the report was nullified by the claim


that contamination had resulted in incor-rect conclusions.

Personally, I have been carrying a Gei-ger counter into crop circles for manyyears, and have yet to discover anythingtruly unusual.

3.3 Robust uh, Growth?I would like to discuss briefly one of

the more unusual “benefits” attributed tospending time inside crop formations: ro-bust erections.

This has come to be known as the cropcircle “Viagra Effect,” and there have beenmen who have reported becoming arousedand achieving an erection while walkingthrough certain crop formations.

These claims have also been madeabout certain sacred sites in England suchas Silbury Hill, which is in the center of“crop circle country.” There is specula-tion among the believers that there is astrong connection to the archetype of theGoddess at Silbury Hill, and that a power-ful female energy—reported by both menand women—is present there. I myselfhave felt this energy while visiting the site.

As for erections, however, I believethat they are purely psychosomatic; thatis, they are created by the believer’s mind.When someone is told that somethingmight be possible, in many cases, this be-comes unquestionably possible in theirmind. And, thus, if someone walks into acrop formation believing that they may getan erection, in many cases they do, in-deed, get an erection.

Does this mean that it was caused bythe energies in the crop formation? Per-sonally, I tend to doubt it, and I myselfhave never had that type of physical re-action during any of my visits to the al-most 3,000 sites I have been in around theworld.

I do know men who have claimed theyhave gotten erections while standing inside

a crop circle, and who completely believeit was caused by the formation, but I thinkit was due more to their mind than thecircle.

3.4 Full CircleI know of breweries in Connecticut

and California in the United States thatbrew beer from grain harvested fromfields in which a crop circle has appeared.

Also, cereal crops in which formationsappear are commonly harvested and thenused to make bread.

I am often asked if I think there isany potential risk to humans from consum-ing food and drink made from “crop circle”crops.

Not only do I doubt that these foodscan hurt us, I suspect the exact oppositeis actually the case. The plants from au-thentic crop circles are certainly healthierand more vibrant than ordinary plants, andthey are larger and have better color andformation. Levengood has conducted re-search that has shown that crop circleplants can grow up to 40 percent largerthan ordinary plants, that their root struc-ture is 40 percent stronger, and their grainis markedly healthier.

So, all that considered, it would seemto me that, if anything, crop circle foodand drink might be better for humans thanordinary foods, although, as far as I know,there has not been any scientific testingto support this belief.

I myself have not eaten bread fromcrop circles, but I drank crop circle beer.The two breweries currently makingcrop circle beer both use barley plantsfrom East Field crop circles in Wiltshire,England.

Regarding crop circle bread, I recallone particularly unfortunate incident frommy career, during which I got into quite abit of trouble with the British farmers andEngland’s National Farmer’s Union.


Back in the late 1980s, I wasdoing a great many television in-terviews in England. During one ofthese interviews, I innocently sug-gested that perhaps it was not wiseto harvest the actual plants fromcrop circles until we knew moreabout what was causing the for-mations and what changes wereoccurring in the plants. I expressedconcern about the possible un-known effects on humans from eat-ing food made with crop circleplants, and I opined that perhapsthe farmers should set aside thesecrops and not sell them for con-sumption. I took quite a verbalthrashing for that one, and I wasaccused of scaring the public need-lessly, and also of threatening thelivelihood of the farmers. Sincethen, I have been very carefulabout such statements, and, as Ihave stated, I have drunk cropcircle beer and am no worse forthe partaking. Beer made from grain harvested from a crop circle.

57

IIPart

The Making ofa Crop Circle

Crop Circles: Signs of Contact / 59

Madison Square Garden:Geography

59

From the year 1678, we have a woodcutting called “The Mowing Devil.”The writing that accompanies this

carving tells us that a farmer and some lo-cal people in a hamlet of Hertfordshire wit-nessed the devil appearing in a chariot offire, in a ball of light—remember that—from the sky and cutting the farmer’s oatsinto a crop circle. We also have two otherreferences from the late 1600s that are ex-tremely similar.

Around 1923 or 1924, a farmer farm-ing Cheesefoot Head in Southern England,saw four crop circles in the very same fieldas I saw my first five circles in 1983.

The farmer had seen me on a BBC televi-sion program talking about this particular field,and he wrote me a letter teling me that he hadhad circles in the same field back in 1923.

He was not the first to step forward.We have had many farmers tell us that

crop circles have been appearing on theirland for many, many years.

These firsthand, eyewitness accountsvalidate our data.

This is not random.There seems to be something impor-

tant about certain locations.The same fields are revisited time and

time again and, in three specific cases inmy files, they appeared on the same iden-tical spot.

Clearly, location is important, but wehave not yet discovered why.

Crop circles frequently appear veryclose to water. I have found a 90 per-cent correlation between the appearanceof crop circles and the existence of un-derwater aquifers. Also, the vast major-ity of patterns appearing worldwide arewithin 40 miles of Stonehenge.

Many, many crop circle formationsare conglomerated in that area, a placenotable as having the highest level of an-cient circular archaeological sites in theworld. The design of Stonehenge mirrorsmany of the basic patterns of cropcircles.

Stonehenge itself has, as a design,a crop circle pattern.

The Theories / 61

Chapter 4The Theories

61

The Making of aCrop Circle: The Many TheoriesThere are many theories as to how and whycrop circles are appearing on our planet. Inthis chapter, I will discuss separately theprincipal and most compelling hypothesesfor these enigmatic, unearthly “terranbeauty marks.”

In no particular order, I will look at theprevailing theories. It is a fact that cropcircle manifestations are real and that thereis scientific evidence to prove that there aredifferences between the plants in hoaxedformations and the plants in authentic mani-festations. But because crop circles don’treally do anything—other than appear inthe fields and stun the senses with theirbeauty—science has been loath to committime and resources toward explaining andunderstanding them.

Perhaps we are not meant to delve toodeeply into the “mechanics” of their for-mation. Perhaps their purpose is to speakto our souls...

That said, however, here are the most-often cited explanations for the mystery.

Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soilwith the ploughshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart

ready for any seed the winds may bring...

—Henri Frederic Amiel

• The Gaia theory: plight, warnings,and pleas.

• Magnetism.

• Life-force energies.

• Underground water.

• Microwaves.

• Plasma vortexes and whirlwinds.

• Aliens make them: ETs and UFOlanding sites.

• Messages from the dead? OliverLodge.

• Government satellites.

• Snow circles and ice rings.

• Crop circles and cattlemutilations: Is there a connection?

4.1 The Gaia Theory:Plight, Warnings, and Pleas

We begin with the theory that MotherEarth herself is actually involved in someway in the construction of crop circles. Thistheory suggests that the living Earth is com-municating through natural energies thatcan be glimpsed in the complex grid of


alignments of sacred sights and areas ofparanormal influence around the worldknown as ley lines.

This theory is based on the GaiaTheory, which was first hypothesized in1970 by the scientist Timothy Zell, andexpanded and refined by the British chem-ist James Lovelock and U.S. microbiolo-gist Lynn Margulis in 1972. In 1979,Lovelock wrote the seminal book, Gaia: ANew Look at Life on Earth, which pro-foundly changed the way scientists, as wellas ordinary people, looked at life on earth,and the life of the earth.

Is the earth “alive?” Is the planet afunctioning life-form that breathes, repro-duces, and responds to threats by complexbiochemical self-defense mechanisms?And if the answers to these questions are“yes,” can crop circles be a conscious—or, at the least, autonomic—response toatrocities committed against the planet byman and all our endeavors? And again, ifthe answer to the question of whether ornot the earth is a living entity is yes, is itpossible for the earth to die? What wouldbe the fate of mankind and all the otherlifeforms inhabiting this blue planet if thatshould happen?

The Gaia Theory proposes that our planetis not simply a mass of lifeless rock flyingthrough space; not simply a “lucky accident”in the cosmic scheme of things. In 1929, Rus-sian scientist V. I. Vernadsky foreshadowedthe development of the Gaia Theory1:

Life appears as a great, per-manent and continuous infringeron the chemical “dead-hardness”of our planet’s surface….Lifetherefore is not an external andaccidental development on the ter-restrial surface. Rather, it is inti-mately related to the constitution ofthe Earth’s crust, forms part of itsmechanism, and performs in this

mechanism functions of paramountimportance, without which it wouldnot be able to exist.

Is the living planet earth having prob-lems with the support mechanisms that sus-tain her? From David Orrell’s essay, “GaiaTheory: Science of the Living Earth”2:

Three billion years ago, bacte-ria and photosynthetic algae startedto remove carbon dioxide from theatmosphere, producing oxygen as awaste product. Over enormous timeperiods, this process changed thechemical content of the atmosphere—to the point where organisms beganto suffer from oxygen poisoning! Thesituation was only relieved with theadvent of organisms powered byaerobic consumption.

Orrell also reminds us that the heat ofthe sun has increased by almost 25 percentsince life began on Earth, and yet the at-mospheric temperature has remained ap-proximately the same. How has the earthcompensated for such a significant increasein heat, and kept the temperature within theideal range for all lifeforms on the planet?

Lovelock and Margulis discovered anumber of regulatory processes that theydescribed as feedback loops which, in ef-fect, served to cool the planet. One ex-ample is the cycle in which soil bacteriaremoves carbon dioxide from the atmo-sphere. Soil bacteria is more active in hot-ter temperatures, so as the sun’s heatincreased over the eons, soil bacteria in-creased their activity, the net result ofwhich was a continuous cooling of theplanet. Life responded to a threat by adapt-ing its own biochemical processes as adefense mechanism.

If the earth is a living organism, cropcircles may be a response to injury. Muchthe way the human body responds to a

The Theories / 63

wound by exhibiting a welt, or a bruise, orby bleeding (and later, scarring), can theearth be responding to industrial and auto-motive pollution and other environmentalinsults and assaults by exhibiting welts orbruises in the form of crop formations? TheGaia Theory is one explanation for thephenomenon.

I find great merit in the Gaia Theoryand believe that even if it does not ulti-mately explain the crop circle phenom-enon, it makes an important contributiontowards educating the public and makingus all more environmentally conscious.

One of my colleagues recently sug-gested to me that the crop circle hoaxers,along with those who fixate on what per-centage of crop formations are fakes andwhat percentage are real, are completelymissing my point. He believes that my en-vironmental concerns are often over-looked in lieu of an obsession with thenumbers. I understand his point, and Iagree that oftentimes my environmentalmessage takes a back seat to the paranor-mal aura persistently attached to the cropcircle phenomenon.

I think that our attention should be onour wounded planet, and I think that the cropcircles may be a way for nature, or someunknown intelligence, to redirect our focusback to the environment—where it used tobe by all peoples in the pretechnology eras.In those days, there was a direct link be-tween the environment and life; people knewit, and they respected this. The weather, theland, the animals, the crops, the trees, thewaters—all were integral components ofsurvival. Technology has moved modernman several degrees of separation awayfrom this way of life. When there are al-ways loaves of bread on the grocery storeshelves—loaves that have been baked,sliced, packaged, and dated for freshness—it is very easy to forget that before the finalproduct of the loaf of bread reached you,

cereal crops had to be grown, harvested,ground, baked, and shipped to the baker.

Crop circles appear in plants that willbe used for food. This is quite blatant:Look at these beautiful designs; they arein fields of crops; you will one day eatthese crops. Pay attention to that whichsustains life.

Are we learning to respect the planet?Have we learned to use wisely the plantsand the animals given to us? I do think thatas a species we are thinking more aboutour actions and their effect on otherlifeforms, but I don’t think we are doinganywhere near enough.

Today, there are pockets of environ-mentally-aware communities, both in theUnited States and around the world,where people recycle, have more respectfor trees, and take into account the im-pact on the foliage and the water whenplanning buildings and roads. But it isnot widespread enough and we need todo more. There is an increased aware-ness, especially in the Western world, ofenvironmental matters, and this is some-thing we need to cultivate (pun intended)and expand.

My own feelings about the planet govery deep.

I am privileged and honored to be inregular contact with a great many scien-tists, engineers, politicians, writers, profes-sors, and native peoples in different partsof the world, and from many differentwalks of life. I hear over and over fromthese diverse people that the earth is suf-fering from extraordinary damage. JamesGustave Speth is Dean of the Yale Schoolof Forestry & Environmental Studies, andhe provided me with the following alarm-ing facts about our planet and the speciesthat inhabit it:

• The rate of extinction of birds andmammals today is estimated to be


100 to 1,000 times the rate that spe-cies naturally disappear.

• For 20 years, tropical forests havebeen cleared at the rate of one acreper second.

• One-quarter of all species of birdsare now extinct.

• Half of the available freshwater onearth is being consumed and mostpeople will soon live in water-stressed areas.

• For more than 20 years, 15 millionacres of agricultural land has beenlost every year to desertification andsoil degradation.

• An estimated half of the world’swetlands have been destroyed.

• Forty years ago, 5 percent of themarine fisheries were overfished.Today, that figure has risen to 70percent.

• Industrial processes that fix nitrogenat rates that exceed nature’s has re-sulted in 50 oxygen-starved oceandead zones, including one in the Gulfof Mexico the size of New Jersey.

• Professor Jane Lubchenco, newlyelected president of the InternationalCouncil of Scientific Unions recentlystated, “The trajectory we are on isnot sustainable. We are definitely de-stroying the life systems of theplanet.”

And speaking of native peoples, ap-proximately 15 years ago, the Kogi peoplecame down from their mountain in SouthAmerica where they had lived for centu-ries, to meet with a journalist from theBBC. This was the first time in 300 yearsthat they had spoken to their “YoungerBrother,” which was their term for the whiteman.

They came down to report that snowhad stopped falling on their mountaintops.They desperately need this snow for wa-ter, irrigation, and other life support pur-poses. Because of this, the tribe had torelocate, and one of the members spoketo a reporter to express their deep con-cerns for the health of the planet. The Kogibelieve that all the terrible changes oc-curring on the planet are from the actionsof Younger Brother. These people havenever taken up arms and are a very quiet,spiritual people. For them to take such adrastic step as leaving their mountain andspeaking to those in civilization, their fearsand concerns had to have been profoundindeed.

I share their view.We now see that it is not just those

mountains in South America. Climaticchanges are accelerating at an extraordi-nary rate. We are damaging our home.

I feel very deeply about this. Ten yearsago, I was optimistic that a new thinkingwas taking hold; a new environmentalawareness that would spur criticalchanges—and hopefully before it was toolate.

Today, I am sorry to say that I have anintuitive sense that it might now be too late.

Around the world, temperature andprecipitation records are being broken ev-ery day. Have we upset the fragile ecologi-cal balance necessary to sustain life for thelong term?

Our planet is under attack. And I re-ject the placations of those who tell us weare simply in a turbulent period of a naturalcycle and that the earth has been throughthis before, and it will adapt as it has in thepast. We have the data. The earth hasnever been through what it is going throughnow—the pollution, the toxic emissions, theexcessive extinctions. This is somethingdifferent, and to fix it is going to require amajor change in our thinking as a species—

The Theories / 65

what is known as a paradigm shift. A newgeneration of politicians must take the reinsand assure the survival of mankind and allour allied species.

The British movie A Place to Stay,(which is reviewed in this volume), makesthe point that the earth is the place wherewe must stay—there is nowhere else to goright now and, so, if we destroy this homeof ours, where will we live? The day maycome where we colonize other planets andhave several more “places to stay,” but rightnow, this is it.

There is a theory of late that posits thatwe quite simply cannot harm our planetbeyond repair. Why? Because the oil weburn is from dinosaurs who died and be-came part of the ecology. Thus, this theorygoes, we are doing nothing more than ex-tremely long-term recycling. Anything wepump into the ecosphere, no matter how ithas been changed, is still part of the bio-logical aggregate and, therefore, cannothurt the planet, or anything living on it. Itis a closed loop, according to this theory.

Much of this makes perfect sense. Butthis closed loop theory requires a self-contained, closed atmosphere within whichcycles repeat over and over. And that iswhere this theory comes undone. Manmadechemical compounds—combinations of el-ements not found in nature—are thinningthe ozone layer that protects us from ultra-violet rays. This adds an unknown variableto the equation and opens the closed loop.

The fully analyzed 2001 data shows themost serious situation to date over the Arc-tic. There was a minor positive deviation in2000, but the mean curve is negative over-all. This speaks powerfully to the seriousdegradation of the ozone layer, and the po-tential—and still not-fully-known conse-quences—of such deterioration.

Almost the entire continent of Austra-lia is, today, almost completely exposed toultraviolet radiation because of the hole in

the ozone layer above it. I think this is anextremely serious situation and one that isoften either minimized or ignored by bothscientists and politicians. And the averageperson couldn’t care less about the hole inthe ozone layer. It does not affect his orher daily life. And that is true.

But what happens when this exposureto UV rays takes its toll, and we start tosee the worst droughts in history, devas-tating floods that seemingly come out ofnowhere, and extreme storm periods un-like any we have seen before‚ not to men-tion the real possibility of serious birthdefects?

And we are not talking about a cen-tury from now. We are talking about majorecological and environmental problems forour grandchildren, and their children.

Whether or not the Gaia Theory is thetrue explanation, or, in fact, the only ex-planation for crop circles has yet to be de-termined. But there is great merit, andlong-term benefit, in opening the door tothe notion that Mother Earth might be try-ing to tell us something. I do think it is inour best interest to listen.

4.2 MagnetismAnother theory that attempts to explain

crop circles involves the earth’s magneticfields.

Over a period of five years, and con-tinuing today, I have been conducting mag-netometer surveys in the proximity of cropcircles and inside the circles themselves.

I have been measuring the earth’s mag-netic field in circles in central southern En-gland and, in a small number of circles, wehave recorded increases in the earth’s mag-netic field by approximately 120 percent.

Incredibly, that increase, whenmapped out by computers, shows the samemagnetic fingerprint—the identical pro-file—as the crop design over which it hasbeen measured.


This is very significant.These findings have allowed us to cal-

culate that the dipoles—the pair of electriccharges of equal magnitude but oppositepolarity that would produce that level ofmagnetism—are buried at 20 feet belowground or, surprisingly, suspended 20 feetabove the ground.

The level of magnetism we recordedwas maintained for a period of several days.This was not a momentary event. It oc-curred over a period of time. We could seenothing in the sky, and the British Minis-try of Defense did not permit us to exca-vate that particular parcel of land, so wewere unable to determine with certainty thesource of the magnetism.

Localized fluctuations in the earth’smagnetic field are thought to be a majorelement in the creation of crop circles. Thistheory presumes that there is also somekind of unknown energy field—perhaps a“brother” to magnetism—that is also atwork and is the actual force that flattensthe plants.

As we have seen, unusually high lev-els of magnetism have been measured in-side some crop circles which, whenmapped out into a distribution profile, re-sembles the actual crop circle design inwhich it was measured.

There is speculation that a high rate ofrotational acceleration of this magneticanomaly creates a force that creates cropcircles.

There is concrete evidence to supportthis theory. It is a known fact that plantsthrive and that their growth rates increaseinside elevated magnetic fields. Also, manyhuman beings can detect magnetic fields.It is thought that these “human magnetom-eters” have this ability due to the iron con-tent within their human hemoglobin, whichis constantly provided to every cell in thehuman body through the blood. They de-tect and interpret magnetism as feelings of

well-being and, in some cases, they mani-fest improved health, or even healings.Even the glowing “globes” described bysome crop circle witnesses, and whichmany believe to be UFOs, could be ac-counted for by this process.

One of the common arguments againstthe magnetism theory is that, if it were true,then we would have had manifestations andaccounts of crop circles throughout all ofrecorded history, not just in the past fewhundred years.

At first glance, this does have somesemblance of sense and logic, but on deeperanalysis, we find that there are flaws withthis argument.

My challenge hinges on the fact thatthe earth today is not the same as it washundreds and thousands of years ago. Wedo not have all the facts regarding ancientgeology, the state of the primeval eco-sphere, and exactly what the climate waslike before recorded history, but we havecertainly acquired a great deal of informa-tion from the ice cores, the fossil record,and from scientific models.

One conclusion we can state with cer-tainty is that thousands of years ago, theplanet earth was not in the state it is today.

There is something new going on.The climate is mutating; the environ-

ment is changing at an accelerated rate, andthis change can be seen in the compositionof the ice cores, located around the worldat both poles, and in Greenland, China,Russia, and South America.

The United States Geological Surveydescribes the mountain of information re-corded in ice cores:

Ice cores contain an abun-dance of climate information—moreso than any other natural recorderof climate such as tree rings or sedi-ment layers. Although their recordis short (in geologic terms), it canbe highly detailed. An ice core from

The Theories / 67

the right site can contain an unin-terrupted, detailed climate recordextending back hundreds of thou-sands of years. This record can in-clude temperature, precipitation,chemistry and gas composition ofthe lower atmosphere, volcaniceruptions, solar variability, sea-surface productivity and a varietyof other climate indicators.

It is the simultaneity of theseproperties recorded in the ice thatmakes ice cores such a powerful toolin paleoclimate research....Over thepast decade, research on the climaterecord frozen in ice cores from thepolar regions has changed our basicunderstanding of how the climate sys-tem works. Changes in temperatureand precipitation which previouslywe believed would require manythousands of years to happen wererevealed, through the study of icecores, to have happened in fewer than20 years.

These discoveries have chal-lenged our beliefs about how the cli-mate system works. We have beenrequired to search for new, fastermechanisms for climate change andwe have begun to consider the inter-action between industrial man andclimate in light of these newly re-vealed mechanisms.3

One of the valuable pieces of informa-tion we have acquired from our study ofthe ice cores is that carbon dioxide (CO)levels in the atmosphere are higher in thepast 30 years than they have been in thepast 500,000 years. The topmost centime-ters of the ice cores show this and, whilewe do not know precisely what the long-term effect of this increase in CO

2 will be

on the biosphere and on human survivabilityon earth, the fact that such a monumental

change in the environment has happenedwithin an infinitesimally small (in geologicterms) period of time cannot, in thisresearcher’s opinion, bode well.

And this also bolsters my argumentthat it is impossible to make judgementsabout the possible existence of crop circlesin the distant past, based on the state of theplanet today.

It has long been my contention that therecent crop manifestations are a sign, andperhaps a symptom of a major, and per-haps tragic, change in the earth’s biologi-cal health.

I myself am an electrical engineer, andI have consulted with physicists,paleobiologists, and other scientists, andwe are all in agreement that the earth’smagnetic field alone cannot be causing theplants in crop circles to collapse to theground in swirled, sometimes complexpatterns. There is obviously some otherelement to the equation, again, perhapsthat unknown brother to magnetism, orsome type of byproduct of magnetismthat combines with other earth forces toprovide the lateral force necessary tocreate these designs. This is one theory,and we may ultimately learn that it goeshand in hand with the Gaia Theory andthat the final, persistent message is thatthe earth—and every living creature onit—is in danger.

A moving magnetic field will induce acurrent and if that current has some othertype of energy applied to it, it can achievelateral movement that could cause plantsto collapse in an organized manner.

But what is this unknown “other typeof energy?” Intelligence, perhaps?

And as I mentioned earlier, I wasstunned to discover that in one case, a mag-netometer reading I took within a specificcrop circle was a mirror image of the de-sign of the crop pattern itself. This was as-tonishing and baffling at the same time.


So there is some kind of as yet uniden-tified distortion going on, in which theearth’s magnetic field is manipulated, per-haps deliberately, to cause rapid lateralmovement of the energy waves and causeplant collapse within seconds.

4.3 Life Force EnergiesAnother theory, and yet another corol-

lary to the Gaia hypothesis, is that esoteric,indefinable forces commonly described as“life force energies” are creating the pat-terns. This theory states that anything andeverything that is alive—human beings, ani-mals, insects, plants, and indeed the planetitself —in some way sustain life on earth byworking with an interconnected life forceenergy, and that when any one componentof this complex paradigm is in significantdanger of not being able to adequately sus-tain itself, there is a reaction, part of whichcould be the appearance of crop circles.

Austrian physician Wilhelm Reich(1897–1957) identified this vital life forceas orgone energy, and he believed it wasthe force that explained all processes in thebiosphere—from gravity to nuclear energy.

The life force theory suggests that thehuman race as a species, being the domi-nant life form on the planet, and havingthe most complex and sophisticated mor-phology, somehow recognizes, at a subcon-scious level, that the earth is in danger, andthat all life on the planet is threatened. Wesomehow sense this in our primal forebrain,in our primeval limbic system where thereis sense memory of our earliest geneticexistence. Crop circles are, in this way,constructs created by our subconscious andwith interplay from other lifeforms, in re-sponse to perceived threats to our aggre-gate existence. Orgone is the energypermeating everything and perhaps thecollective unconscious is manipulating thisenergy to create crop patterns for a multi-tude of urgent reasons.

4.4 Underground WaterAnother theory is that the large reser-

voirs of underground water in the earth’sgeo-structure, all of which expand and con-tract depending on the amount of rain thatfalls, create a static charge that builds upand ultimately discharges at surface level,and that the configuration of these specificelectrical charges create the crop circlepatterns.

In recent history, this expansion andcontraction rate has been greater due toglobal warming and changes in the weathersystems, and this increased volatility ofwater levels may be responsible for anoma-lous electrical discharges. Crop circlescould be an effect of these discharges, muchthe way desert winds create patterns in sanddunes.

There is supporting evidence for thistheory, specifically the fact that an over-whelming majority of the authentic cropformations around the world manifest invery close proximity to undergroundaquifers.

4.5 MicrowavesOne of the most intriguing theories

regarding the formation of crop circles isthe theory that microwave radiation is re-sponsible for the changes found in thenodes of plants in crop formations. Mi-crowave radiation is suspected as caus-ing the explosion or swelling of the nodesof individual stalks of crop circle plantsand vegetation.

Microwaves—which are betweeninfrared and shortwave radio waves—are high-frequency electromagneticwaves, one millimeter to one meter inwavelength.

Low levels of microwaves are emittedfrom almost everything on earth. It hasbeen demonstrated, for instance, that if twotin cans are placed next to each other, they

The Theories / 69

will connect to each other with straight linesof microwave radiation. Likewise, trees canlink to other trees using microwaves, andpeople can sometimes subliminally commu-nicate with each other without speakingthrough the unconscious, yet quite real,exchange of low levels of microwaves.Have you ever felt like someone was look-ing at you and when you turned, someonewas? Some researchers believe that in in-stances such as these, the “watcher” isemitting trace amounts of microwave ra-diation that is being received by the personbeing watched. Something autonomic istriggered and a message is sent to the braintelling us we are being observed, and thatwe need to evaluate this monitoring as ei-ther being a threat, or as being harmless.

At these levels, however, it is unlikelythat there would be enough microwave en-ergy in nature to cause plants to collapse.Also, microwaves do not move laterally withforce, and lateral movement and patterningis commonly seen in crop circle formations.

Microwaves could be responsible forthe swollen, or exploded nodes of plantsfrom crop formations. The microwavescould rapidly heat the moisture locked in-side a plant node and cause it to boil andblow out the node.

But is there an identified process innature that could generate enough micro-wave radiation to create a crop circle? No.

Therefore, it is my opinion that evenif microwaves are involved in some man-ner—its presence suggested by the ex-ploded nodes—microwaves in and ofthemselves are not strong enough to bendcrops and create a pattern.

Some interesting experiments havebeen conducted with plants and microwaveovens. Plants have been placed in a micro-wave and, when the oven was turned onand the plate rotated (thereby creating lat-eral movement), the plants did bend them-selves into a spiral pattern. But the plants

died, and there is also nothing in nature thatcan create the concentrated levels of mi-crowave radiation emitted by a microwaveoven. In the fields, the plants do not die.

4.6 Plasma Vorticesand Whirlwinds

Another theory is that meteorologicalatmospheric vortices—some previouslyunknown, weird new whirlwinds—are re-sponsible for the formations. This theorylikewise ties into the Gaia Theory since itis generally assumed that these pattern-forming vortices are a manifestation andresponse of a changing global environ-ment; a damaged, struggling environment.The vortices most commonly creditedwith the creation of formations are wa-ter and plasma.

Water vortices are air and water in arapidly spinning whirlwind carried acrossthe land, leaving behind circles and otherpatterns in the cereal crops.

Plasma vortices are spiraling col-umns of electrified air which, on impactwith the vegetation, likewise create pat-terns. The analogy for this processwould be electrocution. The plasma vor-tex electrocutes the plants into a circu-lar form, the source of the final designultimately being a natural meteorologi-cal phenomenon.

But, realistically, can such an unfo-cused, intermittent meteorological eventbe responsible for any crop patterns be-yond the simplest of circles? Probably not,and yet there is enough evidence, mostof which has come from Dr. TerenceMeaden, to credit these vortices withsome of the plain, unadorned circles.

4.7 Aliens Make Them:ETs and UFO Landing Sites

There has long been a great deal ofspeculation that crop circles are formed


when alien spacecraft—be they visible orinvisible—land in fields. In fact, the earli-est appearance of crop circles in Australiawere originally called “saucer’s nests” be-cause of this belief.

I myself have not seen or interviewedanyone that can provide evidence thatUFOs are actually responsible for the cre-ation of crop circles. However, that said,there are many reports and a number ofvery impressive films showing spheresapproximately 14 inches in diameter mov-ing in the fields where crop circles havealready formed. I don’t believe this is atall coincidental. These particular spheresare rarely seen outside of crop circle fields.There is one case, which will be discussedlater in this volume, where a man claimsto have seen these spheres actually mak-ing crop circles.

I do not think we yet have the evidencethat UFOs are making crop circles, butthere is definite evidence—both on filmand by eyewitnesses—that they are in theproximity and appear to be “showing aninterest” in what’s occurring.

There are approximately 50 eyewitnessaccounts by people who claim to have seencrop circles forming. I have interviewedmany of them, and none claim to have seenUFOs in the sky when the crop circlesform. A CIA remote viewing project inwhich the participants all had documentedremote viewing abilities, concluded that thecrop patterns are intended to serve as “signposts,” informational postings by one ex-traterrestrial species to another and thathuman beings actually have no part in thephenomenon whatsoever. That particularexperiment concluded that crop formationsare not intended for we Terrans. Of course,that conclusion has been challenged byother theories.

I would rule out the notion of complexcrop circles being formed as a physicalimpression in a field created by the landing

of a UFO, although we cannot conclusivelyrule out the possibility that some simple,single circles could have been created bythe landing of a craft.

Another theory is that extraterrestrialbeings are making crop circles.

The authentic crop formations boast ofintelligent design. There is no denying that.The earth’s real crop circles, the ones thatappear in astonishingly brief periods, andwhich show no evidence of crop destruc-tion, appear to be well thought out and de-liberately designed. There are some whocontend that aliens are the architects andauthors of these formations, and that theyhave somehow always been involved withthe phenomena. The belief is that the cropcircles are some form of communicationfrom an extraterrestrial species. If this isthe case, the extraterrestrials’ message isstill being erratically communicated and isundeniably ambiguous.

4.8 Messages From the Dead?Another theory, which is a relatively

new line of thought and actually quite bi-zarre in my opinion, is that crop formationsare communications from the dead. Theemergence of this theory may simply be aresponse to the ongoing popularization oftalking to the dead, commonly seen inbooks by self-described psychics and chan-nels such as James Prager and John Ed-ward. Prager writes books in which hereports on his conversations with the de-ceased, and John Edward hosts a verypopular television show on which he deliv-ers messages to audience members fromtheir departed loved ones.

Is there any validity to this theory as itrelates to crop formations? Mathematiciansassert that the dead are creating crop circlesin specific geometric ratios to get our at-tention. Eventually, the theory goes, a codewill emerge from the various authentic for-mations that will reveal something of great

The Theories / 71

import to mankind. Thus, the dead are act-ing as couriers of some important messagefor the living. Obviously, this theory needscontinuing investigation, as well as somehard evidence for it to be considered a vi-able hypothesis.

Oliver LodgeThere is some evidence, however, in

the story of Oliver Lodge and his possibleposthumous communication using cropcircles, that bolsters the credibility of thistheory. Lodge was a scientist and spiritu-alist who demonstrated the possibility oftransmitting radio waves, work which ledto Marconi’s development of true wirelesscommunication. Lodge believed in the sur-vival of the self after death.

In the article in this volume, “DiatonicRatios in Crop Circles” by Gerald Hawkins,we learn of the relationship between the di-mensions of crop circles and the Westernmusical scale. Professor Hawkins also ex-panded his research into the diatonics foundin crop circles by taking the musical noteshe had decoded in the circles depicted inmy book Circular Evidence, and applyingletters to the notes, using a method knownas the Boethian Method, named for the fifthcentury Roman philosopher, Boethius.

This system of encoding—applying let-ters to musical notes and concealing themwithin a composition—has been used bymusical composers for centuries. In fact,in Johann Sebastian Bach’s final fugue, hehid the letters B-A-C-H repeatedly. WhenHawkins applied the Boethian to cropcircles, he came up with a set of initialsover and over. The initials were “O.L.”Later, he also learned that other sets of ini-tials that he had “translated” belonged tocolleagues of Lodges, including severalboard members of the spiritualist organiza-tion he founded.

Was this Oliver Lodge attempting tospeak to us from the beyond using crop

circles as the “instrument” of communica-tion? Lodge had stated emphaticallythroughout his life that he would commu-nicate with the world after his death. Arethe “O.L.” initials his? And if so, what isLodge trying to tell us?

4.9 Government SatellitesAnother theory that has been men-

tioned lately, and which has not been con-clusively disproved, is that governmentsatellites—high-tech satellites in orbit allaround the world, launched by many gov-ernments—are projecting an energy thatconstructs crop patterns.

Personally, I do not believe that gov-ernments are involved with the phenom-ena for one very simple reason: the cropcircles phenomenon pre-dates airbornetechnology by centuries. Crop formationswere here long before man invented thesatellite.

Let’s put aside the anachronistic prob-lems with this theory for a moment, though.The notion of governments deliberatelybeaming some kind of energy ray into ce-real crop fields to create complex geomet-ric patterns begs the question, “Why?”What could a government gain from suchan exercise?

• Would it provide a strategic edgein global politics? No.

• Would it provide some type ofmilitary advantage? No.

• Would there be economic benefitsto be gained? No.

Would crop circles and the resulting dis-cussions and investigations further somelong-range plan of one or more governmentsthat warranted the time and expense to cre-ate them? Possibly, but if this is the case, therehaven’t been any stunning revelations thatwould support this theory. If “government-made” crop circles ultimately convinced a


population that money should be spent to de-fend it from some unknown extraterrestrialthreat, then conceivably such a plan could beunderway, but thus far, my conclusion is thatthis theory is nothing but conspiracy-tingedspeculation with no evidence whatsoever tosupport it.

4.10 Snow Circles and Ice RingsSnow circles and ice rings, both of

which are quite rare, have been discoveredin the mountains of Turkey and Afghani-stan, in Canada and Germany, and in theUnited States on the frozen Charles Riveroutside the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology (MIT).

Snow circles manifest visual similari-ties to crop circles, except that instead ofplants bending over and forming a geom-etry, snow or ice is displaced to form a rec-ognizable geometric pattern.

One of the most complex ice rings todate is the aforementioned design on theCharles River. The river froze, and a thinlayer of snow covered the ice.

MIT Professor John C. Marshall,quoted in the February 24, 1993, issue ofthe MIT publication Tech Talk, stated,“One of us ventured onto the ice and...inthe bitter cold we started speculatingabout what was happening. These specu-lations included: frozen-in eddiesspawned by the sluggish flow of theCharles over the bottom, point sourcesof effluence issuing from submergedpipes, wind driven patterns akin to the‘crop-circle’ phenomenon common in thesummer in Wiltshire, England...”

These theories notwithstanding, manyof us believe that the ice rings on theCharles River were part of the same phe-nomenon as the crop circles. Other thanthe “wind-driven” component of his specu-lation, two of Dr. Marshall’s theories in-volve the movement of the river. InFebruary 2001, a perfect ice ring formed

on a small pond near Churchill, Maryland.The formation measured approximately 30feet across and consisted of a ring with aspur extending from its outer edge. Appar-ently, this design was very similar to a pic-togram which appeared in a barley field inHampshire, England in 1987.

In 1998, several ice rings and snowcircles appeared and were photographedin Germany, and the photos show quiteclearly that the circles are in an expanseof virgin snow, in that a footprint would bequite visible.

4.11 Crop Circles andCattle Mutilations: IsThere a Connection?

Some of the more speculative (and,truth be told, imaginative) members of theUFO and crop circle communities havesuggested that there may be a connectionbetween the appearance of crop circles andthe mysterious cattle mutilations that oc-cur on some farmers’ land.

I would like to state unequivocally forthe record that I do not believe there is eventhe remotest link between the two phenom-ena. In fact, I think they are diametricallyopposed to each other, in both purpose andin energies utilized.

In all my years of research, I have comeacross only one incident in which the mu-tilated carcass of a cow was found on afarmer’s land in proximity to a crop circle.I myself have personally investigated first-hand over 2,500 crop formations and havenever come across a cattle mutilation.

In the case I am referring to, a farmerin the United States reported that one of hiscows had been eviscerated in the mannermost often associated with the phenomena(and most often credited to UFOs): its bloodhad been removed, there were well-defined,surgical incisions that were done with highheat, believed to be a laser, and the cow’sinternal organs had been removed all the

The Theories / 73

way down to their nerve attachments.There was a single crop circle nearby, withina hundred feet or so, but the carcass wasnot in the circle itself.

I consider this single event—out of areported 10,000 crop formations aroundthe world—to be nothing but a coinci-dence and totally unrelated to the cropcircle phenomenon. As I said earlier, theenergies are quite at odds with each other.The forces behind cattle mutilations aredangerous, harmful, and callous towards

life. The crop circles are pastoral, benign,and beautiful.

I refuse to consider that the two couldin anyway be linked.

Notes1V. I. Vernadsky. La Biosphere.2www.gaianet.fsbusiness.co.uk/gaiatheory.html3United States Geological Survey

This unusual and impressive crop geometry was found by a farmer near Collingbourne Ducis,Wiltshire during the summer of 2000. It was in an area new to crop circles.

Location, Location, Location / 75

Chapter 5Location,

Location, Location:A Crop Circle Gazetteer

75

5.1 Crop Rotation

A great many countries on Earth re-port the appearance of crop circles.There is one exception, however:

the countries of South Africa. There areno reports of crop formations from thatcountry. It is not known if this is becauseof governmental and media censorship, orthe actual dearth of crop manifestations.

Crop circles are reported in just aboutevery other country, including Russia, thewhole of Europe, North and SouthAmerica, Canada, Australia, NewZealand, and elsewhere.

In many cases, though, the reportscome to us too late for any meaningful re-search to be done. Often, by the time wehear of a crop formation in a distant coun-try, it has already been plowed under. Thisis unfortunate, but I am encouraged by the

Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery,we shall learn nothing.

—Henry Miller

improvements in the reporting system thathave been occurring of late. The Internethas been a huge influence in rapid dis-semination of new information, and tele-vision continues to be a valuable tool. Ithas been, overall, a slow process, but Iam optimistic for the future of the “re-porting” network.

A new and growing awareness of thephenomenon is reaching even distantplaces these days thanks, in part, to Ameri-can television shows such as UnsolvedMysteries, which are syndicated all overthe world.

This geographic distribution speaksvolumes regarding the claims of hoaxers.

No less a luminary than the UnitedKingdom’s scientific adviser to the Queencommented that in order for all the cropformations found around the world to have


been hoaxed, there would need to be ahighly organized, well-funded, worldwideconspiracy, and there are, quite frankly,very few in either camp—believers orskeptics—who would accept such a far-fetched notion.

Let us play devil’s advocate, however,and stipulate that a worldwide plot to cre-ate crop circles does exist. This suggestsone simple question: What’s the point?What would be the point of such an ef-fort? Until the global hoaxers step forthand provide a rational answer to that ques-tion, logic tells us that such a theory isbalderdash.

•••This gazetteer provides details on doz-

ens of countries around the world wherecrop circles have appeared in the past sev-eral decades. There are over 3,200 cropcircles accounted for here and this totalcomprises the documented formations inthe Circles Phenomenon Research Interna-tional (CPRI) database. The actual world-wide total of crop formations is believedto be approximately triple this number.

Sometimes I feel that the earth is acanvas on which the crop circle authorsare painting their signs of warning. Theregular appearance of crop circles all overthe world would seem to substantiate thisnotion.

(NOTE: The countries are listed indescending order of appearances.)

5.2 England1,784 recorded crop formations

The vast majority of reports in Englandcome from a circular area extending 40miles out from its center point atStonehenge. Every year, from late Apriluntil early September, circles are reported,and as many as 15 in a single day havebeen discovered. During the early 1960sthrough around 1978, only single circles

appeared. In 1978, the first quintuplet setwas found, and during 1986, the first circleswith rings were discovered.

From May 1990 through today, com-plex patterns are routinely found. Asmight be expected, a high level of hoax-ing is also commonplace in England, al-though it is unlikely that crop circlecounterfeiters could account for the vastarray of formations.

5.3 United States of America228 recorded crop formations

The first reports of crop circles in theUnited States that made the official data-base came from farmers who watched a1989 broadcast of Unsolved Mysteries, thefirst in-depth television coverage of themystery in United States.

Subsequent research has uncoveredsingle circles and single rings across theUnited States from 1952 through 1989. Thefirst complex design appeared in 1990, thesame year as such a pattern appeared inthe United Kingdom. Most of the complexpatterns in America tend to be sloppy andirregular, and are likely manmade.

That said, however, a genuine cropformation appeared in Lyle Spiesschaert’swheat field in Forest Grove, Oregon dur-ing the summer of 2002. The formationconsisted of three connected circlestopped by a crescent with an attachedkey-shape appendage. Biophysicist Will-iam Levengood investigated the forma-tion and concluded that it was genuine.In an interview with Lisa Waggoner inthe Hillsboro Argus, Levengood tickedoff the evidence for authenticity:

• Magnetic particle deposits higherthan the average of the controls(control areas). Soil within the circlehad over 90 times the upper limitfound in normal soil.


• (Wheat) node expansions greaterthan average of control sets. Of 44formation sets of wheat stalks, 36had greater node expansions.

• A strong resemblance between itsF-shaped downed area and waveguides, constructed metal tubesused to efficiently direct micro-waves or ultra-high frequencyenergy.

• Linear lay patterns in the F-shapedarea, rather than circular lay pat-terns as within the circular forma-tion.

• Significantly suppressed seed ger-mination from plants taken fromwithin the crop circle, compared toplants outside it.

Some media skeptics in the area sus-pected the formation had been made inconjunction with the release of the movieSigns, but Levengood’s findings put thesuspicions and hoaxer’s claims to rest.

5.4 Canada135 recorded crop formations

Crop circles in Canada have generallyevolved similarly to those in the UnitedKingdom, with simple circles and ringsappearing back in the 1950s, and the firstcomplex design appearing in 1989.

Several dead porcupines have been dis-covered in Canadian crop circles. Manitoba,Saskatchewan, and Alberta are the hotspots and, in most years, there are reportsfrom these provinces.

5.5 Germany105 recorded crop formations

There are very few reports from Ger-many of simple circles, and that is unusual.Most of the reports are of complex designs.The very first report of a crop circle inGermany did not come until 1990, and thatwas a simple circle. In 1998, Germany’speak year for crop circles, more than 25formations appeared over a period of sev-eral months.

Close-up of an insect “melted” onto a stalk from a crop circle plant.


The most famous—and the strangest—crop circle report coming out of Germanytold of three metallic plates found by a manwith a metal detector under a large com-plex crop pattern near the small town ofGrasdorf. The gold, silver, and bronze plateswere approximately 12 inches in diameterand one inch thick and on the top of eachplate, the design of the crop pattern beneathwhich they were found was molded into themetal. The pictogram included symbols thatcame from German antiquity. Was it all anelaborate hoax? Or were the plates some-how connected to the appearance of the cropformation? I myself held two of the plates inmy hand and they were unquestionably au-thentic. The gold plate was melted downbefore further research into the engravingon their surfaces could be undertaken.

5.6 Australia71 recorded crop formations

Some of the earliest reports of cropcircles in Australia came during 1966, andmost were associated with official UFOeyewitness reports. In fact, many of thecrop circles reported during this periodwere described as “saucer nests,” sincemany in Australia believed they were evi-dence of UFO landing sites.

Since those first reports, many simplecircles have been found, but not one com-plex pattern has ever appeared in the coun-try, and that is unusual.

In contrast, the largest manmade cropdesign ever constructed is in an Australiandesert. It is called the Marree Man (Seepattern No. T691 in the Andrews Cata-logue in this volume); it is two and a halfmiles wide; and it is visible from outerspace. (This design joined the short list ofmanmade structures visible from orbit. TheGreat Wall of China is on this list.)

In 1971, a former Member of the Aus-tralian Parliament discovered the body of

his missing son next to a crop ring atTellebang, Queensland.

There is a very high level of UFO reportsassociated with crop circles in Australia.

5.7 The Netherlands62 recorded crop formations

In 1997, two intricate crop patternsappeared in the Netherlands, followedwithin weeks by another 22 reports of for-mations. There have been fewer reports inrecent years. A very active location isHoeven, Noord-Brabant.

5.8 Hungary23 recorded crop formations

Single circles have been reported al-most exclusively in Hungary, except for the

These small crop circles were just a handfulof hundreds filmed across the Englishcountryside in 1989.


report of a crop triangle in 1992. The peakyear for Hungary was 1992, which wasapproximately one year after a flurry ofactivity in the United Kingdom.

5.9 Japan19 recorded crop formations

The first report of a crop circle in Ja-pan occurred in 1977 near Nakanom, andthis formation appeared in a rice paddy.

It was not until 1991, when a forma-tion was discovered in a wheat field, that acircle appeared in cereal crop.

Several simple circles have been dis-covered in long grass, but most of the cropformations in Japan are found in rice paddyfields.

On one occasion during 1990, two de-signs appeared adjacent to each other,making it the most complex formation todate. The designs consisted of a singlecircle and a circle with a concentric ringaround it. Japan’s crop formations aregenerally very simple in comparison to thoseappearing in many other countries.

The numbers of reported formationshas been falling since 1991, which wasJapan’s peak year. Interest in the subject isvery big in Japan. Numerous in-depth tele-vision programs air regularly and coverdevelopments around the world.

5.10 Wales15 recorded crop formations

Wales is a principality of the UnitedKingdom on the western peninsula of theisland of Great Britain. Even though it ispart of the British mainland, Wales reportsfar fewer crop circles than in England.

The terrain in Wales is not conduciveto crop circles. The country’s landscape isstrewn with large hills and mountains thatcover much of its geography.

During 1989, an American visitor tooka photograph of a field with two circles in

it from the top of Goodrich Castle. Whenthe film was developed, there was a strangeblood-red ball on the print very close tothe circles. The ball had not been visible tothe photographer when he snapped the pic-ture. Interestingly, similar “invisible” ob-jects have been seen on photographs takenin crop circles elsewhere over the years.

5.11 France13 recorded crop formations

Mostly simple circles have ever beenrecorded in France, and the number of re-ports have been minimal, with the firststretching back to 1954. A complex pat-tern, believed to be the first one in the coun-try, was reported in 2002.

Aside from the dearth of formations,though, there have been some odd cropcircle-related occurrences in France. Oneday in 1964, sometime during the earlymorning hours, two neighbors witnesseda single circle forming at St. Souplet. Thecircle formed in a back garden and thetwo neighbors were awakened by astrange, very loud sound as a bright lightmoved into the garden. Their bedroomwindows were shattered into small piecesof glass and pulverized powder during thisevent. The circle that appeared after thesound and light was reported to be in aplot of spinach.

5.12 Scotland12 recorded crop formations

Most of the crop patterns in Scotlandare believed to be manmade. One particu-lar formation was reported by a man whoclaimed to have witnessed it form, and wholater infiltrated the crop circle researchgroups and made himself known to me asa CIA operative. This man’s “eyewitness”claim is thought to be a cover for his clan-destine intelligence activities. The full ac-count of this incident appears on the DVD


Ultimate Crop Circles: Signs from Space(Central Park Media).

5.13 Switzerland12 recorded crop formations

Since 1972, there have been spo-radic reports of simple circles and de-signs from different regions inSwitzerland. There were three reportsof formations in 2002, which was themost reports from Switzerland in asingle year. No complex designs havebeen reported.

5.14 Czech Republic11 recorded crop formations

It was not until August 1994 that thefirst crop formation in the Czech Republicwas reported. Over the next two years,there were another half a dozen reportswith increasing regularity, until the numberof reported formations peaked at 16 sepa-rate patterns and simple circles during 1999.There has been a steady decline since thatyear. The largest formation to be reportedwas 315 feet long (96 meters), at Nemilkovon July 28, 1996.

5.15 Austria8 recorded crop formations

There have been very few discoveriesof crop formation in Austria, but the onesthat have been reported were very similarto the designs found in England. Severalsimple patterns have actually been identi-cal to British formations, with a similarquality of precision.

5.16 Italy8 recorded crop formations

Only simple circles and single ringshave been discovered in Italy. Most ofthese were reported during the 1980sand there has been no trend towards

evolving complexity, and no reportedhoaxing.

5.17 New Zealand7 recorded crop formations

All of the New Zealand formationsare almost certainly manmade. A verycomplex fractal design was made by En-glish artists for an NBC television docu-mentary during 1998. Also, Japan’sNippon Television flew EnglishmanMatthew Williams to New Zealand witha small team in February 2002 to maketwo patterns.

The reason manmade patterns are sopopular in New Zealand is because oftheir growing season: cereal crops areavailable in the country during the north-ern hemisphere’s winter.

Shortly after I appeared on Austra-lian television talking about crop circles,a farmer reported two new crop rings inhis wheat field.

Only a handful of simple circles re-main unexplained and unattributed.

5.18 Russia6 recorded crop formations

There has been a suspiciously smallnumber of reports for such a vast country,but most are thought to be real. Again, it isdifficult to know if this is due to censor-ship or actual dearth of formations.

Luminous spheres, similar to the oneswitnessed in the United Kingdom, havebeen reported associated with some of thecrop circles in Russia.

Interestingly, the Russian Army inves-tigated the reported formations and de-ployed agricultural experts who discoveredthat the soil under the flattened plants incircles had been baked.

Other circles found in the countryhave shown no evidence of damage ortampering.


5.19 Finland6 recorded crop formations

All discoveries of crop formations inFinland were made during the period 1996through 1998, and they were all intricateand impressive geometries. There havebeen no reports in recent years.

5.20 Israel6 recorded crop formations

For three years, from 1997 through1999, simple circles and geometric shapesappeared in the Jezreel Valley in southernGalilee [near Nazareth].

The first report of a crop circle in Israelcame in 1997, and it was accompanied by aUFO sighting. Biophysicist William Levengoodanalyzed plants from the Israel circle andconcluded that the changes he found couldnot have been the result of a hoax.

5.21 Poland5 recorded crop formations

The only reports of crop circles in Po-land have come in the last few years. Theformations reported are mostly simple,well-formed circles, with no damage of anykind.

A complex pattern that looked like aflower was found in wheat at WylatowoVillage near Mogilno during July 2002.

All of Poland’s crop circles have ap-peared in cereal crops.

5.22 Brazil5 recorded crop formations

All Brazilian crop formations aresimple designs and appeared in grass andcorn.

The most complex pattern seen was aquintuplet set—a traditional Celtic Cross—which was found in long grass during thesummer of 1996 near the capital city ofBrasilia.

There have been no reports coming outof Brazil since 1997.

5.23 Mexico5 recorded crop formations

The first report of a crop circle inMexico dates from 1954, and was of asingle circle.

During 1993, two intricate designsappeared in long grass, a few miles apart,in the state of Hidalgo. One of these pat-terns was accompanied by a strange soundheard by witnesses on the night it formed.

5.24 India4 recorded crop formations; 800 possibleunreported formations

There have been only four reports ofcrop circles from India that have detailedsketches accompanying them.

These circles were reported to me bya scientist with the Indian government, whosaid that “huge designs” had been photo-graphed on the prime minister’s land andin other parts of India. This gentleman alsoclaimed that approximately 800 other pat-terns of which he had direct knowledge hadappeared across the country.

This “800 patterns” quote was citedrecently by M. Night Shyamalan duringinterviews in which he talked about writ-ing the script of his blockbuster movie,Signs.

This scientist also told me that the samepatterns that had appeared in wheat fieldshad also appeared in black soot on ceil-ings in some residences in the area, alwaysfollowing a religious ceremony.

5.25 Sweden4 recorded crop formations

In 1946, there were several reports inSweden of single crop circles. The firstreport was of a 40-foot diameter circle that


came from Angelholm, Sweden duringMay, 1946.

One circle was discovered during2002.

5.26 Ireland4 recorded crop formations

There have been only four reports ofcrop circles from the Emerald Isle.

Following one of my radio interviewsin Ireland, an Irish farmer rang me up toreport that during 1989, he found fourcircles forming a square in a remote wheatfield on his land.

The rivalry between the English andthe Irish—often marked by humorous in-sults flung by both sides—caused much tobe made by the English observers whocrowed that only in Ireland could crop“circles” make a square!

5.27 Yugoslavia3 recorded crop formations

Crop circles have been reported inYugoslavia only during the last two years,and each pattern has been intricate. Oneof them was the familiar “Celtic Cross”design.

5.28 China2 recorded crop formations; possiblyseveral hundred unreported formations

One of the two reported crop circles inChina was witnessed during the decade ofthe country’s failed “cultural revolution”—1966 through 1967—when reporting ordiscussing such superstitious and possiblyparanormal things as crop circles was notonly discouraged, it was illegal.

According to Zhang Hui, research fel-low of the Xinjiang Museum in Urumqi, aneyewitness saw the second circle form in avery short period of time. This eyewitnesswas in the company of China’s Red Guardin Northeast China when it took place.

Hui believes that many of the ancientstone circles in China are permanent mark-ings of old crop circles. This theory is alsoheld by many regarding Stonehenge andother circular archaeological sites in England.

5.29 Other CountriesThe following countries have reported

crop circles: NUMBER OF

COUNTRY REPORTED CIRCLES

Argentina 2Croatia 2Denmark 2Peru 2Romania 2Siberia 2Slovakia 2Spain 2Turkey 2Afghanistan 1Bulgaria 1Chile 1Egypt 1Isle-Of-Man 1Lithuania 1Luxembourg 1Malaysia 1Nigeria 1Norway 1Sardinia 1Tasmania 1Ukraine 1Uruguay 1

83

IIIPart

Stonehenge


Madison Square Garden:Insecurity

85

Hundreds of crop circles had beenappearing in the English landscapewhen the matter was finally taken

to the British government. Crop circles wereappearing not only inthe public areas,they were appear-ing in the secret mili-tary areas as well.They were appear-ing on SalisburyPlain, which is anexclusion zone. Noone is permitted tofly over it, let alonedrive through it. Thearea is surveyedfrom the air with sat-ellites and con-stantly monitoredat ground level for This unique cluster of rings within a ringed circle appeared near

Hungerford, Berkshire, England in 1994.

intruders. It’s a very secure area, yet cropcircles are appearing inside these secureareas.

The Stonehenge Julia Set / 87

Chapter 6The Stonehenge Julia Set

Out of Nowhere?

87

One of the most compelling and im-portant moments in crop circle his-tory was the sudden appearance of

an incredible formation—a “Julia Set”—in a field across the road from Stonehengein a span of less than one hour.

There has been controversy about theJulia Set since the moment it appeared in1996. Naysayers have come forward andclaimed to know the hoaxers who made thisextraordinary formation. However, they donot name names or provide evidence, thusdestroying their credibility. Also, many oftheir claims have been repudiated by thefacts.

One of the most convincing argumentsfor the Julia Set’s authenticity is that hon-est, respectable people have attested to itsalmost instantaneous appearance. These arecredible people telling of incredible things.Nowhere is this more evident than in theaccounts provided by people who wouldhave nothing to gain, and a great deal tolose, by making up such a story.

The realities of nature surpass our most ambitious dreams

—Francois Rodin

A “Julia Set” is, by definition, a pat-tern created using fractal geometry.Fractal geometry is a component of therelatively recent field of chaos theorywhich, put simply, is the theory that statesthat order can be found in randomness(early 1960s).

A fractal is a geometric pattern that isrepeated at ever smaller scales to produceirregular shapes and surfaces that cannotbe represented by classical geometry.

The Julia Set crop formation beginswith a circle, spirals away from that cen-ter circle with smaller circles that growin size, until peaking as a large circle, andthen spiraling down with shrinkingcircles. Tiny “moon” circles orbit each ofthe circles in the set. The shape of the Juliaformation mimics the spiral created by theGolden Mean in nature.

A Julia Set can be mapped upwardsand downwards to infinity. It is a complexpattern that is visibly awe-inspiring. Butis it real?


The story of its discov-ery is simple. A pilot flewover the field at 5:15 p.m.on his way to Stonehenge.With him was a doctor whohad chartered the flight totake pictures of the ancientarchaeological site. Neitherof the men saw anythingin the field below them asthey flew over it at 5:15.Sometime around 6 p.m.,they flew over the samefield on their way back tothe airport and there it was.An enormous crop forma-tion had seemingly appearedin a span of 45 minutes orless. By 6:15, the policewere receiving calls aboutthe formation because of thegreat number of peoplestopping on the fast, danger-ous road adjacent to the fieldto look at the formation.

The cynics claim thatthe formation was alreadyin the field, that it had beencreated the previous night, and that noone saw it until 6 p.m. the following day.

When challenged on their contentionthat an entire day went by and no one onthe road next to the field saw the mas-sive formation, they say it was becausethe field slopes down and it is difficult tosee from the road into the “bowl” cre-ated by the inclined ground without a per-son getting out of their car. According totheir claim, the formation was createdclandestinely and undetected in the areanear Stonehenge, which is monitoredaround the clock by security guards. Theyalso claim that the 600-foot crop designwas made in a mere few hours, abso-lutely perfectly, and on the first try.

There are solid responses to these al-legations, and I will go through them one ata time.

1. The Julia Set was clearly visiblefrom the highway next to the fieldand a person did not have to leavetheir car, walk to the edge of theroad, and look down into the fieldto see it. The local police did nothave any notice of the formationuntil minutes after 6:00 p.m. on thatday, the first call coming in to themwithin minutes of the doctor andthe pilot seeing it. It is farfetchedto believe that an entire day wentby without anyone seeing the

The Julia Set seen in proximity to Stonehenge (1996).

The Stonehenge Julia Set / 89

enormous formation—including thefarmer who owned and worked thefields.

2. The Stonehenge site, which is acrossthe road from the field where theJulia Set appeared, is guarded 24-hours-a-day by a team of at leastthree, and often, four professionalsecurity guards. These guards cansee the field from the patrolled, el-evated ground on the northern sideof the Stonehenge standing stones,but they did not see the pattern un-til after 6 p.m. on the day it ap-peared. I personally spoke to all ofthe guards who were on duty thatday and they confirmed that therehad been nothing in the field untilafter 6 p.m. that day.

3. The British Ministry of Defense con-trols the airspace over Stonehengeand also monitors all aircraft take-offs and landings from the nearby top-secret airfield Boscombe Down.Officials from the Ministry of De-fense confirmed to me that the firstreport of the pattern was made after6:30 p.m. that day.

4. David Probert, a professional sur-veying engineer who investigatedand surveyed the site at my request,used the very latest infrared locat-ing and layout equipment to mea-sure and evaluate the Julia Setformation. He assured me that itwould have taken him approxi-mately two full days to lay out thedesign as found in the field. It tookone full day in the field for us tosimply enter each circle position anddraw it using his equipment.

5. The pilot and doctor’s report sup-ports the reports of many eyewit-ness who have witnessed formationsform in very short periods of time,some form as briefly as 10 to 15seconds.

6. The central circle of the Julia Setis directly aligned with the circlethat is formed by the Stonehengeformation, and this invisible linepassing through the crop formationand Stonehenge is aligned withmagnetic north, the earth’s mag-netic pole. The placement of theJulia Set is so specific that if therehad even been a slight rotation ofthe formation while it was beingformed, then the line to magneticnorth would have been misaligned.It seems unlikely that this meticu-lous alignment was purely coinci-dental, and equally unlikely thathoaxers went to the trouble of mak-ing and executing the specific cal-culations necessary to achieve suchan alignment.

On a related note, it has beenshown that psychics have been ableto “sense” the magnetic alignment ofthe earth and the Julia Set formationsimply by looking at photos of the de-sign. These experiments were con-ducted at the Institute of ResonantTherapy in Capenburg, Germany.The results could not be duplicatedwith photos of hoaxed formations.These experiments were filmed andpersonally witnessed by myself andmy wife Synthia.

7. The pilot and the doctor are both ada-mant in their belief that if the Julia


Set had been in the field when theyfirst flew over it, they would haveundoubtedly seen it. Both men werelooking down from the aircraft atStonehenge and the fields around it,and the aircraft flew several circuitsdirectly above the field. The JuliaSet pattern was enormous: It mea-sured 600 feet across. Not seeing itwould be comparable to flying intoNew York City and not noticing theskyscrapers.

8. Biophysicist William Levengood dis-covered biophysical changes at thecellular level inside the plants fromthe Julia Set formation, which he be-lieves could not be caused by hoax-ing. An independent analysis at theSpringborn Agricultural Laboratoriesin Massachusetts discovered a five-fold reduction of the pesticide lev-els within plants from the Julia Set.Both of these results are utterly in-consistent with plants that havebeen flattened by human feet orwooden boards.

The Julia Set is a conundrum of anoma-lies and mysteries, and the formationseemed to possess some type of energy in-formation that was used, in several cases,to great environmental benefit.

At the time the Julia Set appeared, So-viet president Mikhail Gorbachev was try-ing to find ways to reduce the consequencesof acid rain on trees and vegetation in theSoviet Union. A friend of Gorbachev’s wasworking with the Institute of ResonantTherapy in Germany. He designed an ex-periment in which the orgone energy of theJulia Set was quantified, and then gener-ated at specific resonant frequencies onplant life in the Soviet Union.

The people conducting this experimentrecorded leaf counts before the orgone ap-plication and after, and there was notice-able improvement in the growth and healthof the tested plants. This process has sincebeen applied to troubled plant life in othercountries with the same positive results.

The conclusion we have drawn fromthis development is that the geometry ofthe Julia Set formation contains specificbioenvironmental information that can beread and then used to improve the healthof vegetation anywhere in the world.

It is quite possible that authentic cropcircles are part of an interconnected net-work of biological “machines” whose solepurpose is to support the life forms ofplanet Earth. It is also possible thatmanmade designs which accidentally con-tain certain essential ratios and alignmentsmay also create measurable effects. We cansee here a potentially important discoverythat has come out of this single event.

Stonehenge: A Coincidental Discovery / 91

Chapter 7Stonehenge:

A Coincidental DiscoveryFrom the Circles Phenomenon

Research International Newsletter(Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring/Summer 1996)

91

In this fascinating article from his nowdefunct CPRI newsletter, ColinAndrews discusses an odd stone he was

“summoned” to find close to Stonehenge,and how, later, a never-published glyph onone of the henge’s standing stones seemedto connect to the mysterious rock.

•••

During the early years of crop circleresearch, Pat Delgado, Terence Meaden,Busty Taylor, and myself were in daily con-tact and flew weekly over the area ofStonehenge. We were, of course, search-ing for and photographing the crop circleswhich were found predominantly in thisarea. Busty Taylor, the regular pilot of ouraircraft, had a near fixation aboutStonehenge, always commenting that thesimple crop circles which were appearingat that time resembled it and even seemedto compare favorably in size.

To test these observations, I spent thewinter of 1987 scaling the existing cropcircle patterns to the official floor plan ofStonehenge supplied by English Heritage,the keepers of the site. I discovered that,indeed, there were striking similarities.

The dimensions of most of the singlecircles fit snugly into the inner horseshoeof the henge and, when crop circles ap-peared with single and double rings, theyfit within the inner and outer edges of thefirst ring of stones. All of these fits were toan accuracy of just a few centimeters. Thisvery famous archaeological site is the cen-ter of crop circle activity, as over 95 per-cent of the known worldwide formationshave been discovered within a 40-mile ra-dius of these formidable monolithic stones.

In 1996, Stonehenge once again tookcenter stage, both with the proximity of themost extraordinary formation (T444: seethe Andrews Catalogue in this volume, and


Chapter 6, and with the following discov-ery I made last year.

Actually, the story starts in 1989 whenfilm director Michael Grais (director ofPoltergeist II) decided to make a movie fortelevision about the long series of unex-plained security alarm activations in myhome in Andover, England. The film wascalled Gateway to the Unknown and wasbroadcast throughout the United Stateswith actors dramatizing my situation.

When making the film, Michael ar-rived with American psychic SharonGayle, who was his friend and assistant.While filming an interview with me in ahuge “dolphin” formation (see T122 inthe Andrews Catalogue) at Lockeridge,near Alton Barnes, Sharon suddenlybroke into the filming and said, “Colin,they are telling me to ask you to pick upyour stone.” The filming was stopped, thedirector looked annoyed but agreed, and

I, in confusion, looked down around myfeet at the hundreds of flint stones par-ticular to southern England. I did noticeone that seemed slightly different to therest, a little to my right. I bent down topick it up and found it was embedded andweathered firmly into the soil. I had topry it from the ground with both hands.The surface I could see was round andsmooth but when I pried it out andbrushed the soil off, I saw somethingquite different. The stone was a beauti-ful blue found inside broken flint but Icould not believe my eyes. I noticed ahorseshoe arrangement of white rectan-gular markings within the blue whichlooked nearly identical to the rock place-ment of Stonehenge. I immediately said,“My God! It’s Stonehenge!”

I have stared at this stone on many occa-sions as it sits in my office, and I have studiedall aspects of it. The stone has two white

A graphic illustration of the stone Colin Andrews was told psychically to pick up near Stonehenge.The underside of the stone (right) shows an image of Stonehenge’s standing stones.

Stonehenge: A Coincidental Discovery / 93

spheres on it, one positioned atthe center of the open end ofthe horseshoe. (In Stonehengethis area is positioned to thesummer solstice sunrise and lo-cates the famous heel stone.The second sphere was posi-tioned about 210 degreesaround the horseshoe.

In July of 1995, I wasasked to visit Stonehengewith a group of researchersfrom the United States whohad arranged to tour the cropcircle sites and Stonehengewith Joyce Murphy fromBeyond Boundaries. My jobwas to update the group withthe latest crop circle discov-eries and research progress as the groupspent some quality moments inside the hengewith the special permission of English Heri-tage. It was evening, around 11 p.m., andthe sun had set. As the group stood aroundlistening to my update, a member acciden-tally touched the button on their flashlightand cast a beam of light at an angle acrossone of the stones. Perhaps because I havebecome so attuned to looking at glyphs overthe past years, as the light momentarily struckthe rock, I saw a petroglyph. I asked thatthe light be put back on and there was in-deed a glyph worn into the old stone, lookingevery bit as old as the site itself. I knew thatsome glyphs had been discovered on therocks at Stonehenge and asked StuartConway, a journalist and photographer fromthe Glasgow Herald in Scotland, to take aphotograph so we could compare it to therecord.

Immediately on my return to the UnitedStates at the end of the summer, I sent thephotograph and placement to ProfessorGerald Hawkins, author of StonehengeDecoded, who knows every surface ofrock personally, not only through his re-search, but because he has also paintedeach one. Gerald was adamant that the

glyph had never before been published. Ihave spent many weeks this summer withEnglish Heritage and they also agree thatthis is a new discovery, probably only seenthis time due to the angle of the light thathit it.

Will you be surprised to hear that the stonethe glyph is carved on is at the same place-ment in the Stonehenge arrangement (210degrees around the horseshoe from the heelstone) as the second white sphere on my rock?

•••

A final word: On the night of July 14,I went with a group of people toStonehenge to officially declare the find-ing with photographs, measurements, anda ceremony. Later that night my car wasbroken into and, at some point, the filmfrom my camera was removed. Thisseemed odd. Since there was plenty ofadditional photographic evidence of theevening, why remove my film?

Since this story was published by CPRInternational, several sources have claimedthat the glyph Colin discovered had beenpreviously reported and noted by EnglishHeritage. No official record has yet beenprovided to support these claims.

This Triple Julia Set formed shortly after the amazing Julia Setnear Stonehenge in 1996. Each circle displayed a differentswirl detail. The pattern was over 120 meters across.

An Interview With Busty Taylor / 95

Chapter 8An Interview

With Busty Taylor

95

B usty Taylor is a pilot who regularlyflies his light aircraft over the fieldsof England looking for new crop

circles. In 1985, he discovered a set of fivecrop circles forming a Celtic Cross southof his home, which started him on the longroad of crop circle investigation. Taylor hasworked with Pat Delgado, Terence Meaden,Colin Andrews, and others. In the 1980s,he was part of the first research team toundertake investigation of the crop circlemystery. In this interview, Busty shares histhoughts concerning the crop circle enigma.

•••

Q In 1985, you saw your first crop circles while flying over a field in

your small plane. What were your thoughtswhen you saw the formation?

A I knew that I had seen this before, but could not remember where. A few

days later there was a meeting in NewAlresford with Pat Delgado, Omar Fowler,Paul Fuller, and Martin Pain, a local farmer,who pointed out that the crop design I hadseen and photographed was a Celtic Cross.That was when I remembered where I hadseen the symbol before: in the local church-yards on tombstones.

Q What was the strongest evidence in those early days that convinced you

that these strange patterns in the fields wereworth further study?

A The plants had no damage that I could see, plus the stalks were bent—not

broken—90 degrees at the base. In black-and-white photos, you could see a distinctcontrast difference between the design andthe other crops. Also, I could not find anyhuman tracks into the formation from anydirection.

Q Was there a particular crop formation that convinced you that the trend

of hoaxing had begun and that manmadecircles would be part of the scene fromthen on?

A In 1987, I flew over the Cheesefoot Head to take some photos of an au-

thentic ringed circle, and then I flew backto Thruxton. I subsequently drove back tothe field I had just flown over and discov-ered that a small ringed circle had turnedup within that last hour. This circle, whenviewed from the edge of the field throughbinoculars, looked very rough comparedto the genuine one I had just photographed,


and it had irregular edges. I immediatelythought it was a fake and, from that pointon, it would be important to differenti-ate between the real and the counterfeitformations.

Q What have you personally seen that convinces you that a real phenom-

enon exists?

A Over the last 17 years, I have been lucky enough to get into some crop

circles very early after their formation,before they have been contaminated byother people. I have seen formations me-ticulously laid out without any sign of hu-man intervention, and I have seen oil-seedrape stalks with perfect 90-degree bends.

One particularly memorable incidentoccurred at Headbourne Worthy, where wefound a counterclockwise circle with astrange weave inside it. As soon as I sawit, I made a comment into the video cam-era, remarking on the complexity of theweave on the ground. It was only laterwhen we saw the crop circle from the airthat we noticed that the main lay of thecircle itself had a clockwise spiral to it. Theswirl of the overall pattern was in one di-rection, but on the ground, the weave wasin the opposite, and was an extremely com-plex plait. To my mind, this was very com-pelling evidence of some unknownphenomenon.

Q During your research, have you witnessed any specific physical or men-

tal effects on people that have visited cropcircles?

A Yes. I have seen people become elated on entering a formation, and I have

personally taken a man into the 1989 Win-terbourne Stoke Swastika. He claims thathis chronic bad back was healed perma-nently after visiting the crop circle. Accord-ing to this man, after he left the formation

and began driving away from the site to-wards London, his back got hotter and hot-ter and then suddenly his back pain stoppedfor good, and never returned. Interestingly,sometimes the circles seem to stimulate un-commonly authoritative attitudes in people.I have heard people report that a sense ofpower came over them after they visiteda circle, and I have witnessed somepeople’s attitude towards others becomevery domineering.

Q What do you think the crop circle phenomenon is all about?

A I think it may be a form of communication, as many of the early circles

were representations of Celtic symbols thathave been used throughout history. Perhapsthese symbols were also found in the cropsthousands of years ago.

Q In your opinion, what research still needs to be carried out, and how

do you think it will advance our knowl-edge and understanding of the crop circlephenomenon?

A In a nutshell, I think we all need to work together. Crop circle research-

ers should make a concerted effort to de-velop a program of structured research thatcould then be reviewed and collated. At themoment, people are off doing their ownthing, and many are carrying out researchwhich somebody else might also be doingwithout realizing it. If we could organize,we might move much faster with the re-search and more quickly discover an an-swer to what this is all about.

Q Have the crop circle counterfeiters taught us anything?

A Yes, they have taught us that man has the ability to replicate what he sees

in nature. This might be what happened

An Interview With Busty Taylor / 97

thousands of years ago. Man might haveduplicated the early crop circle designs andused the patterns in artwork and at ar-chaeological sites. What we now know asa Celtic Cross might very well be a copyof something ancient man saw in the fields.Some circle counterfeiters claim that theyhave witnessed some strange things dur-ing their circle making; I think we shouldlook more deeply into this.

Q Have the crop circles changed your life?

A Yes, my life has changed since my first circle. The circles have spurred

me to look into the past of all religions andsearch for an answer and, in doing so, Iconsider myself a much wiser person forthe experience.

In 1986, an elderly couple driving over Stockbridge Downs, near Stockbridge, Hampshire,England called police after witnessing a large UFO stand on its end over the downs. Thesketch they drew closely resembled this crop pattern which appeared at the same spot onthe downs in 1995.

99

IVPart

Weird Science


Madison Square GardenSpiraling Views

101

From about 500 feet in the air, the spi-raling symmetry of crop circles canclearly be seen. You lift the plants

up, and underneath them are two overlaidsine waves—out of phase, and breakingaway into the center. Peak trough, peaktrough, and so forth; a highly complex ar-ray of patterning, which is found even in

Looking like a cross between a snowflake and a bunch of magnetic di-poles, this complex pattern appeared on the top of an iron age hill fortcalled Windmill Hill in Wiltshire, England on July 18, 2002.

the simple circles. The plants do not al-ways spiral, but when they do, it’s like aradial fireworks air burst, straight out fromthe center to the periphery. These plantsare not bent, either. It’s as if they’re madesupple through the phase of formation, andthen hardened up again—and then continueto grow.

Sounds From the Fields / 103

Chapter 9Sounds From the Fields

Insects, Birds,or the Circles Themselves?

103

The Sound of the Circles

One day in June 1987 as I was work-ing in my office, I received a phonecall from a pilot I knew personally,

telling me that he had just seen a crop circlein a field in Kimpton, Hampshire.

Kimpton is a very small hamlet nearAndover, about five miles from my homeat the time. It is comprised of no more thantwo dozen houses in a small rural villagenear a private landing strip in Hampshire,England.

The pilot had seen a crop ring in whichthe plants were spiraled in a clockwise di-rection, and he thought I would want toknow about it. Because I had a great manyhours of personal time owed to me, I de-cided to leave work and pay a visit to thisformation. When I arrived at the farm, I in-troduced myself to the farmer and togetherwe walked out into the field where the cropring had appeared. I knew immediately that

Everyone hears only what he understands.

—Jonathan Wolfgang von Goethe

it was an authentic manifestation and I re-quested, and was granted, permission toreturn the following day with my col-leagues for further investigation.

I assembled a team of scientists, engi-neers and other interested parties—includ-ing Dr. Terence Meaden and PatDelgado—and we went back to thefarmer’s field the next day and performedour standard investigative routine. Wemeasured for radiation with a Geigercounter. We took a great many physicalmeasurements, we took soil and plantsamples. We used a compass to determinethe magnetic orientation and alignment ofthe plants.

Upon conclusion of our research, weall left the field and, because it was near-ing the end of the workday, we returned toour respective homes.

Later that day, towards early evening,I was going through my notes at home and


I realized that in order to be completely thor-ough, I needed to take a few more mea-surements of the crop circle, some of whichI felt could be quite useful.

I decided to return to the field. Thistime, I decided not to bother the farmerafter his day of labor. He had, after all,given me permission to enter his land, andI was certain he would not object to afollow-up visit.

I drove to Kimpton, and I parked mycar on the side of the highway out of theline of traffic. I stepped out of the car and Ipaused for a moment to look at the settingsun. The smell of growing wheat was car-ried to me on a slight breeze that also borethe gentle smell of heather as it waftedacross the fields. I walked slowly towardsa small church, and I was quite consciousof how relaxed I was, and I was also awareof how little fear I felt.

I was returning to a field where a cropring had appeared that afternoon, andwhich I and my colleagues had alreadymeasured and photographed. I was backbecause something had occurred to mewhen I was at home and I wanted to takeanother measurement. This seemed to be avery ordinary activity to me.

Behind the church was a small grave-yard that dated back at least to the 15th cen-tury. The tombstones stood silent and grayin the gloaming and I was careful not totrod on the graves as I passed through thiscity of the dead. Respect. Very important.

I reached the back of the cemetery andclimbed easily over some low barbed wire,placed there not to keep out humans, butto deter nocturnal marauders, such as foxesand badgers.

As I moved across the field, dusk be-came dark. It took me a few minutes toreach the crop ring. As I walked, I distinctlyheard a dog barking in the distance. Asidefrom my far-off canine friend, there wassilence in the field. I was quite alone.

When I reached the ring, I walked in-side its perimeter and stared at the flattenedbarley plants swirling in a clockwise di-rection. I took my measurement and thensomething came over me—an urge, animpulse, a yearning. Call it what you will,but the effect was to prod me to do some-thing I had not planned to do. It was a pure,spontaneous moment, brought on by myfervid desire to understand.

I turned west, where Stonehenge stoodsilent, I put my hands together, and Iprayed.

I did not speak, but in my mind I sentout the plea, “Please, God, give me a clueas to what is happening here and help meunderstand what this is all about.”

At the precise moment that my prayerended—the exact second—I heard an oddcrackling sound from approximately sevenor eight feet in front of me that sounded abit like static, but with a more metallic edgeto it. It was an unusual, continuous whir-ring sound at close to ground level and Iimmediately thought it was being made bysome kind of insect. I rejected that straight-away because the sound was too mechani-cal and much too loud for an insect. As Ilistened, the sound got louder and louder. Iflirted with the idea that it was some kindof rodent, or some other animal, but I alsodiscarded that theory since, again, the me-chanical nature of the sound was quite pro-nounced. As the volume of the sound rose,I could feel the air around me begin tomove, and I sensed the hairs on my armsstanding up and I could feel air pulsatingthe cheeks of my face.

At this point, I became quite concernedand, within a very short time, concern hadturned to fear. I thought I recognized thesound from my work as an electrical engi-neer. I had heard similar sounds in labora-tories in situations where there was abuildup of high levels of voltage betweenan anode and a cathode. Just before there

Sounds From the Fields / 105

is a discharge of electricity,there is a metallic purringsound, and that was similarto what I heard that night inthe field.

I say now for therecord, and with the utmostsincerity, that the prevailingthought that was runningthrough my mind as I stoodthere listening to that sound,was that something wasgoing to materialize in frontof me, there, in the centerof the crop circle. Ulti-mately, nothing appeared,but the sound continued. Iam not ashamed to admitthat my fear reached a newlevel at that point and I be-gan to look for the quickest way out of thefield.

As I prepared to flee, however, thesound suddenly stopped—it was as thougha switch had been thrown. And to this day,I believe that the “switch” was my fear.As soon as my trepidation and alarm turnedto outright terror, the sound stopped. Didthe consciousness that was responsible forthe crop circle and its attendant sound re-spond to my panic and turn off the soundto reassure and comfort me? It did seemthat way to me at the time, and I still be-lieve that there was a deliberate responsefrom the intelligence that made the circle.The circles are a gentle, benign presenceon earth. I think the presence of the con-trary emotion of fear caused some kind ofreaction and that the purpose of restoringsilence was to bring balance to the situa-tion. The positive energies at the site werebeing torn apart by my dread and natureresponded.

I quickly left the circle, and it would beanother year before I would hear thatsound again.

•••

I have thought about that first timemany times since that night in the field, andthe exact moment that my prayer was an-swered.

It was a straight line for me: I hadprayed for an answer; I received one. Itwas, perhaps, more than I could emotion-ally handle. I became terribly frightened;the sound of the circle stopped.

Was this all just coincidence? Was itcoincidental that the moment my emotionschanged from relaxed curiosity to abjectterror, the thing that was frightening meceased?

Two years later, in July 1989, the BBCrecorded the same crop circle sound. It wasthen that I learned that the sound was a5.2 kilohertz frequency and I now have thissound on tape and I have played it at manylectures and conventions. A BBC TV cam-era was destroyed during the taping. Thisevent made national headlines in Britain.

Is the sound the sound of the cropcircles? I believe it is, and it was OperationWhite Crow that convinced me of its authen-ticity—and its importance. (Please see Chap-ter 15 for more on the sound of the circles.)

This formation discovered by Busty Taylor and Colin Andrewsduring a reconnaissance flight over Clench Common, Wiltshireon the 10th of August, 2000.

Operation White Crow / 107

Chapter 10Operation White Crow

107

The Devil’s Punchbowl

Operation White Crow was the firstcrop circle surveillance operation,and it took place in the “Devil’s

Punchbowl” in Cheesefoot Head, Winches-ter, in Hampshire, in 1989, one year priorto Operation Blackbird.

Operation White Crow is significant tome for several reasons, the most importantbeing the fact that it was the second time Iheard the odd “crop circle sound” (seeChapter 9), and also, because of the verystrange things that happened to my friend,co-author, and fellow researcher, PatDelgado.

We had a caravan of vehicles, work sta-tions, and cameras. One evening, some ofus who were directly participating in thesurveillance operation decided to get awayfrom the main base of operations and walk100 yards or so away from the bustle.

We all walked off into a single cropcircle, the larger of a formation of twocircles that had appeared in the field nextto the one we were monitoring. There wereseven or eight of us, including psychic Rita

If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, you mustn’t seek to showthat no crows are; it is enough if you prove one single crow to be white.

—William James

Gould, and we all sat down and tried torelax. We did not meditate, or attempt tomake contact with the intelligence of thecircles—this was not a séance—but wewere all in a relaxed state of mind.

Suddenly, we all heard a sound fromthe east. As we listened, it grew louder andwe could sense it getting closer. It was defi-nitely directional, in that we all could tellprecisely where it was coming from, andwe could follow it as it moved. The soundthen rotated around us, floating around thecircle three or four times, like an auditorycloud that passed above us in a circle. Andagain, it was directional: As it moved inits orbit around us, we could follow it withour ears, and if it had been visible, we allfelt we would have been able to track itfrom point to point around the circle. Firstit was in our left ear, then behind us, thenin our right ear.

We were all responsible adults withjobs and families, but we were also all opento the idea of alternate realities and to thenotion that strange things were possible.Yet, that said, we were all quite frightened


and we huddled together like a bunch ofschoolboys. It truly was a scary moment.We were in a pitch black field and we hadno idea what this sound was or where itwas coming from.

And then the sound stopped moving.We could all still hear it, but it froze andpositioned itself in front Pat Delgado andI. At this time, Pat was very involved inresearching and trying to understand thephenomenon, as was I. Could the sourceof the sound somehow sensed this?

We did not know what to expect next,and as we waited for something to happen,suddenly Pat Delgado stood up and beganto walk towards the place in the circle fromwhere the sound was now emanating. Hewalked to the edge of the circle, and helater told me that he knew that the soundwas no more than three or four feet in frontof him. This was somewhat closer than thesound was to me when I heard it atKimpton.

And then it got really weird.As Pat stood there at the edge of the

circle, he called out: “Colin, come to me,”he said. And then, he cupped his left handand began to “scoop” in the air at the topof the plants closest to the sound and pushthis energy in my direction.

I walked towards him, and when Ireached him, he continued his odd cuppingand scooping motion across the top of theplants, pushing the air towards me, specifi-cally towards my solar plexus—he aimedit straight at the pit of my stomach. I stoodthere and went along with this, not know-ing how to respond, or what to say. After abit, Pat stopped and I backed away. I turnedaround, walked back to the group, and satdown. I was confused and frightened andknew that something strange was occur-ring. Pat then started to walk toward us.When he reached a point about 25 to 30feet away from us, he stopped in his tracks,

and his head went back as though he wereabout to fall backwards.

It was a most extraordinary sight and Itruly did not understand what was goingon. As I stared at this incredible sight, hethen beckoned to me.

Incredibly, his body then leaned backon a 10- to 15-degree angle. He hung theresuspended, as though he were leaningagainst a cushion, or perhaps somethingmore solid.

At this point, Pat was absolutely terri-fied. I could see fear in his eyes and hestarted shouting to me. “Colin! Come andhold me up!” I rushed to him and grabbedboth his hands and tried to pull him to anupright position. I felt great pressure pull-ing against me, and it was as though Patwas stuck to glue. I continued to tug at him,and then suddenly he was free. It felt asthough a bond had snapped and his bodywas released from the force that had beenholding him. At the precise moment thatPat was pulled free, the crop circle soundstopped.

This was, quite literally, one of theworst things that had ever happened to meor Pat.

Upset and shaken, we returned to thegroup and sat down, but after only a fewmoments, Pat said, “Let’s get the hell outof here,” and we all left the circle.

The following morning, as we wereworking in the base camp of the operation,a police sergeant drove up. We had obtainedall necessary permissions to conduct theoperation, so the police knew we werethere, and they knew what we were doing.

“Are you aware,” the sergeant askedus, pointing off in the direction of the soundfrom the night before, “that there’s a circlewith a ring on the top of the hill over there?”

We replied that we were not awareof any new formation and the sergeantoffered to drive us there in the police car.

Operation White Crow / 109

We gratefully accepted and we sped offtowards the hill he had pointed out.

When we arrived, we were flabber-gasted. In the exact direction the soundseemed to travel to when it left us was afresh crop ring. The plants were still pop-ping up, and still moving, as though a pow-erful hand had pressed them down, andthey were just now springing back up.

I believed then, as I believe now, thatthe previous night we had inadvertently

encroached upon the creation of a cropcircle. We had all unwittingly placed our-selves in the middle of a paranormal event.At one point Rita Gould did attempt tomake contact with the force behind thesound that we were all hearing, but we donot know for certain that her efforts madeany difference.

Pat Delgado was caught in the mael-strom that night, and he pulled me into itwith him.

A dumbbell formation appeared mysteriously in full view of surveillance cameras during anoperation set up by engineer Mike Curry and BBC production staff at Blackland, Wiltshire onJune 28, 1991. Mike Curry returned home from this site to find an identical pattern appearedoutside his bedroom window overnight.

Hayley’s Connection / 111

Chapter 11Hayley’s Connection:

Crop Circles and Remote Viewing

111

Note: This is a somewhat abridgedversion of an article from the CPRInewsletter that tells of a drawing

by my teenage niece, Hayley, that was laterseen as a crop circle design in a field nearher home. Please refer to the AndrewsCatalogue in this volume to see images ofthe crop formations cited in this article. Itwas taken from the Circles PhenomenonResearch International Newsletter, Volume6, No.1, Spring/Summer 1997.

•••

Remote viewing is a difficult subjectto discuss with many people. Once, duringa lecture in San Francisco, I spoke of theimportance of remote viewing in explor-ing human potentials. Afterwards, I was ap-proached by a very indignant man whowarned me from getting involved in such a

A reasonable being should ask himself why—if chemicals can enter into plants,and plants be taken up into animals, and animals be taken into man—why man

himself, who is the peak of visible creation, should be denied the privilege of beingassimilated into a higher power? The rose has no right to say that there is no life

above it and neither has man, who has a vast capacity and unconquerable yearningfor eternal life and truth and love.

—Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

load of rubbish. I disagreed and we left itat that. In fact, I have had many events inmy life surrounding the crop circles thatstrongly led me into the study of remoteviewing.

Remote viewing is the ability to men-tally receive visual and auditory informa-tion without being limited by distance ortime. Public research into this area beganin the early 1970s, with much of it beingcarried out at Stanford Research Instituteat Palo Alto, California. In 1977, physi-cists Russell Targ and Harold Putoff pub-lished their research (Mind Reach) inwhich they described remote viewing as“the ability...to view, by means of mentalprocess, remote geographical or technicaltargets....”

In another book written by RussellTarg, with Keith Harary (Mind Race,


1984), the authors quoted from a congres-sional committee on science and technol-ogy, U.S. House of Representatives, 97thCongress, June 1981:

Recent experiments in remoteviewing and other studies in parapsy-chology suggest there is aninterconnectedness of the humanmind with other human minds andmatter...The implications of these ex-periments is that the human mind maybe able to obtain information inde-pendent of geography and time.

This is no surprise to those who arefamiliar with Rupert Sheldrake and histheories of morphic fields and resonance(The New Science of Life and In thePresence of the Past). Also along this lineis the idea of a “holographic universe”where the universe is seen as an indivis-ible whole and every piece of the wholehas intrinsically within itself access to thewhole, much like every cell in our bodycontains the DNA that has the blueprintof the entire body (Michael Talbot, 1991).Both of these theories are simply new at-tempts to create a construct within whichsupernormal events can be explained, asCarl Jung did with his theory of the col-lective unconscious. In any event, there isstrong theoretical support for the processof remote viewing, even stronger experi-mental support and, to top it off, great gov-ernmental interest in this means ofobtaining information.

Remote viewing impacts the subject ofcrop circles in two ways. First, remoteviewing can be, and has been used to, ob-tain information regarding the constructionand shape of crop circles. Second, theo-retically, the process of remote viewing isreversible. What I mean by that is that ifwe can use our minds to see things from adistance, we can also use our minds toproject things. Additionally, can images be

“remote viewed” into our minds from othersources?

Accuracy in remote viewing is attainedthrough rigorous training and practice. Abeginning remote viewer is considered tohave a “hit,” or to have succeeded, if com-ponents of the target are seen. They oftenwill not be seen in mirror image to the ac-tual item. For example, Synthia once gaveme a target of an overhead fan. What Isaw was a propeller with a cone on it. Al-though not exact, the components werethere and, in this case, they were in thecorrect placement. I was not, however, ableto identify what the object was.

It is very interesting that the act ofremote viewing can influence the placeand people being perceived. This is thecase of many people who have had expe-riences of projecting a mental image of apattern and then having it appear in thefields. The Celtic Cross of Longstock(1988) was one such incident when I pro-jected the Celtic Cross and asked for it beplaced in the field closest to my home.The next day it was there as projectedand requested (T8). Another such eventoccurred in 1992 when Dr. Steven Greerand a group of 18 individuals all agreed ona pattern that they also projected from theirminds. Again, it appeared in the fields thenext day. In both cases, we projected ameaningful symbol, and it appeared, as ifby an interactive force.

On the 18th of June this year (1997),when I arrived at my parents’ house inAndover, in the United Kingdom, to startthe summer’s research, I noticed a beauti-ful plate next to my parents’ fireplace. Thedish had a powerful symbol in the centerof it. When I asked my parents where theygot the dish, my mother replied that myniece Hayley had made it for her. I wasvery impressed with the professional lookof it, especially for a 13-year-old. But whatwas more impressive was the impact of the

Hayley’s Connection / 113

symbol. I made a mental note to ask Hayleywhere she obtained the symbol.

On the morning of the 19th of June, inthe adjacent field at Longstock where theCeltic Cross had appeared in 1988, thefarmer discovered an impressive new croppattern (T489). He was sure that the pat-tern was not there the day before as thearea was under surveillance by a group ofbird watchers and the police during the timeof its arrival and for four weeks prior. Theinterest in the area was due to a very rareand endangered bird that had been nestingnearby. I can vouch for the security myself.

Within moments of parking my car inthe road next to the field, I was approachedby the police and I could see watchers withbinoculars perched in nearby trees. They hadseen nothing in the fields for the four weeksthey had been bird-watching. This morning,however, there was a majestic and undam-aged crop design, with no tracks in or out.

I flew over the formation later that morn-ing and immediately noticed the similarity

between this pattern and the symbol onHayley’s dish.

I talked to Hayley later that week andasked where she got the symbol. She toldme the symbol came into her mind on the31st of January and she decided to draw it.Her sketches from January were veryclose to the 14th of June, T490 formation,including the childlike shakiness of the linesand the unfinished corners. She said shedrew it that way because that was the wayshe saw it. However, when she decided todraw the symbol onto the plate for herGranny, she decided to alter the design,evolving it to contain most of the majorcomponents and placements of the forma-tion which appeared on the 19th of June,which was formation T489.

The story does not end here. On the10th of July I met with a group fromAmerica who had come over with re-searcher/artist Ron Russell. I met them atT489 to give them an update on formationsthat summer. As I begin to tell them of the

Colin Andrews’s niece Hayley holding the dish she painted. The designlater appeared as a crop formation.


1997 patterns, a woman in the party waveda sketch in from of me. She had drawn ittwo weeks earlier in the States. “The pat-tern kept coming into my head,” she said.Her sketch closely resembled Hayley’s, andwhen I showed her a photograph ofHayley’s plate, she nearly fell over. It wasthe same design, only she had placed loopswhere Hayley had placed inverted Vs.Later, a fresh design appeared which wasan even better fit.

So, were the circles the result of myniece imaging a pattern which was then,through an interactive force, projected intothe field? Or did my niece and the Ameri-can woman remote view a future event?

Or perhaps, another possibility: Were thepatterns projected into Hayley’s and thewoman’s mind by an interactive force in-volved in the circle’s creation? Is it thesame interactive force that responded tomy projection in 1988 and Steven Greer’sin 1992?

If, as the mystics have always said,our thoughts create the world, perhaps thecrop circles are giving us instruction onthe creative use of the power of thought.Perhaps it is time we respond and join thoseusing their thoughts to create a betterworld.

It is possible our best hope for the fu-ture lies in our highest ability to imagine.

The design drawn by an American woman, appeared days later as a crop circle at Cley Hill,Wiltshire on July 14, 1997.

The Diatonic Ratios in Crop Circles / 115

Chapter 12The Diatonic Ratios

in Crop Circlesby Gerald Hawkins, Ph.D., D.Sc.

115

Professor Hawkins originally wrotethis article about the diatonic ratiosfound in crop circle dimensions spe-

cifically for the CPRI Newsletter, and hehas graciously granted us permission toreprint it in Crop Circles: Signs of Con-tact. Although it is somewhat technical innature, we decided to include it here be-cause of the enormous interest in cropcircles by a great many scientists, math-ematicians, musicologists, and science-minded lay people. This article was takenfrom the Circles Phenomenon ResearchInternational Newsletter, Volume 5, No.2,Fall/Winter 1996/97.

•••

Circular Evidence by Colin Andrewsand Pat Delgado provides the only set ofaccurately measured circle diameters avail-able for rigorous analysis for the early pe-riod of the phenomenon, frozen in time, andunbiased by the flood of later activity.Those measured patterns reveal a tell-tale

set of numbers: the fractions of the majorscale of Western music.

Starting with the tonic, C, each whitenote on the piano increases in pitch asfollows:

C D E F G A B C’1 9/8 5/4 4/3 3/2 5/3 15/8 2

The same ratios occur above middleC, but double with each octave. For ex-ample, 6:2 gives G’, 16:3 gives F”, whereeach mark ’ after a note is used to indicatea rise of one octave. There are the perfectdiatonic ratios. In well-tempered or equaltemperament tuning, the ratio, r, is morecomplicated:

r = 2 n/12 (raised to the power of n/12)

where “n” is taken as a number rangingbetween 0 and 12. The diatonic fractionsfall out, or occur, when n is 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9,11, and 12.

I took all the circles where measure-ments are given in Circular Evidence. For


satellite patterns, the ratio was the diam-eter of the large circle to the satellite:

For concentric rings, the ratio was ofdiameters squared. The measurements atthe outside edge of each ring was taken.

Taking intervals of +/- 0.165 as n, 16of the ratios fell on diatonics as shown inthe figure to the right. Each and every whitenote was hit, and theblack notes were not. Thestatistical probability thatthis is random is negli-gible. Noting that in Fig-ure 1 the tonic appearstwice (C, C’), there areseven independent tar-gets set in a spread of 35spaces, making thechance of a single randomhit 0.2. The probabilitythat 16 hits or more from25 shots is real, by the bi-nomial theorem, has aconfidence level greaterthan 99.99 percent.

The Sussex groupmeasured seven formations between 1993and 1995, and four were diatonic, addingconfirmation to the Circular Evidence re-sults. This was repeated for the inside edgesof the rings, and no significant correlationwith the diatonic ratios was found.

Of course we cannot say that the cropcircles are “musical.” All that can be saidis that the crop circles and the eight-notemusical scale are based on the same math-ematical relationship.

There are two internal checks we canapply. Firstly, we can look at the error dis-tribution. The standard deviation was +/-0.23, corresponding to +/- 20 centimetersin a 20 meter circle. The deviations were

symmetrical about zero, and showed a tol-erable fit to a normal error curve. This con-firms that the musical ratios were indeedaimed at, and that the circles were con-structed with a tolerance of +/- 1 percent.

Secondly, we can arbitrarily reverse therules, applying the linear rule to concen-tric circles, and the square rule to satellites.When this is done, the diatonic ratios dis-appear statistically. This simple checkshows that musical ratios do not easily oc-cur in patterns regardless of assumptions.

There is a slight tendency for themeasured diameters to cluster at unit val-ues of meters and this raises the ques-tion, “Could the hoaxers strike off theratios 9/8, 5/4, 4/3, and so forth, at ran-dom by using a bar of fixed length?” Theanswer is no. Taking all fractions madefrom the numbers between one and 16,the non-diatonic ratio 7/4 should occurby chance, but it is avoided in all the data.Yet the diatonic 15/8 was found in thecircles, even though it should occur lessoften than 7/4 by chance. Then again, wewould expect the black note ratios, suchas 16/9, but none of these black noteswere hit.

Diameter of Large Circle

Diameter of Satellite CircleRatio =

The Diatonic Ratios in Crop Circles / 117

It has been argued that a natural phe-nomenon sometimes makes a design, andso crop patterns can be similarly produced.No. Apart from bird calls and whalesong,the set of diatonic ratios does not occur innature.

Another possible criticism is theKepler caveat. He, in 1596, theorized howthe solar system orbits were pure geom-etry, but the measurements of Tycho Braheproved him wrong. Equally unfortunate, histheory of a universe controlled by musical

intervals was destroyed by the facts. Withthe crop circles, however, the music is nota theory, it is a fact. These diatonic ratiosare facts in search of a theory.

NotesAndrews, Colin and Pat Delgado. Circu-lar Evidence. London: Bloomsbury Press,1990.Apel. W. Harvard Dictionary of Music.Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UniversityPress, 1969.

Known as the “Flower Of Life” design, it was found in a wheat field at Froxfield, Berkshire,England on August 4, 1994. It measured 180 feet across.

119

VPart

Crop CircleCounterfeiting:

Liars in the Fields


Madison Square Garden:A Message From the Environment?

121

Why might symbols be part of aspiritual nudge?

Why would we need to be givena spiritual nudge? The answers may befound in the news.

• Item: The French government re-cently joined with the Chinese tobegin once again the testing ofnuclear devices.

• Item: This same day as in manyother parts of the world, weatherpatterns broke all records.

• Item: Across North America, nearly900 died in just a few days of un-bearably high temperatures of over115 degrees Fahrenheit…in theshade. The hospitals were full, themorgues were full, and the cattlewere falling to the ground, theirstomachs exploding.

All this happened on lands that less than18 months ago experienced record low win-ter temperatures as areas of the AtlanticOcean froze.

Our attention should be drawn to thegulf that exists between the actions of na-tion-states and the environmental needs of

mankind. The U.S. Government recentlyproposed the deregulating of environmen-tal policy.

The effects of the depleted ozone layercontinue to become more and more obvi-ous. We have had a loss of surface vegeta-tion and large numbers of deep sea life; inaddition to wild swings in global tempera-tures. Ignoring all this evidence, the UnitedStates Congress has recently proposed leg-islation encouraging the harvesting of trees.

Expanded harvesting will make iteasier for the manufacturers of pesticidesthat are currently restricted by the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency to place themon the market for general use.

As we speak, legislation has also beenintroduced that would limit the ability todeclare endangered species habitats off lim-its to development. According to the au-thors of this legislation, it will force greaterconsideration for human needs.

Legislation has also been proposed torevise the 1972 federal Water PollutionControl Act to again allow voluntary regu-lation of water and chemical run-off fromthe farms and industry.

Just when many of us thought that ourpolitical representatives were finally under-standing the importance of the environmental


situation, we have come full circle, and, in-deed, have begun to go backwards.

The unfortunate result of much ofthese backslides is that the health and safetyof the people of the United States ofAmerica has been placed in the capable and

oh-so trustworthy hands of multinationalcorporations who have, for the most part,been instrumental in getting us into thismess in the first place. And I do hope mysarcasm is not too subtle.

How much safer do you feel now?

This photograph was sent by Andrews to Hopi Indian elders in The United States seekingtheir views on what it might mean. They responded by saying “Mother is crying” (meaningMother Earth). Perhaps by coincidence, it formed as the Gulf War began on August 4, 1990.

Crop Circle Hoaxes and the Circus in the Fields / 123

Chapter 13Crop Circle Hoaxes andthe Circus in the Fields

123

You can’t make a counterfeit with-out an original to copy. It is theonly necessary response to those

who insist that because some crop circlesare manmade, all crop circles must, there-fore, be manmade.

Authentic crop formations were aroundlong before hoaxers butted in and beganclaiming formations they couldn’t possi-bly have made.

Why has no one studied the profile ofa hoaxer?

A detailed study of crop circle coun-terfeiters has not yet been done and I thinkit is imperative that such a study be under-taken. It is important to at least make theattempt to understand why people are do-ing this.

Serious crop circle researchers and stu-dents of the phenomena know that we havea hoaxing problem. We know that crop

There’s a slapstick sort of humor in England that gets a belly laugh out of doingsomething bloody stupid. And it is bloody stupid. But it gets a laugh. I can’t think that

American farmers would want this kind of thing to come to their doors.

—Colin Andrews

circle counterfeiters create phony crop for-mations for many reasons, including:

• Skeptics who want to deliberatelyinterfere with the research and putit off track.

• “Earth artists” who see the creationof crop circles as an experiential artform.

• Pranksters having a bit of fun (theearly 1990s “ejaculating penis” cropformation in England is a prime ex-ample of this type of, ahem, “mis-chief”).

• Enthusiasts who actually believethey are contributing to the fieldwith their efforts.

• Those with an agenda, be it politi-cal, social, environmental, or com-mercial. (Many corporations have


of late been hiring “circlemakers”to create crop formations of logos,automobiles, symbols, and othercommercial designs.)

Admittedly, the efforts of counterfeit-ers have become more sophisticated andcomplex over the past several years, seem-ing to parallel the sophistication—the evo-lution—of the authentic formations. Yet,it is known that counterfeiters have de-liberately laid claim to highly complex au-thentic formations that they had absolutelynothing to do with. Why would they dosuch a thing? What could be the reason-ing behind claiming responsibility for in-credible manifestations in fields aroundthe world, knowing full well they wouldnever be able to duplicate the design ifput to the test?

A detailed, comprehensive study of thehoaxing subculture needs to be done. Hoax-ing muddies the waters and confuses thepublic, a populace that may not have muchof a grounding, a knowledge base, of thisextraordinary miracle taking place on ourplanet. The crop circle mystery is perplex-ing enough in and of itself without havingthese “fibbing bounders” (as researcherDanny Sotham has christened them) tramp-ing all over the place, giddily delighting intricking people into believing what, in es-sence, is nothing but a lie.

There has long been suspicion thatthere is much more to the hoaxing move-ment than may at first be presumed. Is itpossible that the intelligence communities(CIA or M15, for example) in the coun-tries where the phenomena is prevalenthave recruited young to middle-aged malesto vigorously and repeatedly create fakes?Would they lay claim to real formations,in a concerted attempt to trivialize, mini-mize, and ultimately discredit all that isgenuine?

Disinformation has long been a hoarytactic in the intelligence communities’ bagof duplicitous tricks. If, for some reason,world governments and their respectiveintelligence communities wanted to get thepublic “off the scent,” there might be nobetter way then to put forth the messagethat all crop formations are fakes. I havestated that I do not believe that governmentsatellites are responsible for crop circles.However, it is not beyond the realm of pos-sibility that governments may be attempt-ing to completely debunk the phenomenausing a trained (and, it must be assumed,paid) team of hoaxers.

War of the WorldsWhy would this be deemed necessary?

Some blame Orson Welles’ The War of theWorlds.

It has long been suspected that worldgovernments are fully apprised of the real-ity of UFOs and aliens, but that this infor-mation has been deliberately kept from thepublic because of the War of the Worldsdebacle in 1938.

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, the daybefore Halloween, Orson Welles drama-tized H. G. Wells’s classic science fictionnovel War of the Worlds for his MercuryTheater radio troupe. Welles’s broadcastterrified millions of people and caused anational panic. A Princeton Universitystudy later determined that a total of 6 mil-lion people heard Welles’s broadcast. Ofthose listeners, 1.7 million believed it wasa real news bulletin and 1.2 million actu-ally took action because of it. The NewYork City police department received2,000 hysterical emergency calls frompeople during the first 15 minutes of thebroadcast. The New York Post’s headlinethe following day read, “Radio ‘War’Panic Brings Inquiry; U. S. To Scan Broad-cast Script. Mars ‘Attack’ Brings Wave of


Hysteria.” On their editorial page, the Postcalled Welles’s actions “unscrupulous andirresponsible.”1

In my opinion, it is quite conceivablethat a plan has been conceived and ex-ecuted by intelligence services to employindividuals that will deliberately muddy thecrop circles waters by claiming hoaxing,by making particular patterns, and by lay-ing claim to them.

We know that complex designs can bemade by people. However, there are com-plex designs out there that show no evi-dence of the human hand whatsoever, andyet some of these are also claimed to bemade by people. The enigma of the mys-tery is compounded by the question of whydo hoaxers do what they do, and claim tohave done things that show no sign of hu-man involvement. I think for the most part,that the manner in which many of the cropcircle counterfeiters have conducted them-selves is disgraceful.

Counterfeiters fall into two differentcamps. One group of hoaxers want theirartwork to remain mysterious. They claimto be making crop art, but they refuse toidentify which specific “works” they areresponsible for. They are passionate aboutmaintaining the mystery and anonymity oftheir formations. They define what they doas experiential art, and they consider them-selves invisible observers of the peoplewho experience their art. Supposedly, theact of observing the effects that their art-work has on people is part of the overallartistic experience. This explains their in-sistence on mystery and anonymity

This appears to be aesthetically noble,and completely respectful of the undeni-able beauty and impact crop formationshave on people. However, it also serves tomake their claims unprovable and it castsdoubt on their ceaseless proclamations thatthey are responsible for this circle, or forthat formation. Sophisticated research and

A Doug and Dave creation, this one in Chilcomb Down, made in 1991. Looking at theseformations, it is easy to conclude that Doug and Dave’s crop circle skills did not extend tothe more complex patterns they took credit for when they went public with their story.


equipment and advanced investigative in-telligence techniques would be necessaryto disprove all their claims and, even moreimportantly, prove their claims, and whowould be willing to pay for that? On sev-eral occasions during 1999 and 2000, spe-cial night vision equipment did observepeople making some elaborate patterns,but the large scale claims thus far remainunchallenged.

The second group consists of counter-feiters who have realized that continuallyhoaxing researchers and the public has be-come a potentially dangerous game, andthat there is an inherent responsibility thatcomes with such deceptive practices. Theseare the folks who are more prone to be-lieving that there is an actual phenomenaat work out there, and that it is the rightthing to do to step forward and admit theones they’ve made, and then work withresearchers openly. They are the ones whoare willing to explain what they do, howthey do it, and where they’ve done it.

I have been in touch with some of thesepeople and many of them understand thatthere are consequences attached to theiractions. Researchers need to know what isreal and what is not, because people, gov-ernmental agencies, and the media act onsuch research. Many of these counterfeit-ers know that I and others provide aerialphotographs of crop formations to govern-ments, to civic officials, to the BritishRoyal family, to native Americans andother indigenous peoples, and many oth-ers, all of whom are extremely interestedin the crop circle phenomenon that is tak-ing place on our planet. (Native Americansin particular are extremely interested inauthentic crop circle manifestations, be-cause they believe that these creations maybe connected in some way to ancient tribalHopi prophecy.)

Providing information to these peopleis an enormous responsibility, and some of

the hoaxers now recognize the gravity oftheir “pranks.” And I am just one re-searcher. All over the world, serious cropcircle researchers are providing informa-tion of this type to people, governments,and agencies who need to know, and, I’llstate it once again emphatically, hoaxesmuddy the waters.

If, as I sincerely believe, the authenticcrop circle formations are a sign from ahigher intelligence, and there is a very se-rious message being communicated to us,it is a grave error in judgement for hoaxersto take this lightly, to mock the serious stu-dents of the phenomena, and to deliberatelywork to deceive. There has been a para-digm shift in consciousness on a globalscale regarding the environment over thepast several decades and the benign gloryof real crop formations has spoken at a pri-mal level to people who know they shouldbe worried about the planet’s health.

One of the most fundamental factsabout the crop circle phenomenon is thatthe plants in crop circles do not die. Theyare not killed. They continue to grow, andthey grow with greater vigor. The plants inhoaxed circles are badly damaged and, inmany cases, are killed. They are crushedto death or broken down.

Hoaxers vex me. They play a game thatmocks the work of serious researchers try-ing to understand a phenomena that couldhave monumental importance for the fateof the planet and all living things aboardher. The irony in all this is that many coun-terfeiters themselves—and I have been toldthis personally—have often come upon thesame unusual, paranormal anomalies incrop circles that we have experienced,noted, and recorded. As they go on withtheir daft business of stomping about withboards and ropes, they have heard thesounds, seen the lights, and felt the energywaves. It seems as though they have some-how become unwitting participants in the


gest. Is it possible that by focusing intentlyon the sacred geometries they use to createa fake crop formation, hoaxers are some-how tapping into a different sensibility, intothe higher consciousness many experiencewhen in contact with authentic crop circles?Can the deliberate creation of a fake cropformation—the actual act itself of design-ing it and making it—be a catalyst for aninteraction between the hoaxers and theintelligence behind the true mystery?

Sacred geometry has been used formillennium as a tool for meditation, andas a gateway to achieving a higher stateof consciousness. Hoaxers may becloser to the actual phenomenon than theymay suspect.

I have used the term “friendly animos-ity” to describe my relationship with manyof the admitted circle makers, but my(mostly) cordial interaction with them hasan edge. And in all honesty, the essence ofthis edge is that I wish they did not exist. Iam not wishing that the individuals whocomprise the circle makers did not exist.Far from it. Heaven knows I would neverwish them harm. I simply wish that all thecircle makers who devote their time, theirenergy, and their resources to deceiving theworld would find better ways to spend theirtime.

Granted, the making of art is often anact of creativity and enlightenment, an in-herently positive endeavor: The artist pro-duces a work to mirror a specificcircumstance of the human condition. Butcounterfeiters pervert and debase the ar-tistic process. If a painter creates a stun-ningly beautiful painting—a work thathappens to be an identical copy of a VanGogh, or a Rembrandt, or a Klimt—andthen sells it as an original, is this an “in-herently positive endeavor”? I think not.And many agree with me.

All that said, though, to reiterate, thecircle makers do have a story to tell. Their

presence in the fields, and their participa-tion in the phenomena—no matter how tan-gential or skewed—may ultimately becomea study in consciousness. I believe it woulddo grave harm to allow anger towards thehoaxers to consume those of us who be-lieve that these people are tampering withwhat might be called a miracle.

Consider this: Imagine if hoaxers sim-ply stopped. One day, they threw away theirboards, coiled up their ropes, and simplywent away. With confidence and certainty,I will state that, if that happened, crop for-mations would continue to appear, and ev-ery one of them would be a source ofwonder. Imagine the state of the researchthen! Imagine the progress we would makeif all we needed to investigate were realcrop circles, each one a unique treasure ofthe fields!

But that is not going to happen, unlessall the counterfeiters jointly agree to ceaseand desist their duplicitous efforts. Becausethat is unlikely, researchers must factorthem into the equation. Thus, we try to dis-cern the fakes from the real ones; we inter-view hoaxers about their experiences in thefields; and we spend countless hours anduntold energy explaining to people inter-ested in crop circles why they should notassume that every crop formation is a fake,simply because some of them are.

My close friend and my co-author ofCircular Evidence, Pat Delgado, a man ofgood heart and intent, was personally dev-astated by the antics of the crop fakers. Theuproar in the media over Doug and Dave,as well as the mindless acceptance of any-thing claimed by those copycats who fol-lowed, caused Pat tremendous grief. Whenhe and I first began investigating the earli-est crop circles, we both believed we wereworking for the good of humanity; that wewere trying to help understand somethingthat could be quite extraordinary in the his-tory of man and his interaction with the


planet. When Doug and Dave came for-ward and claimed authorship of a ridicu-lous number of crop circles (a number sohigh, in fact, it would have been physicallyimpossible for them to have made them all),we students of the phenomenon were stand-ing in the line of fire; we were suddenlytargets for a media not interested in thetruth, but only in how much mortificationthey could rain down upon me and Pat.

Can the mysterious, unknown forcesbehind authentic crop circles also be ma-nipulating the counterfeiters?

Many counterfeiters, sometimes un-knowingly, have duplicated in theirmanmade creations the same ratios andgeometries often found in the real circles.And there are stories told of hoaxers re-turning to the site and finding additions tothe formations that they did not create—and many of the add-ons resulted in theiroriginal work now complying with the sa-cred geometry ratios often found in realformations.

What seems clear to me from all thisis the feeling that we must look at the com-plete picture that is developing; we musttry to encompass the entirety of the phe-nomenon before passing final judgment.

I do not understand hoaxing as a pur-suit worthy of good men, but we do needto continue to talk to these deceivers andput all our efforts into figuring out why theyreally do what they do. That is the key tounderstanding how the hoaxers’ involve-ment in crop circles could be significant.What if we learn that the reason many ofthe hoaxers take the time to create fake cropcircles is because of a subconscious “call-ing,” for want of a better term? As we haverepeatedly seen, many hoaxers work withthe same geometries as are found in au-thentic circles. They also lay them in areaswhere other circles have been found, andsometimes, in alignment with the earth’s

ley lines. In fact, there have been occa-sions when two groups of hoaxers, work-ing independently and unbeknownst to eachother, have ended up in adjacent fields, cre-ating similar designs.

Is this mere coincidence? Or is theresome force tugging them in the directionof constructing symbolically significantformations? Is it possible that they are allunconsciously receiving their “instruc-tions” from the same force? Are the pat-terns made by hoaxers part of the overallmessage?

These are the questions that need to beresearched and answered before we decideon how to respond to what I truly believeis some kind of dispatch from a communi-cator we have yet to meet.

The patterns have been evolving incomplexity. Using an alphabetical simile,if the first simple circles were the letter A,and the ultimate, final, still unseen cropformation is the letter Z, I believe that weare currently somewhere around the lettersV or W. Each year, we believe that forma-tions cannot get much more complex, andthen the following year, the formations thatappear outdo the previous ones.

Hidden somewhere in the fractals, andthe ratios, and the geometries, is usable in-formation. I believe that the totality ofcrop formations is a repository of usefulinformation. I think part of this arcanemessage lies in the alignment of cropcircles around the globe. It has somethingto do with magnetism, of this I am certain.I also think there may be other “brothers”(or perhaps, cousins?) of magnetism thatwill likewise play a role in our understand-ing of the ultimate message

Ohm’s Law tells us that there are threecomponents to electrical current. Put sim-ply, voltage equals current times resistance.Magnetic fields are created solely by mov-ing electrical charges and, because it is my


contention that the crop circle mystery in alarge part involves magnetism in someform, I consider it a possibility that we maynot yet understand all the ramifications ofthe interaction between electricity and mag-netism. There may still be yet unknownfields of energy created (or possibly de-stroyed) when magnetic fields are gener-ated. What happens to the laws of physicswhen we exceed the speed of light, for in-stance? I think that when we finally dis-cover all the ramifications to the currentscientific laws, we will find many brothersand cousins we did not know existed.

Some researchers have suggested thatthe patterns need to be placed in a particu-lar alignment and that when they are, some-thing wondrous will happen. Humanconsciousness, this theory posits, is work-ing on fine-tuning this alignment, and thatsome of the counterfeiters—the ones who

truly feel a psychic or spiritual need to makecrop circles—may be contributing to thefinal grid of designs.

This theory attempts to factor in thecreations of the hoaxers as part of the over-all master plan. I accept this as anotherhypothesis and will consider the evidencewhen presented with it, but for me, the mostimportant research would take place if allthe fake formations were removed fromthe equation and we were able to studyonly the authentic manifestations. We seemto be drifting away from this scenario.

(See Chapter 6, “The Stonehenge JuliaSet,” for more on this critical alignmenttheory.)

Notes1Stephen Spignesi, The UFO Book ofLists, p. 82–83.

This unusual pattern appeared near Barbury Castle, Wiltshire in a wheat field on August 6, 1999.

Operation Blackbird / 131

Chapter 14Operation Blackbird

131

Operation Blackbird

In July 1990, I coordinated a crop circlessurveillance operation called OperationBlackbird. Regardless of the way this

event played out, and regardless of how Iwas treated, my intentions were righteous,and I approached the operation with trust.Was I naive? Many of my critics would re-spond, “Unquestionably.” Nonetheless, Iwillingly trusted, and hope I was trusted inturn.

Operation Blackbird was an importantevent in the annals of crop circle history,and it boasted a potpourri of oddities, in-cluding a government-sponsored hoax, asecret tape that has never been seen, agenuine crop circle manifestation not re-vealed to the public, and happenings im-portant enough that the British governmentissued one of their highest security alertsfor the operation. It was eventually re-vealed that the British Ministry of Defensehad ordered a full-scale operation to cre-ate a hoax pattern and discredit and hu-miliate myself and other serious crop circleresearchers.

Blackbird fly...into the light of a dark black night...

—Paul McCartney

However, there is much more to thisstory than the embarrassment of one Brit.

•••

The operation was funded 90 percentby Nippon Television of Japan, with theremaining 10 percent funded by BBC Tele-vision of Great Britain.

The plan was to set up a bank of spe-cialized cameras in a place where manycrop circles had appeared over the yearsin the hope that we would actually catch acrop circle forming on film.

The location chosen was BrattonCastle, which is an Iron Age hill fort fromaround the eighth century B.C. on top ofhighland looking down into the county ofWiltshire, England. It is a gorgeous loca-tion, and the land is owned by the Minis-try of Defense in Great Britain. Werequested, and were granted, permissionto conduct the operation. Later we wouldrealize the permission came a bit tooreadily, but at the time, we were delightedat the willingness with which the Ministryof Defense’s office granted us permission.


Within a few hours after the operationbegan, Pat Delgado and I were approachedby BBC Television personnel, a representa-tive from Nippon TV, and two uniformedmilitary officers from the British Army.

The operation had already begun toattract attention from the locals, and forgood reason. A command and control cen-ter had been set up above the field, andthere were cameras, wires, antennae, tents,vehicles, and many personnel millingabout. The TV representatives and the mili-tary officers suggested that we drive off thesite in my motorcar to discuss somethingof importance, and Pat and I readily agreed.

We traveled a short distance to a coun-try lane where we were out of sight of thepublic and away from the commotion ofthe site.

The two military officers then told usthat they thought we could use some addi-tional equipment and that they were pre-pared to provide for our use night-viewing,image-intensifying cameras. The specific

equipment they offered to us were back-mounted cameras that would be worn incarrying packs on the back and shouldersof the military personnel who would begiven the assignment to work with us.

We were told that these recording de-vices were state-of-the-art and highly effi-cient, that they would allow us to see ablade of grass from some distance away,at night.

Pat and I, as well as the representativesfrom the Nippon TV and the BBC, weredelighted with the opportunity to use ad-vanced military surveillance equipment forOperation Blackbird, and we all felt thatthe addition of such gear would guaranteethat if a crop circle appeared, we wouldsee it, and we would record it.

The only condition attached to our useof the military cameras was that two Brit-ish Army officers needed to be assigned toour organizational unit and that they wouldbe the ones to operate the equipment. Thismade sense, as none of us were trained in

The scene during Operation Blackbird.


the use of such high-tech cameras. Wewould also be liable for damage to theequipment if something went wrong.

And so, we accepted two military of-ficers and their equipment into the opera-tion and onto the site. At the time, wethought nothing of this condition. How-ever, our views on this were to change radi-cally within a very short time.

Blackbird became operational, andclose to $2-million worth of equipment wasonline and prepared to chronicle whatevermight happen. The equipment had all beenchecked and every camera was function-ing perfectly when the operation began.

The plan was to maintain daylightmonitoring, and to also keep a crew work-ing throughout the night. If somethingshould occur during the night, I and a num-ber of other people would be awakened athome.

On the second night of the operation, Iwas at my home in the adjacent county ofHampshire when the phone rang quite late.I was told that something had happened. Iwas told that an arrangement of cropcircles—a fairly complex design—had ap-peared in the field during the night.

I immediately notified my contactperson from Nippon TV, and we mobi-lized a television crew that had been onstandby for just such an eventuality. Be-cause Nippon TV had funded the over-whelming majority of the costs of theoperation, they were entitled to the firstnotification and the first footage of theevent. Nippon TV had agreed to partici-pate in Operation Blackbird with thehope that they would record the actualformation of a crop circle and be able toshow it on Japanese television.

The TV crew sprang into action, andwe all sped to the site, not knowing whatwe would find when we arrived.

When we arrived, there was great ex-citement. I was told by personnel there that

an event had occurred, and that there wassomething in the field. I was also told thataerial phenomenon—unusual lights di-rectly over the field—had also been wit-nessed, and that all of this had beencaptured on camera.

Operation Blackbird had begun onJuly 23, 1990, and here it was two dayslater, on July 25, and a crop formationhad appeared!

The formation had first been seen be-tween 3:30 and 3:45 in the morning, noteven first light, and it was then that every-one knew that something important hadoccurred.

After the sun rose and we all saw froma distance what was in the field, I was askedif I would announce the event on live tele-vision, which I agreed to do. We had re-quested helicopters for an accurate aerialview of the formation, but they had not yetarrived. I agreed to announce the discov-ery even before I had had a chance to enterthe site.

The BBC and Nippon TV both hadcrews there, and they set up the camerasand waited for the proper alignment of theircommunications satellites for a worldwidebroadcast.

Lights, camera, action, as they say, andhere is what I said that day:

Yes, we have an event here ofgreatest importance...and we are verymuch excited, as you can imagine. Wedo have two major ground markingswhich have appeared in front of allthe surveillance equipment, perform-ing absolutely to form for us. We hada situation at approximately 3:30 A.M.this morning. On the monitor, a num-ber of orange lights taking the formof a triangle....It is a complex situ-ation and we are analyzing it at themoment, but there is undoubtedlysomething here for science.


A reporter then said to me, “I’m sureyou have the nation agog. Are you quitesure you couldn’t have been the victim ofsome elaborate hoax last night?” To whichI replied:

No, not indeed. We have high-quality equipment here, and we haveindeed secured on high-quality equip-ment a major event....We do havesomething here of great, great signifi-cance. Yes, we have everything onfilm, and we do have, as I say, aformed object over the field....We aredoing nothing more until we have he-licopters over the top, to film in de-tail what we have, before anyoneenters the field.

What I said was in response to what Ihad seen from a distance and to what I hadbeen told. My words are now recorded for-ever in the annals of crop circle history,and I can only say that it was a regrettablemilestone in my research career.

Aside from my obvious error in stat-ing unequivocally that this was an authen-tic event, the essence of my answer,however, still stands as valid and reason-able: We have something here and we aregoing to investigate it further. I did believeit was an exciting day for science and, inthe end, it turned out to be much morethan that. A crop formation now existedin the field, unusual lights had been wit-nessed, and we were continuing to ana-lyze the information.

The lights turned out to be of the mostpedestrian nature: British millionaire Ri-chard Branson had flown a hot air balloonover the field during the night and his run-ning lights were interpreted as being some-thing out of the ordinary. One needed toask, was Branson a part of the hoax? WasBranson asked or paid to fly a silent “air-craft” in pitch darkness over a field wheresurveillance equipment had been set up on

the particular evening when his flight wouldbe noticed? Branson stated emphaticallythat his was nothing but a curiosity trip andthat he had not intended to disrupt an op-eration, nor annoy the crop circle research-ers. So be it.

When the sun finally rose on that ill-fated day, we could see clearly what wehad in the field. The helicopter had arrivedand had begun flying photographers andcameramen over the site for aerial photo-graphs. I and some of my colleagues en-tered the field to investigate the cropformation. My television interview hadbeen broadcast, and there was high expec-tation around the world as to what wewould actually find in the fields.

What we discovered was a disgrace tothe British government, and to everyoneelse involved in the perpetration of one ofthe biggest deceits in crop circle history.Oh yes, there was a crop formation in thefield beneath Bratton Castle, but it was notonly obviously manmade, but it was quiteobviously poorly manmade. We had beenset up. The crop circle that had been con-structed was ragged, and unlike anythingwe had seen before. There was consider-able damage to the crops, noticeable irregu-larities in the lines and circles, and, gildingthe lily in a way only a bureaucracy couldconceive of doing, there were items delib-erately placed in the middle of the maincircle, including a horoscope game board,and a wooden cross.

It appears that the British government,in an outrageous attempt to defuse the cropcircle mania and discredit and humiliatemyself and my colleagues, had funded acrop circle hoax. Apparently, the moneycould not have been put to better use inEngland, a country where the “4,000 holesin Blackburn, Lancashire” that JohnLennon sang about in “A Day in the Life”referred to potholes in the streets.


Pat and I were made to be laughing-stocks. Most of the reporters left, and manyended up writing stories in which we werethe fools. We truly felt that serious studyof the crop circle phenomenon had beenimpeded considerably, if not damaged ir-reparably. This was a major setback andthe media dropped it like a hot potato.

We later learned the specifics of thehoax from a high contact in the Britishmilitary. Researcher George Wingfield,speaking in Michael Hesemann’s book TheCosmic Connection, relayed the followinginformation he received from his anony-mous military contact:

The Bratton hoax was carried outby a specially-trained unit of the armyand the order came directly from theMinistry of Defense. The operationwas carefully planned, prepared inadvance and then carried out in com-plete darkness, quickly and precisely.My informant was even able to speakwith an officer who was involved inthe planning of the operation, whichhad the highest secrecy level.1

This could have been the end of Op-eration Blackbird, but it was not. I contin-ued my monitoring of the field, althoughwith far fewer media folk than before thehoax.

Ten days after the fake formation hadbeen constructed, a real crop circle ap-peared in the field below Bratton Castle.

On August 5, 1990, 440 yards from thesite of the hoaxed formation, a real circleappeared—and its formation was capturedon film.

This second event, which was mostdefinitely an authentic crop formation, wasrecorded on what has come to be knownas the “yellow camera.” I was off the sitewhen this occurred, but I was immediatelynotified of the event and returned withinone hour.

“Where’s the tape?” I asked the mo-ment I arrived.

I was told by one of the team membersthat the tape had been placed in a lockedbox—I was actually shown a sealed casethat was supposedly the box where the tapewas secured—and I was also informed thatit had only been viewed once. I was notallowed to watch the tape nor was I able inany way to confirm that the actual tapefrom the yellow camera was now in thelocked box.

I later learned the truth. The tape fromthe yellow camera had been immediatelyremoved from the site by person or per-sons unknown, and it has never been seensince. I was immediately sworn to secrecyand I was instructed—“ordered” is actu-ally a better word—by a person whom Iwill not name, to give Mr. MichihitoOgawa of Nippon Television a videotape.I was to tell him that the tape was from theyellow camera, and assure him that it con-tained the footage of the crop circle event.The tape given to Mr. Ogawa was actuallyvideo of the site taken days earlier, and itshowed nothing but the silent landscape.

Mr. Ogowa returned to NTV headquar-ters in Japan, where extensive analysis ofthe tape was performed. Regrettably, theywere analyzing a decoy tape. The tape thatthey owned the rights to was not providedto them, and to this day I have no knowl-edge of the whereabouts of the tape fromthe yellow camera—footage that shows theformation of an authentic crop circle in afield in central southern England.

I say now that I firmly believe that Iwas not being given a choice when I wastold to give NTV a dummy tape. I do notknow what would have happened if I hadrefused to do as I was ordered. I suspectthat I would have been banned from thesite and that Mr. Ogawa would have beengiven the phony tape anyway. I was in avery difficult position, seeing as how the


British military—with all the power of thegovernment behind them—was issuing theorders at the Operation Blackbird site.

Some years later, a gentleman I knowfrom BBC radio told me that his stationwas receiving live broadcasts from theOperation Blackbird site, and that after thesecond event occurred, a rarely issued DNotice was placed on their broadcasts bythe British Government. A D Notice is aMinistry of Defense National SecurityNotice that gives the British Governmentthe right to immediately terminate a radioor television broadcast, ostensibly for rea-sons of national security. That day, the DNotice was invoked, and broadcasts fromOperation Blackbird were suspended for aperiod of four hours.

And so, I say again: Operation Black-bird was an important event in crop circlehistory. It was the first known governmentattempt to deescalate the public interest ina growing phenomenon, and it was carriedout by means of a well-orchestrated, well-funded, multilevel hoax.

This speaks volumes about the impor-tance—and the authenticity—of the cropcircle phenomenon. Now, if we could onlysee that tape from the yellow camera....

PostscriptCharles and Diana

Later on in the 1990s, I learned thatPrince Charles had discovered crop circleson his property and that, in fact, he hadactually had them on his land for manyyears. I also learned that crop circles werereported on land near the Queen’s Balmoralcastle.

At some point, I was contacted by aretired military officer who lived about 20miles from my home. He told me he wasacting as an intermediary for Charles andthat the prince was very interested in thephenomenon of crop circles. Of course,

Prince Charles could not contact me di-rectly about this, and so I willingly agreedto work with his liaison. At his request, webegan to send our newsletter to PrinceCharles, and we also sent it to the duke ofEdinburgh at Buckingham Palace, who wasinterested in crop circles as well.

Following a series of telephone calls,it was arranged for me to take Charles andDiana on a tour of the fields near their homewhere the crop circles were appearing, ex-plain to them what was going on, and fillthem in on what we have learned about thephenomenon.

I agreed to complete confidentialityand can swear that I told no one about themeeting but my wife at the time. I did noteven tell my parents or my daughter.

The day before our scheduled meet-ing, however, all hell broke loose.

The British tabloid newspaper TheStar (now defunct) published a front-pagestory revealing that I was scheduled totake Charles and Diana on a tour of cropcircles, and that the prince was obsessedwith the phenomenon. Somehow, some-one at the newspaper had gotten hold ofthis information and they decided to pub-lish it.

As I have said, the only one on my sidewho knew about this was my wife, who Iknow for a fact did not say a word. Thisleaves one of two possibilities: Eithersomeone in the British royal family, orsomeone involved with them, leaked thenews to the media; or my phone wastapped. Personally, I suspect the story wasleaked from inside Buckingham Palace.

As soon as the story broke, I receiveda frantic phone call from my contact can-celing the meeting. He told me that every-one involved in Charles and Diana’s campwas angry and embarrassed by the mediadebacle. I assured him I had nothing to dowith leaking the story, but I am not sure ifhe—or Charles and Diana—believed me.


How it got out remains a mystery tothis day, although I have my suspicions.Considering that the British intelligenceagencies and the British military mountedOperation Blackbird against me and othercrop circle researchers, it would not sur-prise me if they took it upon themselves totap my phone and then leak the news tothe press, leaving the British royalty com-pletely out of the decision. I suspect thatthe military, for some reason, felt it washarmful for the British royal family to ad-mit an interest in crop circles, and thus, if Iam correct, they torpedoed the plan bymeans of public humiliation of me, andCharles and Diana. I have no evidence ofthis, but it makes sense to me, consideringthe efforts to which British intelligence hadgone in the past to discredit crop circle re-searchers and make them a joke in the mindof the public. It worked, because the resultof the tabloid story was to again damagemy reputation and belittle my work.

Sometime after this unfortunate epi-sode, the same retired military officer con-tacted me and invited me to his home todiscuss the possibility of my preparing atechnical report summarizing my work oncrop circles. I asked him for whom this re-port was intended, and he told me Britain’sundersecretary of state for the environment,Nicholas Ridley. Ridley was one of the topfive people in Prime Minister MargaretThatcher’s cabinet and he briefed Mrs.Thatcher daily on matters relevant to theenvironment. I agreed to provide the re-port, and it was forwarded to Mr. Ridleywho then, presumably, advised the primeminister on its contents. I do not know spe-cifically what came of my efforts, but I doknow that several members of parliamentraised the question of crop circles with theprime minister and home office minister.They wanted to know what the British gov-ernment knew about these formations;what, if any, was their interest in them; and

what, if anything, were they doing aboutthem at the governmental level.

The chief scientific advisor to the Brit-ish government and to Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher responded that theHome Office and Ministry of Defense hadno particular interest in crop circles and thatthey were not believed to pose a threat tothe security of the United Kingdom.

An important point to emphasize re-garding this position by the British gov-ernment is that they went on the record withtheir statement that the crop circles werenot manmade; thereby confirming thatthere was, indeed, a phenomenon occur-ring in the fields of England.

However, they did not suggest any-thing paranormal or extraterrestrial as itscause. Instead, they stated that they werebeing created by meteorological forces notyet fully understood. They endorsed thetheory that crop circles were formed by aplasma vortex—a new kind of whirlwindor tornado in which electrified air, createdin the lee of a hill or by thermal variations,traveled across the fields, leaving geomet-ric formations in its wake.

Contradicting this theory, though, wasthe fact that there were many reports ofcrop circles appearing in fields aroundwhich were no hills for miles, and mostreports were of formations appearing atnight, which is highly unlikely if the causewere plasma vortices caused by daytimetemperature variations.

The facts did not line up with theirstatement, and so those of us researchingcrop circles knew that there was no realscience behind their official declaration.There have been no official statementsfrom the British governments about cropcircles since that time.

Notes1Michael Hesemann, The Cosmic Con-nection, p. 29.

The Oliver’s Castle Video / 139

Chapter 15The Oliver’s Castle Video

139

Hidden in Plain Sight?

We probably should have beensuspicious from the moment wefirst met the young man who

claimed to have filmed UFOs making cropcircles in a field below Oliver’s Castle inEngland.

Why? Partly because the man told us hisname was “Weyleigh.” My radar, however, didnot pick up on the importance of his name atthe time.

“Weyleigh” is a homonym—a sound alikeword—for the verb “waylay,” which is de-fined, “to lie in wait for and attack from am-bush,” or “to accost or intercept unexpectedly.”

The truth about this man and his phonyvideo were hidden in plain sight, in his veryname, and yet none of us saw this until muchlater.

Like Cameras at the CreationIf it were true, it would have been one

of the most important pieces of film in allof human history.

If it were true, it would have, for thefirst time, captured actual images of UFOscreating a crop circle.

How many things we held yesterday as articles of faithwhich today we tell as fables.

—Michel de Montaigne

If it were true, it would have madean enormous contribution toward adeeper understanding of the crop circlephenomenon.

If the Oliver’s Castle video was au-thentic, it would have been on the frontpage of every newspaper in the world.

But alas, it was not real. It was createdby John Wabe, a video editor and producerfor a film production company called FirstCut in Bristol, England. The Oliver’sCastle video is a hoax, but as I have re-peatedly said, it is an important hoax.

How can a deliberately manufacturedpiece of video be important in the field ofcrop circle research? Wouldn’t its ultimateimpact be to discredit the efforts of thoseof us who are serious about understandingwhat is going on, and render all future evi-dentiary artifacts suspect?

These are valid questions and legiti-mate concerns, but the key questions thathover over the Oliver’s Castle video likethe small white UFOs that hover over theWiltshire field where the snowflake cropformation “appeared” are, “Why wouldsomeone go through the trouble—and


expense—of putting together such anelaborate hoax?” and, “Who was behindit?”

We will explore those questions in thischapter and suggest some possible answers.It is quite possible that there was muchmore to the Oliver’s Castle video than metthe eye.

On August 11, 1996, a snowflake cropformation appeared in the field at Oliver’sCastle, near Devizes, England in Wiltshire.

At the time, so the story goes, a manwho was using the name of “JohnWeyleigh” was camping on the hilltop ofOliver’s Castle overlooking the field, hop-ing to record the formation of a crop circle.Crop formations believed to be authentichad appeared in the area prior to this, soWeyleigh came prepared with a video cam-era and other gear.

According to Weyleigh’s story, at ap-proximately 5 a.m. on the morning of Au-gust 11, as the first light of the day barelybegan to creep over the fields, he saw asmall sphere of white light pass swiftlyacross the field directly below his location.He quickly grabbed his video camera andswitched it on, but the camera failed tooperate because of the excessive moisturein the air. The moisture sensor inside thecamera prevented him from capturing theappearance of this initial white sphere, butWeyleigh waited a moment or two, triedthe camera again, and that time it worked.He pointed the camera at the field belowhim and started filming.

Just seconds into the filming, two whitespheres flew into the frame from the rightand arced across the field in a large spiral,mimicking in its flight path the shape ofthe Julia Set crop formation that had ap-peared at Stonehenge the previous June.

As the spheres flew across the field, asmall circle of crop suddenly flattened tothe ground and, following within seconds,(corroborating what many eyewitnesses of

crop circle manifestations had previouslyreported), a complete, large, complex“snowflake” crop pattern materialized.Before the sequence ended, a second pairof white glowing spheres entered the framefrom the top left corner, and similarly spi-raled above the crops. As they flew, thepathways and smaller circles in this elabo-rate pattern were formed.

The whole filmed sequence is just afew seconds long and my initial reactionupon first viewing it was that it was one oftwo things: it was either the most incred-ibly important UFO and crop circle filmfootage of all time, or it was one of themost elaborate frauds ever perpetrated onthe world.

The following facts gave favor to thefilm’s authenticity:

1. It looked convincing. My personalreaction to the footage was that itfulfilled my expectations as to whatwe would see if someday someonecaptured on film the sudden appear-ance of a crop circle. Features ofcrop circle formation commonly de-scribed by witnesses and in the lit-erature can be seen, especially thespeed at which the circles formed. Also, Weyleigh reported beingawakened by an electronic trillingsound, the “crop circle” sound Ihave personally witnessed threetimes and recorded twice. There isan old saying that the secret to thebest scams is in the details, andWeyleigh including this sound in hisreport is truly inspired, because hewas attesting to something that hadpreviously been reported by one ofthe world’s authorities on cropcircles: me, Colin Andrews. He wasinculcating honesty and trustworthi-ness by association.


2. Several researchers were shownthe Oliver’s Castle video at theBarge Inn near Devizes at 10:50p.m., on the evening of August 11, amere 17 hours after it was allegedlyrecorded. All it showed were theUFOs. John Weyleigh was the onlyone who claimed to have seen them“live.”

3. Before detailed computer analysisof the film was performed, severalfilm experts stated that the imageprocessing required to blend the twoseries of events—the formation ofthe circles and the flight of UFOs—would have required a degree oftechnical sophistication, as well asthe use of professional editing equip-ment.

4. What would the motive be for com-mitting time and money to the cre-ation of an elaborate crop circle hoaxvideo? After the hoax was revealedand a confession obtained, we havesince arrived at some conclusionsas to why such an operation wouldbe undertaken. There has long been strongsuspicion, along with some anec-dotal evidence, that the Oliver’sCastle video was part of a gov-ernment-sponsored disinformationcampaign to discredit crop circleresearch. After all, the British gov-ernment did successfully pull offOperation Blackbird. It is not thatfarfetched to conceive of an on-going disinformation crusade,signed off on at the highest levelsof government—on both sides ofthe Atlantic. Could this have been agovernment plot?

The following factors disprove thefilm’s authenticity:

1. The identity of the man purportingto have filmed the UFOs and thecrop circle—John Weyleigh—wasdubious. Many attempts to contacthim were unsuccessful and much ofthe information he provided turnedout to be false.

2. One of the first things Weyleighwanted to talk about was money. Heoffered me a handwritten royaltycontract almost immediately andseemed to be very interested in howhe could profit from sales and broad-cast of the video.

3. The camera appeared to be alreadyset up for the event, and the croppattern conveniently formed in theexact center of the frame. Theframe did not change during the con-struction of the crop design, evenas the spheres left the field. Weyleigh did not follow the flightof the balls of light with his camera,nor did he attempt to zoom in on theoriginal pair of balls, both of whichare actions that would be expectedif the event and the filming of it weretruly spontaneous. The framing ofthe scene suggested that the cam-eraman already knew about and an-ticipated the arrival of the secondpair of spheres. Of course, this in-terpretation would be moot if thefootage was created out of “wholecloth” in a video editing bay.

4. Weyleigh’s comments on thesoundtrack of his footage fall shortof the level of excitement one wouldexpect of someone witnessing atruly transdimenional event.

5. Many research discoveries publiclyattributed to me appear in the se-quence, including: Small UFOspheres seen in the vicinity of thefields where crop circles appear;


Army personnel showing an inter-est in crop circles (Weyleigh claimshe was approached by a militaryofficer who asked him if he hadseen anything, but this encounter wasnot seen on the tape); the design ofthe pattern is a snowflake, and I haverepeatedly publicly used the phrase“like a snowflake freezing” to de-scribe specific patterns. The claim of hearing an electro-static crackling or trilling sound be-fore the crop formation appeared, adirect reference to the crop circlesound I have personally witnessedthree times and recorded twice; myrepeated statements about the speedat which witnesses report cropcircles forming; and the snippet offootage showing the plants oscillat-ing, opening, and dropping to theground like a fan, a characteristic Ihave described many times. It was uncanny! Here, in a fewseconds of video, were all of the el-ements that were not only typical ofauthentic crop circle formations, butwere also points of information I hadspoken and written about countlesstimes during my career. It was asthough someone had made notes onelements that I had emphasized overthe years, and then said, “Well, let’sbe sure to add the sound, and makesure you mention the military guy,and let’s make it a snowflake, andlet’s have the formation appear inless than 10 seconds.” The pres-ence of all these factors made mesuspicious and, it would turn out, forgood cause.

6. When my wife Synthia and I first metMr. “Weyleigh,” he was extremelynervous and wanted to leave the mo-ment he obtained my signature on a

handwritten contract granting me a10 percent share of all moniesearned by the video. Wouldn’t thenatural emotions after filming suchan extraordinary event be elationand excitement? Why was he soanxious, unless he was afraid hewould be found out?

These suspicions started the wheelsturning, and immediately I began to specu-late on the possible reasons why this manwould go through the trouble of makingsuch a video if it was, indeed, a hoax.

The question, why would he do this?kept playing in a loop in my mind.

Why?I concluded that there were three pos-

sible reasons for Weyleigh to make theOliver’s Castle video:

Money: How would Weyleigh makemoney from the video? Royalties from salesof the video on VHS and DVD, plus broad-cast fees charged to television stations thatwanted to air the video. After Wayleigh wasuncovered as “John Wabe,” and it wasconfirmed that the film was a hoax, he cameforward, admitted his involvement—andthen signed a deal with Nippon TV to par-ticipate in a documentary about the Oliver’sCastle video. This led me to believe that hewas trying to recoup whatever profits hecould from the video after he resigned him-self to accepting that there would be noprofit from the sale and airing of the origi-nal video.

Mischief: Could it be possible that Wabewould invest his time and money to pro-duce a prank? My initial reaction was “notbloody likely.” Yet, in a videotaped confes-sion, Wabe claimed he made the video for“fun” and that it would be “a good laugh.”He said he had always been interested incrop circles and that he knew that many


crop circle followers believed UFOs weremaking them, so he gave them what theyexpected.

A disinformation campaign: This theoryposits that Wabe was hired by governmen-tal agencies to make a hoaxed video as partof a broader plan to discredit crop circleresearchers. This begs the question: Whywould they bother? Wouldn’t such a videobe done better by NASA or NSA, insteadof some small British film editing company?Assuming one of the governments wereactually involved, they would have had tohave known that their ruse would havebeen uncovered.

After months of speculation, and end-less Internet debate, the truth was uncov-ered: John Weyleigh was actually JohnWabe, and he was a video editor for a com-pany called First Cut in Bristol, England.Wabe admitted his involvement in making

the film and in disseminating it to myself. Imyself never asked for money from any ofthe media outlets I granted permission toshow the Oliver’s Castle footage, so thewhole effort paid Mr. “Weyleigh” nothingfor his efforts.

Ultimately, the truth is known only toWabe and his partners, yet fun. His inter-est in signing a royalty contract almost im-mediately, however, is persuasive evidencethat they may have also been in it for themoney.

PostscriptIn 2002, John “Weyleigh” Wabe and

his partner John Lomas were editors on awildlife documentary series called Wild-life, which was produced by theScandinature production company. Niceto see he’s keeping his editing skills up tosnuff, eh?

Snowflake formation featured in the hoaxed Oliver’s Castle video. It was discovered by theyoung man who claimed to have filmed UFOs on August 11, 1996.

Crop Circle Empowerment / 145

Chapter 16Crop Circle

Empowerment:The Cost of Deception

By Synthia Andrews

145

Synthia Andrews is Colin Andrews’swife. Synthia originally wrote thispiece for Colin’s Website

www.cropcircleinfo.com and updated itfor this book.

•••

There is an incredible story to be toldabout the crop circles of England, and it isnot the one on which most people are fo-cused. It is a story of the spiritual potentialof humans: the potential we have to inter-act with the living force of nature throughintuition and geometry to create energeti-cally significant, consciousness-shiftingtools. Surprisingly, the majority of cropcircle enthusiasts overlook this truth in thebelief that only a “mysterious force” or“alien intelligence” can be the creator ofthis phenomenon. It may be that a mysteri-ous force or alien intelligence is indeed in-volved, but certainly people are as well. Itis interesting that the circles are perceivedas valuable only if they are made by a non-

human source. It is as if we are afraid to bepowerful, co-creative, spiritual beings.

BackgroundIn July 1999 my husband, Colin

Andrews, announced to BBC News theresults of his two-year study into hu-man hoaxing of crop circles. His re-search indicated that during the twoyears of his study, at least 80 percent ofthe crop circles he researched (in En-gland) were manmade. This announce-ment stunned the crop circlecommunity, largely because Colin wasone of the original crop circle research-ers and has been the subject’s primaryproponent for the last two decades. Hestarted the first research organization,Circles Phenomenon Research Interna-tional (CPRI), and has amassed the larg-est database in the world on the subject.He was in a unique position to evaluatethe presently occurring formationsagainst the earlier phenomenon.


The announcement resulted in imme-diate warfare within the established cropcircle research community. Prominent al-ternative magazines that purported todeal in truth refused to publish his state-ments. Fellow researchers refuted hisreport with character assassination ratherthan with facts. Interestingly, only a hand-ful of people (mostly scientists) paid at-tention to the rest of his statement—thatapproximately 20 percent of the circlesstudied showed no evidence of beingmanmade, and that many of these dem-onstrated a unique magnetic signature.Although Colin continues to work withscientists on the magnetic results, as anintuitive energy healer, I find an equallycompelling mystery lies with themanmade formations.

Energy healers assist the body’s ownhealing processes by attempting to bringall life systems into harmony through touch,meditation, prayer, and spiritual and organicprocesses. This can be a compliment tostandard medical procedures. The irrefut-able evidence of the effects of this placeboeffect proves that not all physical ailmentsneed medical intervention to improve.

An energy healer believes that the hu-man body is more than a physical entity.Mind, body, and spirit are unified, coordi-nated, and animated by interacting energysystems. These systems interface betweenour internal and external environments. Ifenergy functions are weakened, misaligned,or missing altogether, then disharmony anddisease result. Although these systems arelargely autonomic, they can be influencedby the individual, a process often facilitatedby an energy healer.

To review the historical and experien-tial record on crop circles:

• The first published report of a mys-terious circle appearing in an oatfield occurred in 1678. Orange balls

of light were witnessed in the sky atthe time the circle appeared (Witch-craft in Hertfordshire by LewisEvans and Hertfordshire FolkLore by W.B. Gerish).

• The CPRI database contains first-hand reports from farmers of cropcircles occurring as early as the1920s, in many of the same fieldsin which they appear today.

• Originally, the formations weresimple circles that evolved intoringed circles and circles withsatellites.

• The simple formations furtherevolved during the 1990s into com-plex patterns.

• The majority of circles have oc-curred around ancient sacred sitessuch as Stonehenge, Avebury, andother megalithic complexes. Thefolklore about these sites includesthe same types of experiences re-ported in relation to crop circles.

• People entering crop circles expe-rience a sense of spiritual awe.

• The phenomenon occurs world-wide.

• Many formations display complexgeometries.

• Many formations display diatonic(musical) ratios between componentparts.

• There is an association of cropcircles with water; sometimes theformations align with watersheds orunderground waterways or evencattle troughs. The undergroundwater features are detectable fromthe air but not from ground level.


• Magnetic distortions have occurredinside formations affecting com-passes and electrical equipment.Current research is focusing onmagnetometer surveys.

• A high-pitched, two-toned, electro-magnetic sound has been heard bymultiple witnesses on different oc-casions and has been recorded ontwo occasions. A BBC televisioncrew made one recording and theeffect of the sound damaged theirelectronic equipment. A later broad-cast of the sound also damagedbroadcasting equipment.

• Some people visiting the circlesexperience physiological effectsincluding heightened awareness,feeling subtle energies, headaches,and a profound sense of peace.

• CPRI research conducted with sci-entist Masahiro Kahata intobrainwave patterns indicates thatbrainwaves are affected by proxim-ity to crop circles.

• The circles seem to have healingproperties. People claim spontane-ous healings inside some circles.The use of crop circle photographsas healing tools is practiced at theInstitute for Resonance Therapy inGermany and with individual Ra-dionics and energy practitioners.

The photographs of the cropcircles hold a visible record of thepatterns and designs and can be veryhelpful in focusing the intentions ofthe therapist to heal. In the case ofthe Institute of Resonant Therapy,computers digitally capture the pho-tograph and, using a proprietary

electronic transfer system, appliescertain frequencies encoded in thedata to the person being healed.

• Scientists have found cellularchanges in plants associated withcrop circles.

• Unidentified balls of light have beenseen and filmed in and around theformations, as well as in and aroundmegalithic sacred sites.

• The patterns are hauntingly familiarand resemble symbols from indig-enous cultures. Seeing the patternsfor the first time often has an emo-tional effect on the viewer.

• The formations contain dowsableenergy, and energy-sensitive indi-viduals, such as Chi Gung masterNan Lu of the American TaoistHealing Center in New York, appar-ently can locate the formations byfeeling for the energy with theirhands.

• The formations usually occur in re-lation to established lines of earthenergy, known as ley lines.

• The phenomenon is interactive. Pat-terns have appeared in the fields af-ter people have visualized orrequested them to appear. Research-ers have often noticed that after theyconsistently observed a feature andthen formulated a hypothesis aroundit, the next formation would break therule they had just established.

• When Colin Andrews and PatDelgado made the phenomenonpublic in 1989 with the publicationof Circular Evidence (BloomsburyPress), more and more people weredrawn to the fields, some to visit the


mysterious markings and others totake up the challenge of makingthem.

• Most amazingly, as people haveconsciously begun to make more ofthe formations, the anomalies andenergy effects surrounding the for-mations continue to occur, evenwith known hoaxes, regardless ofthe source of the formation.

It is the anomalies that keep peoplefaithful to the idea of either a supernatu-ral force or aliens as the creator of thecircles. The term “supernatural,” how-ever, merely refers to a natural forcethat we do not yet understand. Whenyou have stood in a field and watchedballs of light move around a crop pat-tern, it is hard to believe that the circlewas manmade. However, there are sub-stantial reports of these same anomaliesoccurring in manmade circles. The appar-ent irreconcilability of these facts is at thefoundation of the controversy. It may betime to revise our theories and expand ourunderstanding.

A Theory of EnergyHumans have been making patterns

and geometric structures to shift conscious-ness and move energy for thousands ofyears. Zuni sand paintings, Tibetan yantras,and Indian mandalas are a few examplesof geometric patterns used in this way. Themost extravagant examples of energy shift-ing geometric tools may be Stonehenge inEngland and the Great Pyramid in Egypt.It is noteworthy that Old English folkloreestablishes Stonehenge and other stonecircles as sites of spontaneous healing,observation points for strange lights, andplaces where lightning seems to gravitate1.The original discoverer of ley lines, AlfredWatkins, author of The Old Straight

Track2 believed that Stonehenge and othermegalithic monuments are linked togetherthrough energy pathways. The relation-ship of ancient sacred sites to undergroundwaterways is also well established. Addi-tionally, the Great Pyramid’s energy effects,particularly those on physiology, have beenthe focus of much study3. What all of theseancient monuments have in common is thatthey use sacred geometry to constrain anddirect subtle energy for a specific effect.

Paul Devereux writes in his book Se-cret of Ancient and Sacred Places:

Sacred geometry is the geom-etry inherent in all nature, whetherit be the energy dance of atoms andmolecules, the formation of a crys-tal, the growth of a plant or humanskeleton, the motion of weather sys-tems or galaxies. Certain patternsand ratios are used by nature inthe formation of the manifest uni-verse: The process of becoming isgoverned by the implied geometry.

Such geometry is used in magi-cal invocation for the same reasons.The builders of the ancient sacredmonuments observed the ways ofnature closely and encoded its ar-chitecture into their structures sothat the holy places would act asmicrocosms of the whole universe4.

Can it be that crop circles, in utilizingsacred geometry at energy centers, activatea heretofore unmeasured energy inherentin nature?

John Michell writes in his book TheNew View over Atlantis5:

From the relics of the Stone-agescience practiced by the adepts of theancient world it appears: first, thatthey recognized the existence of natu-ral forces of whose potential we arenow ignorant, and learnt to manipu-late them; second, that they gained


thereby certain insights into funda-mental questions of philosophy, thenature of the universe and the re-lationship between life and death.

He continues: “The work of scientistssuch as Baron C. von Reichenbach and Dr.Wilhelm Reich, further confirms the pos-sibility, indicated in folklore all over theworld, that some form of natural energywas known in prehistoric times and that amethod was discovered, involving a fusionof the terrestrial spirit with the solar spark,by which this energy could be disposed tohuman benefit.”6 Is it possible that in mak-ing crop circles today, as in ancient times,humans are the “terrestrial spirit” fusingwith the “solar spark,” thereby activatinga powerful force of nature?

I am suggesting that what we think ofas causes are really effects. When biolo-gists see cellular changes in plants withinformations, the popular conclusion is thata powerful force must have been engagedto create the circle. But what if it is thereverse? What if a powerful force was re-leased as the result of creating the circle?

The evidence shows that ancient sa-cred sites are aligned to unseen under-ground waterways and ley lines. It isbelieved this system was part of a subtleenergy matrix the sites were activating andreleasing for human use. Researchers havenoted the same correlations and similareffects with crop circles, including the sametypes of dowsing results. It is also interest-ing that both crop circles and sacred sitesare associated with reports of strange lightsin the sky and UFO activity. Do they comebecause they are drawn to the earth energybeing activated? Are the objects that havebeen filmed in crop circles making thecircles, exploring them, or utilizing theirenergy?

Dr. Hans Jennings has demonstrated thatsound waves create patterns by vibrating

particles into specific geometries. Chang-ing the frequency of the sound changes thegeometry of the vibrating particles7. Someresearchers have speculated that soundwaves may have vibrated crops into geo-metric patterns, thereby creating cropcircles. Isn’t it equally possible that the cre-ation of a living geometry generates a fre-quency that produces the observed andrecorded sound and activates the energyeffects associated with crop circles?

We live in a unique time in historyduring which the arcane knowledge andmythology of the past are fusing with thescience of the present. Nowhere is thismore in evidence than in the field of medi-cine. Modern medicine is open in a way ithas never been before to alternative andcomplementary medicine theories based onsubtle energy. Some of these healing mo-dalities, such as Radionics and Reiki, cre-ate patterns and symbols that establishprecise frequencies and induce specifichealing effects. The healing frequencies areused to shift mind and/or matter. Is it pos-sible that the crop circles are working inthe same way? Results at the Institute forResonance Therapy (IRT) in Cappenberg,Germany suggest they do. At IRT, cropcircle photographs are used in a complex,repeatable protocol for healing processes.They have been used to revitalize forestsand improve farming yields, among others.8

Another piece to the puzzle may beseen in the work of nature-energy pioneerssuch as the founders of Findhorn in Scot-land and Perelandra in the United States.Michelle Small Wright, founder ofPerelandra, has documented in her booksthe process of what she calls “co-creativescience”.9 In her work she communicateswith the intelligence within nature and usesgeometrical designs to create energy gar-dens. As at Findhorn, her gardens exceedthe limits imposed by natural laws, as we


know them. Forty-pound cabbages grownin the barren rock of northern Scotlandwould be unbelievable if not seen. Wrightdescribes this ability to transcend naturallimits as the spiritual growth of humans join-ing with nature to become co-creators ofthe world around us. In fact, we are al-ready co-creators of the world around us,we simply do it without consciousness orintention—look at the chaos of moderntimes. Perhaps we are being called to re-turn to ancient ways and be co-creativewith nature as a matter of choice, not de-fault, and with conscious intent. Perhapscrop circles are a step in this direction.

This theory is already being utilizedin California by Mr. Bill Witherspoon, whomakes patterns in the landscape with theintention of changing the field of conscious-ness.10 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if peoplein all walks of life and places on the earthbegan to consciously use geometry andnatural energy in their gardens, landscapes,homes, offices, and communities? Is thissimply a return to the ancient Chinese prac-tice of feng shui?

The Cost of DeceptionWhy some researchers and hoaxers

alike want to obscure the truth of themanmade formations is interesting. Despitethe hate mail and raging controversy overColin’s disclosure, most crop circle re-searchers are already aware that humansare constructing circles. In 1997, Colin firstbegan his in-depth investigation intomanmade formations. He hired a detectiveto track hoaxers and create a profile fordistinguishing manmade circles. At thistime, farmers were losing patience with thehoards of people trampling their fieldswhenever a formation appeared. To elicittheir cooperation in his study, Colin agreedto provide the farmers with details of anyknown circle-making activity that occurredon their land. We expected support from

the crop circle research community inColin’s efforts to reduce manmade activ-ity, but much to our surprise this generatedan angry furor. Some researchers went sofar as to ask Colin to stop because “whyruin everyone’s fun?”

In August of 1998, Colin and I attendeda gathering of several researchers at a sea-side restaurant in Southsea, Portsmouth.Photographer Steve Alexander and KarenDouglas were present. During the discus-sion Karen and Steve began to explain whythey believed it was a poor decision onColin’s part to expose the hoaxers. Karenexplained her thoughts on the value of hoax-ing by describing the experience she hadwhile constructing a circle with Steve forresearch purposes several years earlier.11

Karen’s description included how beautifulit was to be out in the quiet of the night,joining nature, and in harmony with the land-scape as they created a magical formation.

She went on to suggest that exposingpeople for their role in creating these sa-cred formations was misguided. I actuallyagree with Karen’s assessment of the valueof manmade circles. But why keep themethod of creation a secret? If manmadeformations are a valuable asset, why notshow everyone how creating sacred ge-ometry in nature can create sacred spaceand be a tool of empowerment?

Other circlemakers describe experi-ences similar to Karen’s. In October of1996, Colin and I were in Finland at a UFOconvention at which Colin was speaking.Present in the audience was Robert Irving,a well-known circle maker. At some pointduring the proceedings, Irving introducedhimself and asked to have a meeting. Weagreed to meet in the conference cafeteria.The conversation was so interesting wecontinued it the next day in downtownHelsinki. At the time, Colin was still re-sisting his growing alarm at the possibilitythat many formations were manmade, and


I was personally quite hostile. I must say Iended up with a great deal of respect andgenuine liking for Robert Irving.

Irving had been involved in circle mak-ing since the early 1990s and was corrobo-rative in much of his detail, confirming siteinformation that Colin knew was privilegedinformation between himself and few otherresearchers. More interesting, Irving dis-cussed some personal experiences he hadwhile making the circles. He, like manycirclemakers, claim unusual experiences inthe fields while creating formations.

They speak of lights appearing in thefields while they are working; about de-signing a pattern, going into the field to makethe pattern, and creating an entirely differ-ent design—one with symbolic impact, orone that had been previously meditated onby individuals or groups. John Macnish, inhis book Crop Circle Apocalypse,12 writesthat the first avowed circlemakers, Dougand Dave, felt compelled “by an unknown

source” to go out into the fields at nightand create patterns.

To illustrate his motivations in mak-ing formations, Irving related an eventduring which he entered a pattern themorning after he and several others hadmade it. A number of people were in theformation and Irving was enjoying hear-ing their comments, praises, and impres-sions. He reported witnessing a woman’sswollen ankle significantly reduce in sizewhile she was in the formation.

When I asked him directly whycirclemakers didn’t acknowledge theartwork they created, he said that forhim, if people knew they weremanmade, the magic results would stophappening. It seemed his opinion wasthat the energy effects were inducedby the person’s belief in the mysterioussource of the circles. I disagree. I thinkthe effects are real, palpable, and partof ancient knowledge.

This remarkable 200 foot diameter design was positioned precisely in the center of an oldRoman road which could only be seen from hundreds of feet up in an aircraft, making itspositioning from the ground almost impossible.


We live in a time when we need to be-come more conscious, where we need, inColin’s words, “to recognize our place in thenatural world” and find the tools of empow-erment necessary to change the direction inwhich we are heading. If crop circles are apart of that, it is time to stop hiding from thetruth and pretending people are not a part ofthe magic and mystery. Aliens, or a mysteri-ous force, may have originated the circlesand may still make some or inspire the mak-ing of others. Perhaps we are in training. Theimportance is that we can use geometries andnatural forces to change our consciousnessand in so doing, the world in which we live.

The cost of deception, of ignoring thehuman component, is the loss of the opportu-nity for spiritual growth. We have the choiceto either give our power to an outside source,or to embrace our own abilities. Let us ac-cept our spiritual evolution and consciouslybegin our training in co-creative living.

Notes1Devereux, Paul. Secrets of Ancient andSacred Places. London: Cassell Publica-tions, 1995, p. 24.

2Watkins, Alfred. The Old Straight Track.London: Garnstone Press republication,1970.3King, Serge Kahili. Earth Energies.Wheaton, Il.: Theosophical PublishingHouse, 1992, Chapter 5.4Devereux, p. 22.5Michell, John. The New View Over Atlantis.San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986, p. 197.6Mitchell, p. 197.7The Institute for Resonance TherapyCappenberg, 1994 IRT, Cappenberg, Ger-many: [email protected], Dr. Hans. Cymatics (video)Newmarket, N.H.: MACROmedia, 1986.9Smallwrite, Michelle. Behaving as If theGod in All Life Matters. Warrenton, Va.:Perelandra, Ltd., Perelandra, Ltd., PO Box3603, Warrenton, Va. 20188, 1997 update.10artheals.org/artists/Witherspoon_Bill_177/11June 26-27, 1995, in West Stowell,Wiltshire.12Macnish, John. Crop Circle Apo-calypse.Wye Valley, South Wales, U.K.:Circlevision, 1993.

The “80/20” Statement / 153

Chapter 17The “80/20” Statement:

The Politics of Truth

153

Hate mail. Threats. Red-faced zeal-ots screaming in my face. Con-tempt. Media ridicule. Professional

scorn. Hatred. Insults.These are some of the tribulations I

have had to endure since Wednesday, Au-gust 9, 2000, the day I made an announce-ment on British radio and television thatwould change my life.

That day, I announced the outcome ofa two-year long magnetometer survey ofcrop circles in England, along with my find-ings from this investigation into the cropcircle hoaxing problem.

People who had a serious interest inthe crop circle phenomenon—and I amspeaking of those who fervently believedthat all crop circles were of paranormalorigin—thought their world had come toan end that day.

The furious backlash immediatelyheaped upon me made that quite clear.

For several years prior to my an-nouncement, I had been aware of a

Knowing is not understanding. There is a great difference between knowing andunderstanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it.

—Charles F. Kettering

growing number of manmade cropcircle formations.

During the mid-1990s, I was shownconfidential information by a BBC journal-ist who had gone undercover for two years,and who had worked closely with DaveChorley and Doug Bowers—the two mostfamous crop circle hoaxers—in an attemptto establish the truth behind their claims tobe making all the crop circles in England.

I was shown letters mailed by Dougand Dave that contained the hand-drawnpatterns of crop circles that they plannedto make in Hampshire and Wiltshire, andalso provided dates and places for the for-mations. On the envelopes of some of theseletters, they had sketched the planned de-sign and then placed a stamp over it. Theenvelopes had then been postmarked bythe Royal Mail.

These patterns did appear, and theyappeared where and when the letters hadsaid they would. On one occasion, Dougand Dave even made a crop design as a


birthday surprise for the reporter’s youngson.

Unbeknown to Doug and Dave,though, they were being filmed by thisBBC journalist as they made their circles,and in ensuing weeks, other hoaxers weretracked and their handiwork was alsofilmed.

This information was devastating tome . Frankly, I did not want to believe theevidence being shown to me, as others nowdo not want to believe me.

To satisfy my own desire and need forthe truth, I began my own investigation intohuman hoaxing of crop circles.

They Laid It Down for All to SeeIn 1999, I began my investigation into

hoaxing.I was fortunate and grateful to have

the project fully funded by well-knownphilanthropist Laurence Rockefeller aspart of an overall crop circle researchfunding package provided by Mr.Rockefeller himself. Mr. Rockefellerhas funded a number of my researchprojects into the crop circle mystery,beginning in July 1997, when one of hisclose advisors asked if I would be inter-ested in submitting for funding consid-eration a proposal for a long-termprogram of research. My proposal wasaccepted and, in 1999, I turned my at-tention to investigating crop circle coun-terfeiting.

My hoaxing investigation took place inEngland during 1999 and 2000.

My research included engaging retiredpolice detectives as private investigators;crop circle site inspections; collection ofphysical evidence; extensive aerial photog-raphy; recording of personal experiences;and gathering information from the media.

By this time, several media organi-zations in London and elsewhere, includ-

ing NBC, the BBC, Nippon TV, Sky TV,and others, had paid people to create cropformations for television programs. Wewere fortunate to receive help from manyof these media outlets in the form of in-formation as to when crop formationswould be made, who would be makingthem, and where they would be located.We also enlisted the help of undercoverresearchers who were able to infiltratethe hoaxers and convince them that theycould be trusted.

Once we had concrete evidence that acrop circle was manmade, we went in andrecorded the ground details of the forma-tion with great specificity. We were thenable to look for these same details in aerialphotographs taken of all the patterns inEngland during those two years.

In many of the designs we investigated,we not only found underlying tracks wherepeople had gained access to vital construc-tion points, but also peg holes were foundwhere lay-out stakes had been used andthen removed.

When these documented facts werecombined with the undercover films ofpeople making crop circles, we were ableto reach accurate conclusions as to thenumber of formations that were hoaxed inEngland during that period.

This was unassailable evidence, andyet it was still not enough for thosecereozealots who insisted on believing thatevery crop circle was “real.”

Based on our research, I concluded thatapproximately 80 percent of all the cropcircles we investigated in England from1999 through the year 2000 weremanmade.

This was one of the most importantresearch findings to date because it cut tothe core of what was truly important: theremaining 20 percent of the crop circlesshowed no sign of human hands.


And the Band Begins to PlayIt all began the morning of August 6,

2000. I received a telephone call at my U.K.research base in Andover, England fromFrancesca Kasteliz of the BBC NationalNews in London.

She asked a simple question: Did Ihave any new crop circle research devel-opments to report?

My answer to that question, and theevents that soon followed, set in motionan extraordinary wave of change; some-thing that caused joy, as well as anger—more anger than anything I have everwitnessed in my life—in the crop circlecommunity.

Two days after agreeing to share mylatest findings with the BBC, I was stand-ing in a large simple crop circle at AltonBarnes, Wiltshire with an array of televi-sion cameras pointed at me.

I had arrived at approximately 7:30a.m. as the crew were raising the transmit-ter mast up into the overcast sky, and mak-ing their final preparations for a livebroadcast.

The TV journalist who would be in-terviewing me arrived shortly thereafter,and we chatted briefly as we awaited theword that the segment would begin. Wewere minutes from broadcasting the lat-est crop circle news live throughout GreatBritain.

As is common in England, there was aheavy fog hugging the field in which westood that morning, and fog also blanketedthe hills behind us. The director was hop-ing the haze would lift in time for the broad-cast. There was a complex, manmade cropformation in the field adjacent to ours, andhe hoped to show it on camera during theairing of my interview.

Unfortunately, the weather did not co-operate this day, and when we went on theair, the director had to be satisfied with

showing only the simple circle in which Istood. I found this truly ironic. Nature hadspoken and she had decided that the com-plex, manmade designs were to be re-moved from the equation—at least for thisbroadcast.

During the interview, I stated that mostof the complex crop circle designs that wehad investigated were judged to have beenmanmade, but that approximately 20 per-cent of those that we had researched werenot. I then went on to explain that whatwas significant about our findings was thatin that 20 percent, magnetic anomalies hadbeen conclusively recorded and measuredand, again, these readings were only foundin the simple circles.

As I spoke, the BBC showed elabo-rate animated computer graphics illustrat-ing how magnetism may play a role in thecreation of simple circles.

My interviewer then concluded theinterview by saying, “Well, the mysteryremains.”

Overall, it was a well-produced seg-ment, and I believed that I had succeededin communicating my findings to theworld. At the time, I had no idea what kindof response my words would provoke.

That evening, the first hate mail arrivedin the form of venomous e-mails. This wasfollowed in the ensuing days by similarnoxious missives in my mailbox. Then theverbal attacks came from researchers andmembers of the public who had not takenkindly to what I had revealed. I was barredfrom farmers’ fields where I had workedwithout interference many times; and I was“disinvited” from a well-known U.S. ra-dio program by the host, who denouncedme as a “deliberate disinformer.” In a let-ter to me, the host told me that he was cer-tain that I had been lying about my findings.Around the same time, an article began cir-culating on the Internet in which the author


accused me of having been “bought off”by the Rockefeller family. An internationalmagazine refused to publish details of myresearch and results, instead adding to theanti-Colin-Andrews rhetoric by stating thatI was either a funded disinformer in theemploy of the Rockefeller family, or that Iwas being paid by the CIA to deliberatelyspread disinformation.

I was stunned by the vitriol that washurled my way, and I learned a great dealabout people during this experience. Inthe minds of many, my statement hadcrossed the line and instantly transformedme into an enemy. I had evidence to bol-ster my conclusions, but none of thatmattered. I had said something certainpeople had not wanted to hear, and thus,I was ostracized from the crop circlecommunity.

I tried to ignore a great deal of thisunpleasant nonsense, but I was not alwayssuccessful in avoiding confrontations.

On several occasions, my way into thefields was blocked by angry researchers orrabid believers who not only physicallyprevented me from doing my work, but alsoinsisted on confronting me personally sothat they could express their feelings to meabout what I had said.

Grown men stood nose to nose with me,shouting into my face, spouting crazed non-sense with uncontrolled fury. The behaviorof some of these fanatics was abominable,and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Thankfully, the situation has improvedsomewhat.

In recent months, I have been given theopportunity to discuss my findings on televi-sion, radio, and in print, and what has alsotempered the reaction to my conclusions isthe fact that others—independent research-ers with whom I have nothing to do with—are arriving at the same conclusions.

That said, though, I must acknowledgethat there still exists today an extreme fringe

faction of crop circle devotees who not onlybelieve that all the patterns around theworld are “real,” but are hell-bent on thepublic believing likewise.

One example of this type of blind de-nial occurred during one of my appearanceson the hugely popular U.S. radio programCoast to Coast with Art Bell during thesummer of 2002.

On this occasion, George Noory washosting the show, and we had already beenon the air for two hours when a callerphoned in to have his say about my workand my “80/20” conclusion.

“Everything you have just said is nottrue,” he proclaimed.

“What is not true?” George replied.“I have not heard him say a single thingthat I thought was untrue or, for that mat-ter, unreasonable.”

The caller “non-answered” George’squestion by responding, “It’s just not true.Ask other researchers like MichaelGlickman or Andy Thomas.”

I then asked George if I could speakwith this caller myself and answer his ques-tions, but as is often the case in these typeof situations, the caller hung up whenGeorge began to challenge his claims.

The reaction by many in this campseems to be “Don’t tell me something Idon’t want to hear.” It is not simple dis-agreement. It appears to be an inability tomodify their position in the face of newfacts.

I believe it is critically important thatthose who are finding it difficult to acceptthese new discoveries not allow denial topummel them into blindness.

Denial and deception—the other “D &D”—are synonymous with Doug andDave in the crop circle field, and the meta-phor is apt: Doug and Dave practiced de-ception and denial for years, and even afterthey admitted that they were responsiblefor some circlemaking, they continued to


deceive by laying claim to formations theyhad nothing to do with.

Hearing TroublesWith hindsight, I now know that my

80/20 statement was wildly misunderstood.It was misinterpreted as me saying that

all crop circles are manmade, when I hadgone to great pains at the time, and havecontinued to do so ever since, to make itclear that the mysterious, unexplainable 20percent was a gift to mankind. My state-ment was also misinterpreted as me say-ing that 80 percent of crop formationsaround the world, and spanning all of his-tory, were manmade. As I said then, andwill say yet again, I was referring to thecrop circles we investigated in England,in the specific two-year period duringwhich we conducted our research.

I rocked the boat. I understood why thishappened: Mine was the loudest voice outthere reporting the results and supportingthe research.

It was my face that was seen on TV,and my voice that was heard on the radio.It was my findings that were being writtenabout in books, newspapers, and maga-zines; and I was the one lecturing aroundthe world about my conclusions.

There is some small measure of satis-faction in the fact that since that notoriousBBC interview aired, a number of othercrop circle researchers have publiclyagreed with my findings.

It staggers me to realize to what extentpeople will go to hang on to their beliefs,and how hard it is for many to acceptchange—even when they are presentedwith evidence of the truth.

I have repeatedly said that to prove justone crop circle real is to establish the pres-ence of a very important phenomenon onEarth.

I committed thousands of dollars, alongwith a great deal of professional expertise

and expensive equipment, towards prov-ing that 54 crop circle events in the UnitedKingdom, out of an event total of 236 coun-trywide crop formations during those twoyears, could not be explained.

If we extrapolate, and apply thatnumber’s ratio to the formations reportedin the rest of the world during 1999 and2000—236 in 1999, and 175 in 2000—then82 of the 411 confirmed worldwide cropcircle reports would be unexplained.

A few days after the BBC televisionnews program aired, I received an invita-tion from Professor Andrei Ol’khovatov inMoscow to present my findings at a Geo-physicist Congress in Russia, planned todiscuss the Tunguska explosion event of1908.

Magnetometer anomalies had been dis-covered at the Tunguska site, and the Rus-sian scientists wanted to check theirfindings against the magnetometer readingsI recorded in authentic crop circles.

The Russian scientists wanted to learnmore about the real crop circles, especiallyafter hearing that my research had deter-mined that there was, indeed, a bafflingmystery in the crop circle phenomenon.They were especially intrigued by findingsshowing that numerous simple crop de-signs had strange magnetic anomalies as-sociated with them.

•••

I have often been asked why I mademy announcement before conferring withmy fellow researchers and allowing a peerreview process to confirm my results.

It’s a good question.The answer is that I felt then—and,

in fact, I still feel—a strong sense of soci-etal, scientific, and moral responsibility sur-rounding my work. I carry the unasked-fortitle of best-known voice on the subject ofcrop circles and I feel strongly that myrole is to keep everyone informed. Fellow


researchers, scientists, governments, andthe public all deserve nothing less than thebest data I can provide, and I decided thatit was best to go public with my findings assoon as possible.

I have willingly presented my researchto government scientists, the British andGerman governments, indigenous peoplein many countries, individual seekers oftruth, and religious leaders.

It is very important that the truth be told.What is happening on earth with the

“signs” of the crop circles is of great sig-nificance to many cultures.

The council of Hopi Elders, for in-stance, are the caretakers of a prophecythat has been kept secret for hundredsof years. The prophecy is known to con-cern profound changes in the world thatwould manifest as changes in human be-havior, attitudes, and consciousness, ac-companied by visible environmentalchanges. The Hopis believe they hold asacred responsibility to reveal the proph-ecy to the United Nations when they seethe signs that signal the beginning of thechanges that have been foretold. TheHopis believe that the crop circle phe-nomenon plays a role in this prophecy,and they have eagerly embraced my re-search and used it to help them furtherunderstand what is going on.1

I speak of the Hopis to make thepoint that there are many people all over

Hopi Elder Thomas Benjaca.

the world carefully monitoring the cropcircle enigma and it is to them I feel Iowe the greatest responsibility with mywork.

Notes1See www.memorologyllc.com/CropCircleInfo/Research_Route_5.htm.

Half and Half / 159

Chapter 18Half and Half:Where I Stand Today

159

I have learned a great deal about cropcircles since driving along that roadnear Stonehenge in July 1983, and I have

learned perhaps even more about people. Iwill try to state for the record where I standtoday.

What I Know NowThat I Did Not Know ThenAbout Crop Circles:

• There is a real mystery involved intheir creation and in their purpose.

• They frequently appear in ancientplaces.

• The geometries of crop circles arefound in the artifacts of ancient cul-tures, especially their writings andartwork.

• There are “hot spots” of crop circleactivity around the world.

• Absolute proof of a real phenom-enon is elusive using current scien-tific technology.

• The symbols seen in crop circlesoften bring together a wide rangeof people.

• The vast majority of crop circlesappear in vegetation which we laterconsume.

• Crop circles attract extraordinary at-tention when they appear.

• The patterns have evolved overtime, and some designs now haveidentifiable meaning.

• There is frequently a high level ofinterference with electronic equip-ment inside the crop circles.

About People:• A cult-like, pseudoreligious obses-

sion with the crop circle mysteryhas formed more quickly than Iwould have ever expected.

• Crop circles are now perceived bysome people to hold great spiritual

I am half scientist and half intuitive.

—Colin Andrews


meaning, as well as possible scien-tific potential, and this has sparkedcreative thinking and new ideas inmany who are studying the phe-nomenon. The mystery has becomea catalyst for the pursuit of knowl-edge.

• Fear of the unknown has created afaction of organized, vocal skeptics,a group whose voices sometimesseem to be louder than those of theindividuals objectively seeking thetruth.

• Religious belief systems are chal-lenged by the crop circle enigma.People who are committed to a par-ticular religious philosophy feel illat ease attributing any profoundmeaning or significance to the cropcircle mystery.

• Some of the first people to respondto my research findings were repre-sentatives from intelligence organi-zations in the United States,Germany, and the United Kingdom.Many of them infiltrated researchgroups, and some even visitedresearcher’s homes and spoke totheir families in an effort to acquireinformation about the burgeoningcrop circle mystery.

• The benign and beautiful subject ofcrop circles has provided a uniqueglimpse into human behavior, and Ioften think that we have learnedmore in the past 20 years aboutpeople, than about crop circles. Sadto say, not all of what we havelearned about the behavior of cer-tain members of the human familyis encouraging.

•••

Nothing you read anywhere—noteven in this book—will fully explain thecrop circle mystery; not today or eventomorrow.

The enigma may never be fully ex-plained, but I am certain that we are beinggiven hints as to where it comes from, andwhere it might be going.

These hints are fascinating, and theyfill me with intrigue and excitement. Butnot having all the answers does not meanthat we should stop using our imaginationin an attempt to understand. Imaginingpossible futures and searching for answersis what drives the evolving engine of hu-man potential, and it is what contributes tothe growth of our human civilization.

It is quite possible that mankind willnever fully understand the intricate work-ings of the master plan of our existence.But we are regularly being given hints andclues, and I think that many of us haveevolved enough to intuitively sense whenwe are being presented with glimpses ofthe underlying structure of this master plan.

The crop circle mystery could simplybe outside our realm of understanding. Theanswers may be locked in a dimensionsomewhere external to the boundaries ofour current reality. Some crop researchershave speculated that the crop circle patternsare visible energy discharges between di-mensions, and that we can only see half(or less) of the actual anomaly. That maybe true, and the theory illustrates the diffi-culties—knowing what to consider andwhat to reject—when working with thecrop circle riddle.

We are now living in an age of micro-biology, genetic engineering, andnanotechnology. We are regularly creatingnew materials and developing new tech-niques that allow us to employ the highestlevels of technological skills known to man

Half and Half / 161

in our pursuit of knowledge. Eyeing somehoped-for human benefit, we are now ableto combine genes from the plant kingdomwith genes from the animal kingdom. Mancan now play God, but as we enter the 21stcentury acting as God, we should under-stand that this does not make us God.

One alarming reality of our current bio-technological developments and geneticmanipulations is that there is not a singlescientist working in this field today whocan state with certainty what the effect onother species, the environment, or manhimself will be from incorporating thesenew, genetically contrived creations intonature.

This lack of knowledge, however, hasnot stopped or prevented the introductionof these products into the biosphere. To-day, 65 percent of all soybeans packagedfor human consumption in the UnitedStates are genetically altered. Only timewill tell what the effects are of the incor-poration of genetically altered foods andanimals into the human gene pool.

Those of you reading this book are see-ing through eyes that see what no one ofany other era has seen. We have seen manunleash the power of the atom to produceboth extraordinary levels of energy, and anextraordinary power to destroy. And we didthis before we fully understood the ramifi-cations of such a monumental act, and be-fore we knew what to do with thebyproducts of nuclear energy. We now storeradioactive materials under mountains, butthis does not assure the safety of mankind.Only metal cans and concrete stand be-tween us and deadly harm. And to makematters worse, some nations simply dumptheir nuclear waste into the sea.

These are frightening realities of ourmodern age, and another of those realitiesis that we live in troubling times with morequestions than answers.

Curiously, into this amalgam of threatscomes the crop circles: What do the cropcircles mean to us?

I believe that we need to understandthe role that human consciousness plays inthe crop circle enigma. Darwin was right:On this planet, only the fittest survive.

But that oversimplifies the paradigmof life on earth by not factoring in the willof a species to survive—consciously or un-consciously—and how deliberately appliedmeans of survival affect this equation.

I believe that all species on earth feelthe constant threat of extinction. Call it the“high mind”—another term for Jung’s col-lective unconscious—a sensory self thatregisters and responds to threats on a purelyinstinctual basis. Animals instinctively usestrength and/or flight (depending upon thethreatening animal) to maintain their placein the ecology.

Man also uses the ability to dominateboth animals and other humans, but thereis an additional factor in man’s quest forsurvival. We can use our spiritual aware-ness, our intelligence, and our emotionalidentity to apply compassion, love, andempathy to our actions. These emotions arequite powerful and cannot be faked (al-though many politicians, in their quest forpower and wealth, try to fake feelings on aregular basis). When our intentions are sin-cere and deeply held, the results can beamazing.

In the beginning days of my researchinto crop circles, I realized that the clues—and sometimes the answers—that I soughtwere often provided for me if I prayed qui-etly, with an open heart, and endeavoringto maintain a genuineness and sincerity inmy requests.

I have experienced some incrediblethings. And what was common to all of mymost profound revelations was that I hadasked not for a final answer, but instead,


for true knowledge and spiritual awareness.From those prayers came a glorious eventor stunning clue that helped shine a brighterlight on this puzzling enigma.

I have heard both male and femalevoices speaking to me in single, sometimescryptic sentences. I have had a Celtic Crosscrop pattern appear close to my homeshortly after I prayed for just such a sym-bol. I have heard strange sounds inside cropcircles that still cannot be explained. And Iam not alone in these experiences. Othersincere researchers have reported similarhappenings.

Here are two of the most intriguingexamples:

• Filmmaker William Gazecki toldme that when he arrived in Englandto start filming his movie CropCircles: Quest for Truth, he askedfor a crop circle to appear and onedid—right outside his bedroom win-dow that night.

• Inventor and engineer Mike Curryleft a surveillance operation atBlackland, Wiltshire after having wit-nessed a dumbbell crop formationappear in a field fully monitored andprotected by cameras and infraredbeams to stop intruders. Even withall this surveillance, the crop patternappeared unbidden, in a small bankof fog and without detection or be-ing seen by the cameras. Mike leftthe site frustrated and confused, re-peatedly asking the question: Couldthis happen anywhere and at anytime? He was still puzzled when hearrived at his home, which is sev-eral hundred miles north of thesurveillance site. He woke thenext day to find the identical crop

design in the field outside his bed-room window.

Also, there have been many occasionswhen it seems as though the creators of thecircles have listened in on conversationsbetween researchers and then acted in re-sponse to what was specifically discussed.

One day, while flying over southernEngland with Busty Taylor, Busty com-mented to me that he would love to some-day find all the previous crop designswrapped into one stunning new formation.The next day, just such a formation ap-peared, precisely below where the aircrafthad been when Busty had expressed hiswish 24 hours earlier.

Pat Delgado and I were once discuss-ing the law of angular momentum, the lawof physics that describes the direction andvelocity of spin in natural vortices. We werestanding in a field at the time and talkingabout the fact that all the crop circles thathad rings around them complied with thislaw. The next day a new crop circle ap-peared in the field next to where we hadstood. This new formation, for the first timein our research, did not comply with thelaw of angular momentum.

The examples are numerous, and theyhave convinced me that some form of in-telligence is involved in this mystery, andthat this intelligence seems to be aware ofour thoughts. I began to hint at this con-clusion publicly towards the end of the1980s.

But I completely agree with those whosay that extraordinary claims need to bebacked up with extraordinary evidence.

In the case of these crop circle experi-ences, this is difficult, for how does one sci-entifically prove—after the fact—that anyone of the people involved did pray, or didmake the statements they claim to havemade? The demand for that evidence andthe questions of skeptics are important to

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public debate, however, and are an impor-tant part of understanding the crop circlephenomenon.

Over time, I have established cordial,yet guarded, relationships with some ofthe people making counterfeit cropcircles. Many of them have told me ofstrange experiences in the fields whilemaking crop circles, and some of theseevents so closely resembled what I, alongwith other serious researchers, had wit-nessed, that sometimes I felt as though Iwas listening to myself, or one of my col-leagues talking.

Some of these circlemakers had seenglobes flying above the fields, inexplicableflashes of light, sudden shadows, and manyother anomalous happenings.

One of these counterfeiters is a mannamed Rodney Dickinson, who is from agroup in London using the unfortunatename of “Team Satan,” (although they alsocall themselves the Circlemakers). Rodneyhas taken several of the most impressivephotographs of UFOs ever seen. Rodneyalso has videotaped UFOs and is creditedwith some of the best UFO footage everobtained. All of Rodney’s photographicevidence of UFOs was shot from insidecrop circles.

I have received similar reports frommany other hoaxers, and I have concludedthat it is possible that they may have some-thing significant to contribute to the pic-ture. Of course, all the work of the seriousresearchers would be much easier if thehoaxers would simply stop doing what theyare doing, but that is unlikely, and it seemsas though the phenomenon has begun touse them in its own mystifying way.

If researchers and hoaxers have thesame paranormal experiences in andaround crop circles, whether the circlesare manmade or genuine, we have a veryinteresting situation. Both sides of this

equation witness the paranormal, and yeteach interprets these events within the con-text of their own reality. The researchersare trying to prove that some of the cropcircles on earth are “real,” while the hoax-ers attempt to test these claims with coun-terfeits. It is while this dance goes on thatthe major clues manifest themselves and,hopefully, some day, we will all see the com-plete picture.

I believe that we are all involved in somekind of experiment with consciousness.

None of us now know whose experi-ment it is, but if it does not belong to anoff-planet source, then we should own itourselves, because it may be important toour future.

Something strange is going on, and Ithink the hearts and souls of the research-ers and hoaxers hold the answers. I be-lieve that our God-given ability to think andact with highly evolved brain functions,manifested in such elevated emotions aslove and compassion, links us to the Di-vine. When we explore the crop circle phe-nomenon with these qualities in place, anemotional energy is produced that seemsto put us “online” with the creators of thecrop circles. As all lifeforms live and dieby the message codes of their DNA, so,perhaps, is the message of the crop circlessimilarly encoded, and honesty and anopen heart are the keys to a true under-standing of this communication.

I do think that this makes sense, andthat it helps to explain why these strangethings happen at places where crop circleresearchers and crop circle counterfeit-ers regularly meet: inside the cropcircles.

A fascinating element of the mysteryis the glowing orbs that are regularly seennear, and occasionally inside the cropcircles. They have been witnessed andfilmed many times and I have no doubt that


they are real and that they have somethingto do with the intelligence behind cropcircles.

I saw my first ball of light in 1986while waiting for Dr. Terrence Meaden ata crop formation. The orb moved behindthe only small cumulus cloud in that partof the sky and remained there. The momentI locked onto it with my eyes, it suddenlyseemed to be aware of me and it began tomove in a deliberate manner, almost as ifit were toying with me. Also, when I laterasked for some kind of clue as to the truenature of the crop circles, the alarming“crop circle sound” began and I becamequite afraid. As soon as I became fearful,the noise stopped, as if the source of thesound was aware of my fear and respondedto restore an emotional balance for me.

How much of this was created by myown mind? Skeptics will tell you, “all ofit.”

But could it be that the orbs are notmachines built by some alien beings, butare “nature’s machines”—visual manifes-tations of some kind of natural energy thatserve to connect one dimension to another?

•••

There seems to be a yin/yang paradigmin the game that is being jointly played outby the researchers and the hoaxers. Is itpossible that the players on both sides ofthe game board are vital to the ultimate un-derstanding of the mystery, and that theanswers will be found in a study of humanconsciousness?

After two decades of research I can notsay how the crop circles are made but, per-haps more importantly, I believe I knowwhy.

I believe that human beings are anessential and integral part of what is oc-curring in the crop fields around theworld—in what is manifesting as cropcircles. The designs encompass both

spiritual and natural elements, some ofwhich can be “read” mathematically. I be-lieve that they are being offered to us at atime when our “living” planet is in trouble,much of which we ourselves have caused.

I think we are being summoned to ad-dress these problems, but first we mustcome to terms with ourselves and ask thequestions, “Who are we?” and “What con-tributions can we make that will benefit alllife on earth?” We may never know whywe are here. But we do know that we arehere as a species, and that we need to de-termine our ultimate fate.

We have limited resources on Earth.Sharing these fragile gifts should be ourhighest priority as we enter this new andcritical millennium.

If we do not recognize ourinterconnectedness with all of nature, thenwe will continue our environmental—andspiritual—downslide.

Our future, and the future of all life onearth, will depend upon respecting our-selves, and respecting the living planet.

We all have to share this responsibility.I believe that all of this ties in with crop

circle consciousness.We are being challenged to learn, and

the tools of our instruction are ancient spiri-tual symbols, mandalas, and other innate,natural patterns.

We are being touched by the angels, andgiven the chance to learn about ourselves.

Since 1975, there has been a consis-tent cascade of beautiful crop circles, andthere were random reports of formationseven earlier.

This coincides with a time of extraor-dinary and unprecedented changes in ourworld.

Human survival seems threatened inways never before seen—profound envi-ronmental degradation, war and the threatof war, political upheaval, terrorism of alltypes, religious conflict, poverty, starvation,

Half and Half / 165

natural disasters, and more. And yet now,with the Damoclean sword of extinctionhanging over our head, the signs of con-tact appeared.

Who—or what—is making contact withus? It is not yet clear if we have made con-tact with a paradimensional part of our-selves, or with something or someone else.Scientists at Purdue University, doing re-search funded by the U.S. Department ofEnergy, have discovered the possible exist-ence of other dimensions outside the threespatial dimensions of length, width, andheight. In a paper published in the Novem-ber 4, 2002 issue of Physical Review Let-ters, Purdue physics professor EphraimFischbach wrote, “A new kind of gravity-like force would be the fingerprint of thefact that we may really live in a world that ismore than three spatial dimensions. Youwouldn’t see this force over large distances,but you could see it over small distances.”Some crop circle theorists have long sug-gested that the crop patterns may be energysignatures from another dimension. If this isthe case, and we are, indeed living in morethan three dimensions, then it is quite pos-sible that some yet-to-be identified energy,which may be part of human consciousness,is playing a role in the crop circle enigma.

I believe that what is taking place inthe fields of our planet is evidence of signs

of contact, and that the orbs and other as-sociated phenomenon are further proof thatthis contact—the source of which may beProfessor Fischbach’s other dimensions—is transdimensional and important enoughto cross the barriers between these statesof being.

The crop designs run parallel to othermajor signs of change on earth.

Is the source a spiritual one? Are webeing urged towards a new awakening inour consciousness?

I believe we are being given a wake-up call and that it is our responsibility toacknowledge the message, and take ac-tion.

A closing thought: I believe that allgood has come from positive thinking. Ourforefathers all believed in a wonderful fu-ture, and acted to make it so.

A positive thought is a construct ofhopeful energy sent out into the world.

Like some of our friends in the indig-enous peoples who safeguard and studyancient prophecies that speak of signs ofchange, we, too, should observe the mul-tiple signs of change occurring around us—in our beliefs, our industries, our politics,and our environment—but especially in ourfields.

We should respond to our intuition. Wecan not afford not to.

167

VIPart

At the Movies

Crop Circle Movies and Documentaries / 169

Chapter 19Crop Circle Moviesand Documentaries

169

This chapter looks at a small samplingof the many films and documenta-ries that look at paranormal phe-

nomena in general, and crop circles spe-cifically. This is but a tiny representationof the many resources available to the cropcircle enthusiast.

21.1 Signs (2002)• Feature Film

• Writer and Director: M. NightShyamalan

• Disney/Touchstone

• Rated PG-13

• Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoe-nix, Cherry Jones, Rory Culkin,Abigail Breslin, Patricia Kalember

“Colin, of all the people we knew of,has had the longest career researching

the crop circles and has the largestdatabase of information. I’ve been

working with Colin almost exclusivelybecause, of all the people, he’s the cream

of the crop.”

—Warren Betts, publicity directorfor the movie Signs

My involvement with the movie Signswas to provide visual materials and infor-mation about 15 crop circle events toTouchstone/Disney for use during the pro-motion of the film and afterward. (By theway, I do not know with certainty that thetitle of the movie was drawn from my work,

Colin standing beside a poster for the movieSigns.


but I have been describing crop forma-tions as “signs” for more than a decade,and it seems as though this particular ele-ment of my message struck a chord withNight Shyamalan and the producers of thefilm.)

The crop circle events I chose wereall very important manifestations aboutwhich I was able to provide significantamounts of data, including reports of re-corded paranormal activity in the forma-tions. They were all very dramatic, veryimpressive patterns and I had a number ofaerial photographs of each of them.

These photographs were used to pro-mote the movie, and the studio is continu-ing to use my pictures and information inmaterials pertaining to the film.

Touchstone/Disney also asked that Imake myself available for media questionsregarding crop circles, and I willinglyagreed to that request. I was, in a sense,the studio’s “point man” for specific ques-tions about the phenomenon. Sometimes,questions were passed on to me from thestudio; sometimes I dealt with the mediapeople one on one.

My Thoughts About the FilmSigns is an exciting and scary science

fiction film that uses crop circles as a plotdevice to advance its “alien invasion”storyline.

I thought the script was quite clever,and I found interesting the suggestionsscattered throughout the story that, for in-stance, extraterrestrials can read our minds.There is a scene in which the daughter ofthe farmer played by Mel Gibson says toher father, “ETs can’t read our minds, canthey?” And the implication is, “Why yes,of course, they can.” I also liked that di-rector and writer Night Shyamalan hintedthat the concept of synchronicity—thetheory of the coincidence of events thatseem to be meaningfully related—might

not, in fact, be what we think it is. It didprovide food for thought.

This is interesting writing and adds tothe forward movement of the story, but Ido not think the movie itself does verymuch to further the serious study of cropcircles.

In essence, the crop circle phenom-enon, which I believe has already offereda great deal for mankind, and will continueto offer much more, was used solely as adevice in a typical Hollywood extrava-ganza, complete with the standard“razzmatazz” of threatening aliens, fright-ening scenes, and expensive special effects.There was very little real insight into thephenomena, and, in a sense, the film de-based what many of us believe is the truepurpose of the manifestations: spiritual en-lightenment and higher consciousness. InSigns, the crop circles are used as landingsignals for an alien invasion: a negative,evil purpose.

But, hey, that’s show business, right?I also felt that the overall sentiment of

the film—and I base this not only on thescript but on some of the comments madeby the actors on the film—was skeptical.Some of the comments I heard gave theimpression that almost everybody involvedwith the movie believed that all of theworld’s crop formations were hoaxes, andthat there were no paranormal events go-ing on in the fields. This was regrettable,in my opinion. Everyone involved in Signshad the opportunity to further the discus-sion of the real phenomena taking placeon our planet.

Shyamalan did, to his credit, leavesome doors open. He did leave room forthe possibility that crop circles were real,and that there might be some benefit tomankind if we try to understand them, butoverall, the feeling one comes away withafter viewing Signs is that crop circles arehoaxes, and that if they were real, they

Crop Circle Movies and Documentaries / 171

would likely be used for nefarious purposes.As I said, I found this regrettable.

21.2 Crop Circles:Quest for Truth (2002)

• Director: William Gazecki

• OpenAge Media

• Not Rated

• Starring: Colin Andrews, NancyTalbott, Steve Alexander, BustyTaylor, Michael Glickman, AndyThomas, and others.

A magnificent look at the phenom-ena and, in fact, this is the crop circledocumentary that absolutely needed tobe made, and which should be must-view-ing for every person involved in govern-ment at any level anywhere around theworld. Something is happening on ourplanet, and Quest for Truth takes a rea-soned, comprehensive look at what mightbe going on.

The film alternates between one-on-one interviews with researchers, photog-raphers, writers, farmers, and witnesses,and stunning footage of crop formations

in England, most of it inthe form of aerial photog-raphy. The original musicis reverential and uplift-ing, and director Gazeckiwisely keeps himself outof the picture and allowshis experts and the cropcircles to speak forthemselves.

Hopefully, this willget wide airing on net-work or cable, and bereadily available forrental. It really is an im-portant overview ofsomething quite extraor-dinary and is also a truly

moving and emotional viewing experience.

21.3 A Place to Stay (2002)• Feature Film

• Director: Marcus Thompson

• Hollywood Daze Motion Pictures

• Not rated

• Starring: Johnny Dallas, AmandaRay King, Colm O’Maonlai,Miranda Llewellyn Jenkins, JoeFerrera, Graham Elwell

I was chief consultant on this emo-tionally powerful film set in Alton Barnes,England, and writer and director MarcusThompson successfully communicatesthe lure of crop circles, interwoven witha powerful and dramatic love story. My1991 documentary Undeniable Evi-dence was apparently the inspiration forThompson to create A Place to Stay, andI was greatly honored to play myself inthe movie. The movie is an engaging ro-mance with X-File-type elements thatwill appeal to the conspiracy-mindedviewer. The film is slated to debut at the2003 Sundance Festival and then will bereleased to theaters.

Colin shaking the hand of William Gazecki, director of Crop Circles:Quest for Truth.


21.4Undeniable Evidence (1991)

• Documentary

• Director: Kevin Redpath

• ARK Soundwaves

• Not rated

• Starring: Colin Andrews

This is a comprehensive crop circlesdocumentary written, produced, and star-ring Colin Andrews. It includes coverageof the scientific research to that point; in-terviews with farmers and eyewitnesses; alengthy interpretative narration by me,Colin Andrews; and, of course, stunningimages—both on video and in still photo-graphs—of crop formations and the beau-tiful English countryside. The video is stillin print and is available for purchase frommany book and video Websites. Undeni-able Evidence can also often be found invideo stores for rental, such as Blockbuster.It is highly recommended.

21.5 History’s Mysteries:Crop Circle Controversy (2000)

• Documentary

• Host: Arthur Kent

• The History Channel, A & E Networks

• Not rated

• Starring: Colin Andrews, NancyTalbot, Lucy Pringle, GeorgeBishop, John Lundberg, DouglasBower, Terry Wilson, farmers.

This brief documentary (40 minutesthat ran as an hour on The History Chan-nel) does a decent job of introducing theviewer to the crop circle phenomenon andcovering all the myriad elements of themystery, albeit somewhat perfunctorily.Everything seems to be here: The BargeInn, the Princess Diana story, historicalaccounts of crop circles, the various theo-ries and, of course, Doug and Dave. To

the producers’ credit, though, the docu-mentary makes the argument that Dougand Dave’s story has a great many holesin it, and that it cannot account for theworldwide extent of the phenomenon.(One of the best lines in the piece is “Howcan a worldwide phenomenon be explainedby two guys and a board?”) The docu-mentary covers my “80/20” statement(see Chapter 18), and also, unfortunately,tries to make a connection between asingle case of crop circles appearing closeto a mysterious cattle mutilation (seeChapter 4.11).

One of the highlights of the documen-tary is an interview with admitted cropcircle “artist” John Lundberg who, in theend, seems to support the theory that thereis a real phenomenon outside of the workof the hoaxers. All in all, a quality docu-mentary done with the attention to detailone would expect from The History Chan-nel.

21.6 Ultimate Crop Circles:Signs from Space? (DVD, 2002)

• Documentary

• Director: Tim Werenko

• Central Park Media

• Not rated

• Starring: Colin Andrews, PeterRobbins

This interactive DVD consists of alengthy one-on-one interview with me,conducted by UFOlogist Peter Robbins,author of the best-selling book, Left at EastGate. The interview is broken into severalsections: Beginnings, Personal Cost, SetUp, Enter the CIA, Pressured, Full Circle,Intelligence, and Then and Now. The DVDalso includes an extensive still photographgallery accompanied by my commentary,along with several video segments, mostnotably the complete footage of theOliver’s Castle video (see Chapter 16).

Closing Words: Carrying Out Instructions / 173

Closing Words:

Carrying Out Instructions

173

What I have learned during my 20years researching crop circles isthat interaction is occurring be-

tween a creative intelligence and the hu-man mind. This realization has impactedme greatly.

There is overwhelming evidence ofsigns of contact.

What I see, and what I have faith in, isthat it was never intended that we “believe”in crop circles, but, instead, that they serveas a tool for us to learn more about ourselves.

Moody Blues singer and crop circleenthusiast Mike Pinder recently remindedme of words he wrote some time ago, “Weare lost in a lost world.” Now, more thanever, we need to believe in something and,most importantly, we need to believe inourselves.

Crop circles are the visual manifesta-tion of an experiment with human con-sciousness. My research and study hasproven to me that we, as a species that hasa powerful spiritual side to its being, dohave what it takes to create a new and sus-tainable future for our planet and ourselves.

Sadly, it is late in the day for this real-ization, and there are many who still do notsee the truth. But we must apply ourselvesto the urgent needs of our species and ourplanet because, frankly, we do no have asingle moment to waste.

Our complete disregard for the envi-ronment has already taken an enormoustoll on all living things, and is easily seenon a planetwide scale. As I write this, asunken oil tanker sits at the bottom of theocean off the coast of Spain. If its hull rup-tures (and many experts believe it will),the oil it releases into the ocean will bedouble what was spilled by the ExxonValdez. We cannot go on like this. Clearly,a change in human attitude is called for.

In my view, the number of crop circlesthat are manmade versus those that are not,has become irrelevant. All the signs in thefields play a role in awakening mankindto the ongoing opportunity to reverse ourself-destructive course and achieve truespiritual maturity.

To convince the masses of the impor-tance of this quest, however, we must alldo our work, and speak our message, withhumility, respect, and above all, honesty.

We are all in this together: research-ers, the lay public and those who makecounterfeit crop circles.

When the whole picture ultimatelyunfolds, I think it will be seen that we wereall just carrying out instructions.

—Colin AndrewsDecember 1, 2002

175

Appendices

A Crop Circle F.A.Q. / 177

Appendix AA Crop Circle F.A.Q.

177

The FAQ—Frequently Asked Ques-tions—file is common on theInternet these days, and is found on

Websites and newsgroups that regularlyhave new visitors and sign up newmembers.

Many sites and newsgroups focus ona single subject (UFOs, the Civil War,Spanish cooking) and present and discussa great deal of information, resulting in aflood of data that could be daunting to anewcomer.

This FAQ by no means covers theentire range of information and knowl-edge about the subject of crop circles, butits 15 questions are the ones most com-monly asked, and we have attempted toanswer them concisely, accurately, andcompletely.

More information on all the topicscovered in these questions can be foundelsewhere in this book.

1. What are crop circles?2. Aren’t all crop circles

manmade?3. Where are most crop circles

found?

4. What kinds of vegetation arecrop circles found in?

5. Is there a particular time of theyear that crop circles appear?

6. How can you tell when a cropcircle is real?

7. Who are Doug and Dave?8. Is it true that all crop circles are

made by aliens and UFOs?9. Has anyone ever seen a crop

circle form?10. Have crop circles ever appeared

in exactly the same place?11. How long do crop circles last?12. How large are crop circles?13. What happens to the plants

inside crop circles? Are they cutor broken? Is it true someplants are burned?

14. Are the plants always swirled inone particular direction?

15. Have “crop” circles ever beenreported in snow?


1. What Are Crop Circles?

ACrop circles are geometric designscreated in fields when cereal crops

such as wheat, oats, oil-seed rape (canola),and corn are flattened. Originally, they weresimple circular areas in vegetation in whichthe plants were bent over at right anglesand swirled to the ground in a uniform fash-ion. In the past 13 years, more complexpatterns have appeared, which includestraight lines, appendages and extensionsin various shapes, and repetitive geomet-ric patterns. The word “pictogram” is usedto describe these agriglyphs.

2. Aren’t AllCrop Circles Manmade?

A Absolutely not. There is concrete scientific evidence that many crop for-

mations show no sign of human creation. Be-fore 1989 and the publication of my first book,Circular Evidence (the first book written aboutthe crop circle phenomenon), very few cropcircles were manmade. As the subject of cropcircles received increasing publicity over theensuing years, the number of counterfeits in-creased dramatically. I believe very strongly,however, that the manmade factor is impor-tant and must not be ignored or cavalierly dis-missed. All activity in the fields, regardless ofits source, should be fully researched. Thatbeing said, I again state with certainty that thetruth would be revealed much sooner if all hoax-ing ceased immediately.

3. Where Are Most CropCircles Found?

AThe majority of crop circles, both his-torically and currently, are in England,

with a high concentration of formations insouthern central England. Other “hot spots”include Germany, the United States, Canada,and the Netherlands. They have appearedin dozens of countries all over the world (seeChapter 5).

4. What Kinds of VegetationAre Crop Circles Found in?

ACrop circles are found in the wholerange of cereal crops, with the vast

majority found in barley and wheat. Theyalso appear in oats and many other formsof vegetation, including canola (called oilseed rape in United Kingdom), long grass,corn, tobacco, and rice. There have been afew reports of crop circles in vegetablecrops, especially spinach and potatoes.Crop formations have also been found ingroves of small trees.

5. Is There a Particular Time of theYear That Crop Circles Appear?

AIn the northern hemisphere, cropcircles appear from late April until

early September This coincides with theperiod of the growing season when the veg-etation has grown in excess of three inchesin height.

6. How Can You TellWhen a Crop Circle Is Real?

AThese days, identifying genuine for-mations by physical inspection

alone is becoming increasingly difficult,and often requires scientific equipmentand testing to confirm authenticity. Inthe 1980s, crop circles rarely drew visi-tors, and thus, no damage was done tothe site after initial discovery. It is a dif-ferent situation today. In addition to asite being compromised by touriststramping through the fields, many for-mations that are initially thought to begenuine are, in fact, counterfeits. Thisis due in large part to hoaxers applyingto their fakes the characteristics re-searchers recorded and reported in theearly years of the phenomenon.

That being said, there are certain keysignature characteristics that can be lookedfor when trying to identify a real circle. If


the following are found in a crop circle, theformation is probably authentic.

• There are no tracks into the circle.

• There are no signs of interferencewith the soil or the plants at pointsin the circle where hoaxers wouldhave had to stand to create theformation.

• The plants are not damaged.

• The plants are more vibrant in ap-pearance and the root structure ismore extensive than usual.

• The swirl symmetry is even andthere is usually two or fewer rota-tions of the spiral vein of the circlebefore it strikes the standing wall ofthe circle’s circumference.

• There are magnetic and electrostaticanomalies in the formation, andcompass rotation occurs when in-side the circle.

• The plants are changed at the cellu-lar level.

• Small quantities of an unknownmagnetic material are found in thecrop circle’s soil and impregnatedinto the plant tissue.

• A magnetic profile as registered ona magnetometer mimics the actualdesign of the crop circle.

• The profile of the electrostatic fieldfound in a crop circle shows unusualpatterning.

Features that have long been associ-ated with real circles but have, in the last20 years, been perfected by those makingcounterfeits include:

• Very precise geometries made with-out obvious mistakes.

• Well-formed cut-off lines around thecircle or pattern.

• The plants involved are bent overevenly during the early stages ofgrowth. In later stages, though, theplants are broken. This “bending butnot breaking” feature has not beensuccessfully hoaxed in oil-seed rape(canola) plants.

• Some impressive spiral veins havebeen reproduced.

It should be kept in mind that all ofthese features have not been achieved withsome evidence of human involvement andthis is another way researchers can dis-tinguish counterfeits from the authenticformations.

7. Who Are Doug and Dave?

ADoug Bower and Dave Chorley aretwo elderly British men who came for-

ward in 1990 and laid claim to having cre-ated all the crop circles in England. Thesesenior citizens lived in the Southampton areain Hampshire, England and their “confes-sion” ended up plastered on the front pageof the British tabloid Today. Their storyquickly made its way around the world andthere are still people who credit the twomen with creating the crop circle phenom-enon. When confronted with evidenceproving that they had nothing to do withcertain formations, they backed down andmodified their claim. At one point, theyclaimed to have made the Celtic Cross de-sign that appears on the cover of my book,Circular Evidence, but could not even du-plicate it on paper when asked by myselfand Pat Delgado. They then withdrew theirclaim to that formation.

It is accepted today that Doug andDave did make some—perhaps many—crop circles. However, it is also accepted


by skeptics and believers alike that it ispatently impossible for them to have madeall that they claimed they did.

Doug and Dave did, however, deal aserious blow to the perception of the cropcircle phenomenon in the mind of the gen-eral public. And there is suspicion that thatis precisely what their intentions were allalong. A conspiracy has not been proven,but many believe that powers with money(governmental, military, or otherwise) usedDoug and Dave as part of a disinformationcampaign. Dave Chorley died of cancer inthe mid-1990s. Doug Bower has kept arelatively low profile in recent years.

8. Is It True That All Crop CirclesAre Made by Aliens and UFOs?

AThere has long been suspicion thatcrop circles were formed by UFO

landing gear, or by energy rays beameddown from an alien spacecraft onto thefield. Most serious crop circle researchersallow that an extraterrestrial intelligencemay be involved in the phenomenon, butthe majority discount the possibility of theformations being created by alien ships.

9. Has AnyoneEver Seen a Crop Circle Form?

AYes, there have been eyewitnesses tothe formation of crop circles. Cur-

rently, there are approximately 50 peopleworldwide who have reported seeing a cropcircle form in realtime as they watched.

The first reports came from Argentinain 1959, and again in 1960. There were twowitnesses to the 1960 event.

The next credible report came fromAustralia in 1966, followed by several be-lievable accounts over a number of yearsfrom people in the county of Wiltshire,England.

One of the British eyewitnesses was alocal journalist named Arthur Shuttlewood

from Warminster, Wiltshire. Shuttlewoodwas standing in a field near Warminsterwith several others late one evening whenthey all heard a strange sound crackling inthe long grass. As they watched, the plantsswayed back and forth hypnotically like asnake, and when the movement and soundceased, they all saw that a crop circle hadformed.

Also, a bicycle shop owner named RayBarnes, who lived in a small village nearWarminster, watched as a line of plants bentover and swept across the field in an undu-lating wave. This line of demarcation even-tually stopped its forward movement andthe plants then rotated and formed a singlecircle in the crops.

Researcher Nancy Talbott and a col-league witnessed strange lights over a fieldin the Netherlands in 2001 and, shortlythereafter, a simple dumbbell pattern wasdiscovered in the crops. Talbott’s colleaguealso claims to have witnessed a circle formin the same field during 1999.

In almost every case, eyewitnessesreport seeing only simple crop circlesforming.

10. Have Crop CirclesEver Appeared in Exactlythe Same Place?

AThis is a very rare occurrence but ithas happened. One such place where

crop circles have appeared several times isin the field below Bratton Castle inWiltshire, England. (For more informationabout one such event in 1987, check outmy first book, Circular Evidence.)

11. How Long DoCrop Circles Last?

ACrop circles remain in the fields untilthe plants are harvested, or until they

die naturally at the end of the growing sea-son. The crop circle “season” usually begins


when the plants are approximately threeinches high, in late April and May in theUnited Kingdom, along with other countriesin the northern hemisphere. Harvest occursduring late August, early September.

12. How Large Are Crop Circles?

AThe smallest reported crop circle is approximately one foot in diameter,

but these are very rare. The average cropcircle is about 60 feet in diameter. The moreelaborate designs have stretched out acrossthe landscape over distances of three quar-ters of a mile. Among these, the 1994 for-mations at Ashbury, Berkshire; and 1996designs at Etchilhampton, Wiltshire are themost notable. Most major designs that in-clude complex patterns are 200 to 300 feetwide.

13. What Happens to thePlants Inside Crop Circles? AreThey Cut or Broken? Is It TrueSome Plants Are Burned?

AThe individual plants are bent over atright angles without being broken or

cut. I have never witnessed burning of anykind in the hundreds of circles I have in-spected, but several reports of burnt plantsdo exist. Biophysicist William Levengoodhas reported finding evidence of burninginside some of the plants he has analyzed.

14. Are the Plants AlwaysSwirled in one ParticularDirection?

AUntil 1986, almost all the plants incrop circles were spiraled in a clock-

wise direction. After circles were discov-ered with single and double rings around,the plants in the central circles were found

to be swirled counterclockwise as well. (SeeT9 and T10 in the Andrews Catalogue onpage 206.) Since 1986, the data reports aboutthe same numbers of clockwise and coun-terclockwise circles. There are also reportsof patterns in which both directions of rota-tion occur in the same circle.

15. Have “Crop” Circles EverBeen Reported in Snow?

ASnow circles have been reported ona

few occasions but it is not known ifthey represent the same phenomenon ascrop circles.

The most impressive snow circle wasseen and photographed by students at MITUniversity in Boston, on the 2nd of Febru-ary in 1993. Many shapes, including circlesand rings, were formed in the light snowthat covered a very thin layer of ice on theCharles River. The ice was very thin andwould not have been able to support eventhe weight of a small child, so the suspicionthat the acres of geometric designs weremade by the students was quickly ruled out.

Snow is not that common in southernEngland, but on those occasions that snowhas covered the usual areas where cropcircles form, no designs have been reportedin the snow. However, in January 1983, Mr.F. B. James witnessed something at Win-terbourne Monxton near Avebury,Wiltshire that might well be the same phe-nomena as the crop circles. One morning,Mr. James discovered several perfect, 15-foot diameter circles in young wheat plantsthat had been heavily covered in frost. Thecircles were only noticed because the frosthad melted inside each circle. Interestingly,swirled crop circles have since been re-ported in this area since 1987.

A Crop Circle A to Z / 183

Appendix BA Crop Circle A to Z

183

Agriglyph. A word coined to describe cropcircle patterns and designs. Its genesis wasthe word “petroglyph,” which is a carvingor a line drawing on rock. The Greek pre-fix “petro-” was replaced with “agri-”, avariant of “agro-” to indicate that the draw-ings were being done in fields. The suffix“glyph” means “word.”

Alton Barnes. Area in Wiltshire, England,known for its scenic splendor, archaeologi-cal sites, crop circle manifestations, andUFO sightings. Alton Barnes is within the41.5-mile crop circle equilateral triangle incentral southern England identified by ColinAndrews.

The Andrews Catalogue. A catalogue ofblack-and-white silhouettes of hundreds ofcrop circle designs, both authentic andmanmade. Colin Andrews continues to adddesigns to this massive compilation. TheCatalogue, complete through the forma-tions of 2002, is reprinted in this volume.

Avebury. Village built inside the world’slargest stone circle in Wiltshire, England,one mile north of Silbury Hill, withStonehenge and other prehistoric archaeo-logical sites nearby. A great deal of cropcircle activity occurs in Avebury and sur-rounding environs.

Balls of Light. Many witnesses to cropcircle formation have reported seeing balls

of golden light floating and flitting abovefields where, shortly thereafter, a crop circleappeared. Sometimes, the balls are reportedas being silvery and metallic.

Some witnesses state that the balls movewith purpose and that they seemed to be read-ing their minds. These balls of light are preva-lent in the Avebury area of England. Theyparticularly center around one hill where theyare seen so often that the hill is known as“Golden Ball Hill.” There is no concrete evi-dence that these balls are responsible for, or insome way connected to, the creation of cropcircles. However, there is a great deal of an-ecdotal evidence (as well as quite a bit of moviefootage of the lights) that indicates that theyare often seen in the area of crop circles. Theassociation with crop circles is still unknown,but there does indeed seem to be some kindof nexus between the balls and the circles.

Barbury Castle Tetrahedron. A massive,12,000-square-yard crop formation that ap-peared in one night on July 16, 1991, in afield near the hill fort of Barbury Castle inWiltshire, England. The night before itsappearance, residents of the nearby villageof Wroughton experienced a power black-out and many residents witnessed and re-ported flying balls of colored light abovethe field where the formation later mani-fested. The day after it appeared, a Britishnewspaper ran a photo of the design with


the headline, “Now Explain This One.” Theformation consisted of a triple ring in themiddle with a triangle surrounding it as aperimeter, and three varied circular satel-lites extending out from the three anglesof the triangle.

Brain Waves. The brain wave patterns ofpeople participating in crop circle experi-ments (including Colin Andrews himself)have registered a distinct change when thesubjects enter crop circles.

Celtic Cross. A Latin cross is the standardChristian cross, consisting of a vertical barwith a shorter horizontal bar two-thirds upits length. A Celtic cross is a Latin crosswith a circle superimposed over its center.A crop formation described as a Celtic crossdesign consists of a center circle sur-rounded by four circles at each point of thecompass, at the bottom, top, and side ofthe cross. Colin Andrews wished for aCeltic cross crop design to appear near hishome, and a design did manifest shortlythereafter. A photo of this pattern appearson the cover of Colin’s first book, Circu-lar Evidence.

Cereal Crops. Edible grass crops grownfor food. The vast majority of crop circlesappear in cereal crops, specifically wheat,oats, corn, oil-seed rape, buckwheat, andbarley.

Cerealogy. Also known as “cereology.”The study of crop circles. The word wascoined to describe the discipline of cropcircle research, much the way “UFOlogy”was coined to describe the study of theUFO phenomenon.

Chaos Theory. The theory that within thechaos of seemingly random, unconnectedevents, order can be found. The “butterflyeffect” is the most oft-cited example ofchaos theory. In Ian Stewart’s The Math-ematics of Chaos, he explains this effect:

The flapping of a singlebutterfly’s wing today produces a tinychange in the state of the atmosphere.Over a period of time, what the at-mosphere actually does diverges fromwhat it would have done. So, in amonth’s time, a tornado that wouldhave devastated the Indonesian coastdoesn’t happen. Or maybe one thatwasn’t going to happen, does.1

Chaos theory is relevant to crop circlesbecause when the variations in a specificmodel are plotted on a graph, what isknown as a Koch Curve emerges; a squarefractal that is known for its infinite expan-sion and diminution. Fractals are also foundin many crop circle designs.

Cheesefoot Head. A natural amphitheaternear Hampshire, England, known for un-usual goings-on, including crop circlemanifestations, odd sounds, and elusivelights.

CIA. U.S. intelligence agency rumored tobe interested in crop circles and the folkswho study them. Colin Andrews was ap-proached by a man claiming to be a CIAagent when he lived in England, and muchof what Colin was told by this man cameto pass. His credibility was shattered, how-ever, by his erratic, especially “non-agent”behavior.

The alleged “agent” was discreditedby individuals I consulted who had knowl-edge of the standard tactics and methodsused by the CIA. Most damning was thisman’s appearance on national television,combined with his unrelenting focus ongaining access to the bank accounts intowhich all “shared” monies would be de-posited. This was obviously the behaviorof a con man who tried to use my fameand reputation to capitalize on what he sawas a money-making scheme. He constantlyspoke of producing a video showing UFOs


making crop circles, but he needed me tosell it to the media. After I severed tieswith him, his ruse fell apart.

Circles Phenomenon Research Inter-national. The crop circle research organi-zation founded by Colin Andrews. CPRpublished a newsletter for many years andis considered the preeminent crop circleresearch group.

Circular Evidence. The first book writ-ten about the crop circle phenomenon. Itwas written by Colin Andrews and PatDelgado and published in 1989. It quicklybecame a worldwide best-seller.

Crop Circles. Circular geometries mostcommonly found in cereal crops. In au-thentic crop circles, the vegetation is bentover at right angles and spiraled into oftencomplex patterns. Many crop circlesaround the world are hoaxes. However,there is a percentage of formations thatexhibit characteristics that cannot be du-plicated by hoaxing and cannot yet becompletely explained.

Crop Circles: The Latest Evidence. ColinAndrews’s and Pat Delgado’s follow-up toCircular Evidence, published in 1990.

Crop Rings. Simple rings that appear infields, usually without the crops in its cen-ter being flattened. Sometimes they ap-pear as double or triple rings. Thedifference between crop rings and cropcircles is that the plants inside crop circlesare all flattened.

The Cosmic Connection. Book by cropcircle authority Michael Hesemann, pub-lished in Germany in 1993, and translatedin England in 1996. It suggests a stronglink between UFOs, extraterrestrials, andthe formation of crop circles.

Diatonic Ratios. The diatonic scale con-sists of the eight notes of the musical scale,without flats or sharps. The diatonic scalecomprises the white keys on a piano: C, D,

E, F, G, A, B, C. There is a specific inter-val between each note of the diatonicscale—C to D, G to A, etc.—and this dif-ference is measured by adding or subtract-ing the vibration of a particular note inkilohertz from the vibration in kilohertz ofthe note one step above or below. The dif-ference between the two notes is called adiatonic ratio.

What does all this have to do with cropcircles? Professor Gerald Hawkins dis-covered that the differences in diametersof larger and smaller circles in crop forma-tions result in a diatonic ratio (the identicalratio exists for the size differences of mul-tiple circles as for the difference betweenthe intervals of musical notes on the dia-tonic scale). These ratios have been foundin formations all over the world which areconsidered authentic by the experts andtheir existence deflates somewhat the “allthe circles are hoaxed” theory. If all circlesare hoaxed, the argument goes, and count-less circles manifest specific diatonic ra-tios, then there exists an enormous, globalconspiracy to include dimensions in coun-terfeit circles that will produce these eso-teric, mathematical ratios.

Dowsing. Searching for and sometimeslocating underground water, minerals, un-derground mines, or buried objects by us-ing a divining rod, which is usually a forkedbranch or stick made of hazel wood, ash,or rowan, that bends downward when heldover a source. A pendulum suspendedabove the ground or a map is also some-times used. Steel wire clothes hangers bentat right angles are also commonly used.Many dowsers report strong reactions fromcrop circles.

Earth Energies. Magnetism, gravity, elec-trostatic fields, radiation, and other energyforms that are manifest in the biosystem ofthe earth and often associated with the ap-pearance and location of crop circles.


4:15. The time Colin Andrews’s homealarm system triggered for many nights,until he figured out what the numbersmeant (see Chapter 2.9).

Fractals. A geometric pattern that is infi-nitely complex, infinitely repeating, andinfinitesimal. A fractal creates shapes andsurfaces that cannot be represented by clas-sical geometry. Fractals are used especiallyin computer modeling of irregular patternsand structures in nature. Many crop circlesmanifest fractals, especially in “GoldenMean” designs, such as the Julia Set foundopposite Stonehenge.

Gaia Theory. The theory that the earthand all its component biological “parts”comprise an enormous living organism (seeChapter 4.1).

Grass Circles. Circles that appear in grass,as opposed to cereal crops.

Grasshopper Warbler. A bird indigenousto England that makes a high-pitched, trill-ing sound. When Colin Andrews first heardthe sound of the crop circles (See Chapters9 and 10), at least one entomologist claimedthat the sound was actually that of thegrasshopper warbler, ignoring the fact thatthe sound’s movement, duration, volume,and dynamic variation seemed to clearlypreclude the possibility that it was beingcreated by a bird. Not to mention the factthat the grasshopper warbler is a very rarebird and is almost always found in marshes;also the sound Colin recorded in a cropcircle is 5.2 kilohertz and the warbler is 6kilohertz. Another important fact to con-sider is that the sound has also been re-corded as radio waves, which precludes thesound coming from a bird.

Healings. Some people have reported re-markable healings after visiting a cropcircle. There have been claims of improve-ments to severe arthritis, reduction of trem-ors, the elimination of allergies and their

attendant symptoms, and other improve-ments in health. Proponents believe thatthere are energy fields in crop circles thathave positive effects on the human body.People have also reported improvementsin psychological problems and many claimelevated spirits and new vigor after visit-ing a crop circle. Ironically, the exact op-posite effect has also been reported, withsome people experiencing headaches, nau-sea, dizziness, abnormal menopausal bleed-ing, disorientation, excessive fatigue, andother negative consequences after visitinga crop circle.

Hedgehogs. “Rutting hedgehogs” was asarcastic explanation for crop circles coinedby Gordon Creighton of the Flying SaucerReview. Creighton intended it as a put-down of the media for their often ridicu-lous explanations of the crop circlephenomenon. True to form, many in themedia took Creighton seriously and “rut-ting hedgehogs” ended up being cited byjournalists as one hypothetical cause forcrop circles.

Hoaxers. One or more people who enterfarmers’ fields and create crop patterns.Hoaxers produce their designs for one oftwo reasons: to deliberately deceive or tocreate “earth art.” Hoaxers do not usuallyadmit their work, no matter what their realpurpose. Some earth artists take credit fora creation, but most do not. Hoaxers, alsoknown as counterfeiters, use boards androllers to flatten crops, and many plot outtheir designs on computers first. Hoaxersusually damage or kill the plants in theirdesigns. Hoaxers sometimes get permissionfrom farmers (and pay them a stipend),many times they do not. Many seriouscereologists are in agreement that hoaxershave “muddied the waters” of crop circleresearch and have skewed the perceptionof the phenomenon in the eyes of the gen-eral public, leading many to believe that


all crop circles are manmade. (See Chap-ter 2.13.)

Hopi Indians. Native American indig-enous people who believe that crop circlesare part of a series of earth changes that tieinto an important prophecy in the guard-ianship of the Hopi Elders.

Ice Circles. Circles and geometric patternsthat appear on ice in designs that are verysimilar to crop circles found in fields. Of-ten, ice circles materialize on ice that is sothin and fragile that it wouldn’t be able tosupport the weight of a dog, let alone hoax-ers with tools to cut the ice.

Institute of Resonance Therapy. Ger-man clinic that has experimented with cropcircle images in ecosystem revitalizationprotocols. The ecosystems of today arefacing unprecedented challenges to theirvery existence, and the survival informa-tion genetically imprinted in lifeforms doesnot contain viable strategies to combat thedestruction, toxins, and assaults againstthem. IRT has been working with cropcircles as remedies and has had docu-mented success.

Julia Set. A massive crop formation thatseemingly appeared in a period of 45 min-utes in a field across the road from theStonehenge site. See Chapter 6 for moreinformation on this fractal-based, spiralingcrop formation.

Ley Lines. Invisible lines of “earth ener-gies,” especially magnetism, that criss-cross the planet in a geodetic grid. Manysacred sites are aligned along ley lines, asare many crop circles. Psychics andsensitives, using faculties similar to thoseemployed in dowsing, can “read” ley linesand are usually proven correct when equip-ment is used to register magnetic and otherreadings. Ley lines were originally recog-nized and reported by Alfred Watkins in1921 after he noticed that an invisible

straight line ran through the hilltops whereancient sacred sites were situated.

M15. British intelligence agency reportedlybehind the Operation Blackbird deception,which was implemented to discredit ColinAndrews and Pat Delgado and to defusepublic interest in the crop circle phenomenon.

Magnetism. One of the theories for thecreation of crop circles. It states that amysterious shift in the earth’s magnetic fieldproduces a current that “electrocutes” plantsand forces them to lie flat on the ground.

This theory could explain why elec-tronic equipment being used in some cropcircles has malfunctioned or has been de-stroyed. This theory does not explain the“blown nodes” factor of authentic cropcircles. Some plant nodes are as big as 200times their original size. A corollary to themagnetism theory is that the current pro-duced by shifts in the earth’s magnetic fieldcombines with energies from undergroundaquifers, or even from water in the air, tocreate the “blown nodes.” (See Chapter4.2.)

Mandelbrot Set. The first fractal cropcircle design. The Mandelbrot design wasdiscovered by the French mathematicianand chaos theorist Benoit Mandelbrotwhile working with a mathematical modelhe was experimenting with. Mandelbrotconducted his experiment at CambridgeUniversity in England, which is very closeto where a Mandelbrot crop formationultimately appeared.

Microwaves. Some crop circle research-ers suspect microwave radiation in cropformations as being responsible for feel-ings of both ill health and well-being ex-perienced by many visitors to crop circlesites. Also, biophysicist William Levengoodbelieves that microwaves may be respon-sible for the expulsion cavities found in theplants in authentic crop circles.


Military Helicopters. Military helicoptershave often been seen flying above new cropformations and also above empty fields thatlater manifest a crop circle. One of the firstpublic confirmations of military helicopterreconnaissance flights are the photos ofhelicopters flying over crop circles in ColinAndrews’s and Pat Delgado’s 1989 book,Circular Evidence.

Mowing Devil. A mysterious figure, pos-sibly the devil himself, who appeared onenight in 1678 in a ball of fire and cut afarmer’s crops into an oval. One of the ear-liest accounts of a crop circle forming (seeChapter 2.5).

Music. After studying the crop circle pho-tos in Circular Evidence, Professor GeraldHawkins remarked to his wife that he waslooking at music. His hunch paid off afterfurther research revealed that the ratios ofsize differences in crop circles were thesame as the ratios of intervals between onenote on the western scale and another.

These diatonic ratios have been foundin many authentic formations. Hawkinslater refined position in his 1996 article“The Diatonic Ratios in Crop Circles,”which appeared in the Fall/Winter 1996/97 issue of the Circles Phenomenon Re-search newsletter. “Of course we cannotsay that the crop circles are ‘musical.’ Allthat can be said is that the crop circles andthe eight-note musical scale are based onthe same mathematical relationship.” (SeeChapter 12.)

Nodes. The joint or knuckle of a plant stem.William Levengood believes that in au-thentic crop circles, the nodes of the plantstems have exploded, as though the minuteamounts of water inside them was super-heated quickly and blew out the nodes. Thiseffect is not found in plants from hoaxedformations. Sometimes, the nodes are swol-len and enlarged, but not ruptured, and theplants continue to grow.

Oil-Seed Rape. A European plant(Brassica napus) of the mustard family,which is cultivated as fodder and for itsseed that yields a valuable oil. Oil-seedrape, which is also known as canola, isone of the crops in which crop circlesappear most frequently.

Oliver’s Castle Video. A video purport-ing to show flying white balls (UFOs)creating a snowflake crop circle patternin a field below Oliver’s Castle nearDevizes, in Wiltshire, in England. Thepattern appears in only a few seconds,and then the balls fly out of the frame.The video was eventually proven to be ahoax (see Chapter 16).

Operation Blackbird. A crop circle sur-veillance operation in July 1990, coordi-nated by Colin Andrews, and funded bythe BBC and Japanese television. The pur-pose of the operation was to film the for-mation of a crop circle. In actuality, it wasthe first known government attempt todeescalate the public interest in the grow-ing phenomenon of crop circles, and a plotwas concocted to discredit Colin Andrewsand devalue his work. Operation Black-bird was carried out by means of a well-orchestrated, well-funded, multilevel hoaxperpetrated on Colin Andrews and the glo-bal public by the British government (seeChapter 15).

Operation White Crow. One of the firstcrop circle surveillance operations. It tookplace in the “Devil’s Punchbowl” inCheesefoot Head, Winchester, in Hamp-shire, in 1989, one year prior to OperationBlackbird. During this operation, ColinAndrews recorded the unusual trillingsound that was accompanied by physicaleffects on one of the team members (seeChapter 10).

Petroglyphs. Lines or drawings found onrock, and believed to have been created byprehistoric man. (See Agriglyphs.)


Pictogram. Another word for pictograph,used when referring to crop formations. Apictorial representation of numerical dataor numerical relationships, or the use ofhieroglyphic symbols to communicate amessage. The highly complex crop forma-tions are believed to have some type ofencoded message and may be an agricul-tural hieroglyphic.

Plant Analysis. A general term for the se-ries of tests performed on plants taken fromcrop circles. These tests include radioac-tivity measurement, spectrographic analy-sis, magnetometer readings, microscopicstudy, cellular crystal experiments, weigh-ing, photographing, and more.

Plasma Vortex. An electrically neutral,highly ionized gas composed of ions, elec-trons, and neutral particles concentratedinto a powerful whirlwind believed to becapable of, and responsible in some cases,for creating crop circles (see Chapter 4.6).

Radiation. Radioactive isotopes were atone time discovered in crop circles but forsome reason the military lab performingthe tests stopped the research and did notissue a conclusive statement. ColinAndrews has carried a Geiger counter intocrop circles with him for years and reportshe has never registered anything unusual.See Chapter 3 for more on Colin’s researchinto radioactivity in crop circles.

Remote Viewing. The ability to perceivepeople, objects, places, or events at a loca-tion removed from the “viewer” by eitherspace or time. Remote viewing has beenused in crop circle experiments with mixedresults.

Sacred Geometry. Specific patterns andratios found in nature embodying the com-plete range of scale: from the energy sig-nature of atoms and molecules, to thespiraling arm of the Milky Way galaxy.Man has consciously applied sacred

geometric ratios in everything from ar-chitecture to art, mimicking deliberatelywhat nature achieves spontaneously,striving to create an artificial microcosmof the universe with his science and art(see Chapter 2.8).

Sand Circles. Crop circle–like geometricpatterns and designs that appear unbiddenin expanses of desert sands. Sand circlesare always presumed to be authentic mani-festations, because footprints in the sandsurrounding the formations are neverfound, and they are often discovered inexceptionally remote areas.

Secrets in the Fields. Book by crop circleauthority Freddy Silva. Subtitled “The Sci-ence and Mysticism of Crop Circles.”

SETI. The Search for Extraterrestrial In-telligence.

Signs. Blockbuster 2002 Disney/Touch-stone movie written and directed by M.Night Shyamalan and starring Mel Gibson.Signs used the appearance of crop circleson a former priest’s (Gibson) farm as a plotdevice for an alien invasion movie. ColinAndrews was a consultant on the film andwas used by Disney as a media liaison, inaddition to providing data and photographs.

Silbury Hill. An enormous artificialmound south of Avebury in Wiltshire, En-gland that was built in 2660 B.C. with chalkand soil. It covers more than five acres andis approximately 130 feet high. We do notknow why Silbury was originally built butone theory is that it, like Stonehenge, is asolar observatory. Silbury Hill is positionedon a ley line, and crop circle activity iscommonplace around Silbury Hill andAvebury.

Snow Circles. Circles and geometric pat-terns that appear in fresh snow in designsvery similar to the crop circles found infields.


Sounds. A specific metallic trilling soundhas been reported in crop circles. There isalso often electrostatic interference withvideo and recording equipment when thissound is heard. Colin Andrews personallyexperienced this sound three times and hastwo tape recordings of it that he often playsfor his audiences at his lectures. See Chap-ter 9 for more details on the sounds in, andof the circles.

Stonehenge. A group of standing stoneson Salisbury Plain in southern England thatdate to c. 2000–1800 B.C. The megalithsare enclosed by a circular ditch and em-bankment that may date to c. 2800 B.C.The arrangement of the stones suggeststhat Stonehenge was used as a religiouscenter and also as an astronomical obser-vatory. There remains questions as to whodesigned, shaped, carried, and set up thisenormous site. Many crop circle research-ers believe that the stone triptychs wereplaced to permanently record an authen-tic crop circle formation and, indeed, hy-pothetical designs that fill in the missingstones do look like commonly seen cropformations (see Chapter 6).

Stonehenge Decoded. The seminal bookon the Stonehenge site, written by re-nowned astronomer and scientist, GeraldHawkins (see Chapter 6).

Tramlines. The straight lines that run upand down the length of a field of crops thatfarmers use for their tractors and for walk-ing through the fields. Tramlines can beusually be seen bifurcating crop formationsand many skeptics point to them as beingeasy access for hoaxers to create a forma-tion without leaving tracks. It is true thattramlines can do just that, but there arecountless instances of crop circles appear-ing in the middle of a section of a field thatis not accessible by tramlines. Tramlinesrun nowhere near some crop circles. A tramline is approximately six feet wide, which

is the average tractor axle length. Thisknowledge is useful in scaling the size ofcrop formations from the air.

Tree Circles. The phenomenon of treecircles is believed to be related to cropcircle formation and may employ some ofthe same energies. There seem to be twotypes of tree circles reported. The first iswhen standing trees bend and move to forma geometric pattern similar to that found inthe fields. These formations are only vis-ible from the air and there have been ran-dom accounts by pilots of a group of treesin a forest forming a design. The other typeof tree circle reported occurs when young,still flexible trees bend to the ground andform a circular pattern, similar to the wayplants flatten down to create a design. Onenotable account was reported by PaulVigay, editor and publisher of Enigma. Thefollowing is an edited and abridged ver-sion of the account given to Paul:

[This] happened betweenthe years 1963 and 1969 [in]Grand Lake, New Brunswick,Canada….This area had longbeen strip mined for coal. In1960, [a] mining companystarted to reforest the area...treeswere planted on both sides of theroad. These trees were growingon crown land, in beautiful, per-fectly straight lines.

In about three years...they hadgrown to be quite tall, and thebutts of these trees were about 3inches in diameter. In the middleof a summer afternoon, I was in acar on my way to the lake….Whenwe came...to this stand of pinetrees, the road was blocked withpolice and army vehicles.

There were...police and armypersonnel walking around inside thepine trees on both sides of the road.


We were motioned...to movealong.

While passing by, I noticed, onboth sides of the road, two circles.

The trees were all bent to theground. The circles were about 10feet away from the edge of the road,one on either side. They were fairlylarge, about 12 feet in diameter.

The really odd thing was all thetrees laid down flat to the ground[and] the tops of these trees allpointed to the circumferences of thecircles.…Talk around town was thatbears had pushed the trees down.…Iknew that couldn’t be theanswer.…Months later, the trees werecut as close to the ground as theycould.

Fencing was put up to keep thecurious out, [but] we could seethrough the fence....You could see thebutts of the trees enough to see theywere severely curved at ground level,[which would have been] impossibleto do without breaking thetrees….[F]or years later nothinggrew there. This is not a story; this isthe truth. Why would they call thearmy if it were only bears? Whywould they fence it off?

UFOs. Unidentified flying objects. UFOshave been suggested as a possible ex-planation for the formation of cropcircles. One theory is that crop circlesare formed by the UFO’s landing gear;

another suggests that UFOs create theformations from their craft using some formof laser or energy beam. UFO sightingsaround crop circle sites are commonplace.In Australia, crop circles were originallyknown as “saucer’s nests” because of thebelief that UFOs were creating them whenthey landed. While no video documenta-tion of alien craft creating, or flying abovecrop circles has surfaced, there is a greatdeal of video footage showing unidentifi-able balls of light flying above fields wherecrop circles later appear or already exist(see Chapters 4.7 and 16).

Ultimate Crop Circles: Signs FromSpace? An interactive DVD produced in2002 by Central Park Media on whichColin Andrews is interviewed at length byauthor Peter Robbins. The DVD also in-cludes a crop circles photo gallery fromColin Andrews’s archive, the Oliver’sCastle video, and other features.

Undeniable Evidence. An acclaimed 60-minute videotape documentary about thecrop circle phenomenon produced by ArkSoundwaves of Glastonbury, UK in 1991,starring Colin Andrews.

Underground Aquifers. An undergroundbed or layer of earth, gravel, or porousstone that yields water. A great many ofthe world’s authentic crop circles appearin fields above underground aquifers.

United Nations. In 1992, Colin Andrewsaddressed the Parapsychology Society/S.E.A.T. group of United Nations employ-ees on the crop circle phenomenon.

A Crop Circle Who’s Who / 193

Appendix CA Crop Circle Who’s Who

193

Alexander, Stephen. Crop circle photog-rapher. He first became interested in cropcircles during 1990 when he filmed astrange object in a field where a crop circlealready existed. His was one of the firstfilms to successfully capture the small orbsseen near crop circles. He has since be-come one of the best photographers of cropcircles in the world.

Amamiya, Kiyoshi. Crop circle re-searcher and C.P.R. (Circles PhenomenonResearch) International coordinator in Ja-pan. Responsible for much of the researchon crop circles in Japan. Co-author of1983’s Project Garuda.

Anderson, Paul. Director of the C.P.R.International affiliate in Canada since 1995.He has now formed his own organizationCanadian Crop Circle Research Network,researching the crop circle phenomenon allthroughout Canada.

Anderson, Paul. (Great Britain) Workedwith Colin Andrews during both crop circlesurveillance projects, Operation WhiteCrow in 1989, and Operation Blackbird in1990. In recent years, he has carried outfield work in Oxfordshire County, England.

Andrews, Colin. The world’s leading au-thority on the crop circle phenomenon. Co-authored (with Pat Delgado) the first bookon the subject, the international best-seller

Circular Evidence, and its sequel, CropCircles: The Latest Evidence. He is the re-searcher who has worked the longest onthe crop circle enigma and is the creatorand compiler of the most complete data-base on the subject.

Andrews, Richard. Renowned expert inthe ancient art of dowsing. (No relation toColin Andrews.) A farmer and lover of thecountryside, he became involved with cropcircle research in 1988. Richard passedaway in 1999 and is sadly missed in thefields.

Andrews, Synthia. Wife of ColinAndrews, writer, researcher, and hugelysupportive of his work. Synthia Andrewshas worked in the field of therapeutic mas-sage and body work for over 20 years. Sheis a teacher at the Connecticut Center formassage therapy and leads workshops inthe United States and United Kingdom.Her work focuses on the emotional andenergetic factors in health and healing. Shebegan incorporating crop circles into herpractice in 1992.

Aubrun, Dr. Jean-Noel. Physicist andengineer who has worked with ColinAndrews for many years. A highly re-spected scientist who has many areas ofexpertise that have been put to good usein crop circle research. Carried out the


preliminary analysis of Colin’sgroundbreaking crop circle magnetometersurvey, which is continuing to reveal sig-nificant findings.

Barnes, Ray. Eyewitness to the forma-tion of a 100-foot diameter crop circle atWestbury, Wiltshire, England on July 3,1982. Owns a bicycle store in Westbury.

Bishop, George. Secretary of the Cen-ter for Crop Circle Studies. An open-minded man largely responsible for theannual conferences and keeping the CCCSin existence.

Bowers, Douglas. The “Doug” of themost famous crop circle hoaxers, Doug andDave. An artist and senior citizen who, withhis friend Dave Chorley, claimed to havemade all the crop circles in England. In1990, the British newspaper Today prom-ised to pay them 10,000 pounds for theirstory, but they ultimately had to threatenlegal action against the paper to get theirmoney. Doug is now retired and rarelyspeaks to the media about crop circles.

Boerman, Robert. A key crop circle re-searcher in the Netherlands. Boermanheard about the mystery in 1997 and wasinvestigating his first circle within days.He discovered a white sticky substance inthat first circle, which, after extensiveanalysis, remains unidentified. Author ofCrop Circles: Gods and Their Secrets.

Chorley, David. The “Dave” of the mostfamous crop circle hoaxers, Doug andDave. Friend of Doug Bowers and alsoan artist. The two elderly men claimed tohave made all the crop circles in England.In 1990, they sold their story to a nationalnewspaper in England. It was alwaysDave who showed an angry edge towardscrop circle researchers when he took partin television interviews about the subject.He passed away in 2000. (See DouglasBowers.)

Charles, Prince. (See Princess Diana.)

Christopher, Ian. Director of the Mari-posa Pacific Research Institute based inCalifornia. Produced one of the best docu-mentaries ever made about the crop circlemystery, Something Wonderful HasHappened...But It Was Not in the News,which won a number of awards.

Collins, Andrew. British writer often con-fused with Colin Andrews. Author of sev-eral popular books, including the 1988classic, The Black Alchemist. In 1991,Collins concluded that orgone energy, atheoretical universal life force emanatingfrom all organic material first hypothesizedby Austrian scientist Wilhelm Reich, couldexplain many of the crop circle mysteries.His findings were published in a bookcalled The Circlemakers.

Corso, Colonel Philip. J. U.S. militaryofficer; writer; served on the National Se-curity Council under President Dwight D.Eisenhower. At a meeting with ColinAndrews at a congress in San Marino, Italybefore he died, Corso acknowledged thathe was aware of crop circle reports com-ing in to the White House in 1960. He saidthe reports were forwarded to the NationalSecurity agency (NSA) and that they wereconsidered at that time to be some form ofas-yet unexplainable communication.

Curry, Mike. Inventor of a high-mast se-curity system employed by Colin Andrewsand the BBC during Operation Blackbird.(See Chapter 15.) Curry personally wit-nessed the strange crop circle sound dur-ing one of the special operations.

Delgado, Pat. Co-author with ColinAndrews of the first book written aboutcrop circles, Circular Evidence. An elec-tromechanical design engineer, Delgadowas contracted to NASA to assist withtracking the Mariner Spacecraft from theWoomera tracking station in Australia.


Diana, Princess. Princess Diana andPrince Charles discovered crop circles ontheir royal property, and through a retiredmilitary officer who acted as an interme-diary, sought out Colin Andrews for a tourand an explanation. This excursion wasquickly canceled and denied when newsof Charles and Diana’s interest in cropcircles was mysteriously leaked to the me-dia and the story appeared on the front pageof British newspapers. Colin Andrews,Diana, Charles, and their aides were theonly ones who knew of the plan to visitthe crop circles and so it is believed todaythat someone in the royal entourage tippedoff the press, or that Colin Andrews’s phonewas bugged. See Chapter 15 for more de-tails on this incident.

Dickinson, Rod. Artist based in London,England and crop circle counterfeiter. Hehas participated in the creation of manyimpressive crop designs, but ironically hehas also personally witnessed and photo-graphed several impressive UFOs.

Gazecki, William. Director and producerof the acclaimed 2002 crop circles docu-mentary, Crop Circles: Quest for Truth, thefirst-ever feature film about the phenom-enon. Gazecki was also nominated for aBest Director Academy Award for his 1997film, Waco: Rules of Engagement.

Glickman, Michael. Architect and cropcircle researcher, best known for his ex-treme views on crop circles and for beinginstrumental in helping the police make thefirst arrest and prosecution of a man hoax-ing a crop circle.

Fisk, Dr. David. Scientific Advisor to Brit-ish Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’sgovernment during the period when the gov-ernment was being asked the first ques-tions about crop circles in England.

Haddington, Lord John. Former presi-dent of the Centre for Crop Circle Studies

and an active member of the House ofLords in the British Government.

Hadley, Robert. Professor of physics andastronomy who analyzed Colin Andrews’sfield data from the type 367 “Solar Sys-tem” crop pattern (Andrews type 367) in1995 and concluded that the design wasan outstandingly accurate scaled replica ofour solar system.

Haselhoff, Dr. Eltjo. Theoretical physicistand author of the book, The DeepeningComplexity of Crop Circles Scientific Re-search and Urban Legends. Haselhoff, whohas worked at Los Alamos National Labo-ratories in the United States, has studiedthe crop circle phenomenon for 10 years.

Hawkins, Gerald. Internationally re-nowned astronomer working at Harvard-Smithsonian Observatory in Cambridge,Massachusetts, and author of thegroundbreaking book, Stonehenge De-coded. Professor Hawkins has done exten-sive work on analyzing the mathematicalratios found in crop circles. He has statedthat his interest in the subject began whenhe read Circular Evidence in 1989.

Hein, Dr. Simeon. Ph.D. in Sociology, andDirector of the Boulder, Colorado-basedInstitute for Resonance. He has carried outextensive ground researching into the elec-trostatic fields found in crop circles and,with colleague Ron Russell, continues topursue this promising area of investigation.Author of the book, Opening Minds: AJourney of Extraordinary Encounters,Crop Circles, and Resonance.

Hesemann, Michael. Historian, sciencewriter, crop circle researcher, andUFOlogist. Among the subjects he has re-searched and written books about areUFOs, crop circles and the Fatima Secrets.Native of Duselldorf, Germany.

Irving, Robert. Crop circle counterfeitor.He has admitted to making some of the crop


circle patterns which later became knownas “Thought Bubbles.” Instead of a boardand rope, Irving prefers to use a lightweightgreen plastic garden roller to push theplants down.

Jones, Ron. One of the original membersof the Center for Crop Circle Studies; hasbeen involved with crop circle researchsince the late 1980s. Was present and wit-nessed the first crop circle sound heardduring Operation White Crow in the sum-mer of 1989. See Chapter 10.

Kahata, Masahiro. Leading electronicsengineer from Japan, now living in theUnited States, Kahata has extensively in-vestigated why some visitors to crop circlesclaim healings and why electronic equip-ment regularly fails inside circles. He is theinventor of IBVA brainwave monitoringequipment, which is used in many hospi-tals for monitoring patient brainwave ac-tivity. He has also looked closely at thescience and art of dowsing crop circles byusing his equipment.

Keel, Shelly. C.P.R. International (U.K.)researcher who took part in OperationWhite Crow and Operation Blackbird withColin Andrews. She was with three otherresearchers, including one scientist, duringa double “missing time” episode when leav-ing a new crop formation near Silbury Hillon May 23, 1994. Keel experienced first-hand a series of strange happenings fol-lowing her missing time ordeal.

Kikuchi, Professor. Plasma scientist fromJapan who became involved with research-ing crop circles in Japan and England dur-ing 1989.

King, Jon. British UFOlogist and writer;claimed to have knowledge of the impor-tance of Barbury Castle, Wiltshire, Englandto extraterrestrial contact and UFOsightings many years before one of themost famous crop patterns to date. The

Barbury Castle Tetrahedron appearedthere in 1991.

Laumen, Frank. Well-known crop circleresearcher in Germany, he has taken mostof the impressive photographs of the for-mations in that country.

Levengood, William. Renowned Michi-gan biophysicist, who began investigatingplants taken from crop circles in 1990 whenColin Andrews and Pat Delgado sent thefirst samples to him from England.Levengood believes that pinhead-sizedholes in the plants, called “expulsion cavi-ties,” are caused by moisture inside thestems being heated rapidly and turning tosteam.

He believes this is created by micro-wave energy that happens in microsec-onds. Other of his published findings relateto elongated nodes, and also his discoverythat the seeds from plants in crop circlesoften grow up to five times faster thancontrol seeds, and that the seedlings cantolerate lack of water and light for a con-siderable time without apparent harm. In“Anatomical Anomalies in Crop Forma-tion Plants,” which appeared in the 1994issue of the journal PhysiologiaPlantarum (92:356), Levengood summedup his conclusions:

Crop formations consist of geo-metrically organized regions rang-ing from two to 80 meters diameter,in which the plants (primarily graincrops) are flattened in a horizon-tal position. Plants from crop for-mations display anatomicalalterations which cannot be ac-counted for by assuming the for-mations are hoaxes. Near the soilsurface the curved stems often formcomplex swirls with “vortex” typepatterns. In the present paper, evi-dence is presented which indicates


that structural and cellular alter-ations take place in plants exposedwithin the confines of the “circle”type formations, differences whichwere determined to be statisticallysignificant when compared withcontrol plants taken outside theformation. These transformationswere manifested at the macro-scopic level as abnormal nodalswelling, gross malformationsduring embryogenesis, andcharred epidermal tissue. Signifi-cant changes in seed germinationand development were found, andat the microscopic level differ-ences were observed in cell wallpit structures. Affected plants alsohave characteristics suggestingthe involvement of transient hightemperatures.

Lodge, Oliver. Spiritualist and scientistwho some believe may be trying to com-municate from the beyond through cropcircles (see Chapter 4.8).

Lucas, Roy. Farmhand working on a farmnear Avebury, England who witnessed sev-eral strange columns of whirling mist intwo fields on the farm shortly before 11crop circles were found on the land.

Lundburg, John. London crop circlecounterfeiter who prefers to be called a“land artist,” one of a team calling them-selves “Team Satan.” The team claim re-sponsibility for many crop circle patternsbut refuse to work with researchers in or-der to identify them.

Lutz, Dr. Franz. Medical doctor, and sonof a psychic healer of great repute. Formerhead of the Institute of Resonant Therapyin Germany, he has worked with crop pat-terns in the process of healing of plants andanimals through resonance. European gov-ernment scientists have shown a great deal

of interest in Lutz’s work. Dr. Lutz hasworked with Colin Andrews since 1996.

Macnish, John. Television producer andjournalist who worked for the BritishBroadcasting Corporation (BBC) formany years; later formed his own filmcompany called Circlevision and beganundercover work to try and discover whowas making some of the crop circles.Macnish was commissioned by the BBCto work with Director DavidMorganstern, Colin Andrews, and PatDelgado on the crop circle surveillanceproject, Operation Blackbird in 1990.

Maki, Masao. Well-known, highly re-spected Japanese crop circle and metaphys-ics researcher; author of several crop circlebooks published in Japan.

Meaden, Terence. Meteorologist andhead of The Tornado and Storm ResearchOrganization in England. In 1980, he be-came the first scientist to research cropcircles. In 1989, he published The Circles’Effect and Its Mysteries, the secondbook ever written about crop circles.Meaden theorized that a new kind ofweather phenomena called a “plasmavortex” was causing crop circles. In hisessay “Crop Circles: The Real and theHoaxed,” which appeared in the 1992issue of the journal Weather (47:368), Dr.Meaden summed up his conclusions:

We believe that the formationof real crop circles is a rare phe-nomenon resulting from the motionof a spinning mass of air which Pro-fessor Tokio Kikuchi has modelledby computer simulation and callsa nanoburst. This disturbancecould involve the breakdown of anup-spinning vortex of the eddy orwhirlwind type. On this theoreticalmodel such a process leads to plaincircles and ringed circles—types


which are known from pre-hoaxtimes in Britain and other countries,and are the only species whichcredible eyewitnesses have seenforming. All other so-called cropcircles reported in the media newsin recent years are likely to be theresult of intelligent hoaxing, whilethe so-called paranormal events towhich Deardorff alludes are noth-ing but the consequence of poorobservation and/or exaggerationby susceptible mystics and vulner-able pseudoscientists. In the ab-sence of hoaxing, the subjectwould still be unknown to the gen-eral public because the averagenumber of real-circle reports perannum is small (indeed in someyears it may be zero).

Mitchell, Sir David. A Member of theBritish Parliament for northeast Hamp-shire, England. In 1990, he visited a cropcircle in England with Colin Andrews andwas later helpful in initiating and maintain-ing dialogue about the phenomenon withvarious British government departments.

Morganstern, David. Director of theBBC television program Daytime Live.Andrews and Delgado made many appear-ances on this national program during theearly 1990s. It was during one of these pro-grams that a man who first claimed to be acrop circle eyewitness, and then later a CIAoperative, made himself known to Andrewsand Delgado. Morganstern was presentwhen the strange crop circle sound wasrecorded during an interview in a cropcircle.

Müller, Andreas. Leading crop circleresearcher in Germany; his main contri-bution to the mystery has been in com-piling a worldwide database on thesubject.

Noyce, Ralph. Former head of the UFOdesk in the Defense Staff 8 departmentat the Ministry of Defense in the UnitedKingdom. Noyce made his interest in thecrop circles known publicly and activelyresearched them after he retired from theMinistry of Defense. He died in May of1998.

Pope, Nick. Former Higher Executive Of-ficer in Department 2a of the Air Secre-tariat in the U.K. Ministry of Defense, thedepartment which deals with UFO andcrop circle reports. Pope told ColinAndrews that he believes there is a realcrop circle phenomenon and that, like the 5percent of UFO reports made to his de-partment that are believed to be extrater-restrial, similar numbers can probably beapplied to the real circles. Andrews hadseveral meetings with Pope during his timein office.

Presley, Reg. Lead singer in the 1960spop group The Troggs, and a close friendof Colin Andrews. Colin and Reg lived afew hundred yards from each other in thetown of Andover, Hampshire, England. Reghas become very interested in the crop circlemystery and has visited many sites withAndrews. He is the author of a book aboutthe paranormal, which includes crop circles,called Wild Things They Don’t Tell Us (thetitle of which is, of course, a tribute to hisenormous hit, “Wild Thing.”) (See Chapter15.)

Pringle, Lucy. Well-known crop circle re-searcher who has specialized in the effectsof crop circles on humans. Author of thebook, Crop Circles: The Greatest Mys-tery of Modern Times.

Probert, David. A chartered surveyorhired by Colin Andrews to professionally sur-vey the field in which the Julia Set crop for-mation appeared and come up with anestimate as to how long it would take to makethe complicated design. Probert ultimately


calculated that it would have taken himtwo full days to accurately lay out the pat-tern. Also, while driving home alone in hiscar one day in 1990 after investigating aseries of crop circles at Blackland,Wiltshire, Probert heard a strange voicein his car that said, “Stay out of the cropcircles.” A number of other people study-ing crop circles have also heard single sen-tences from strange voices. (See Chapter6 for the complete story of the Julia Setformation.)

Ramadan, Mohammad. President of thespecial interest group at the United Nationswho invited Colin Andrews to make a spe-cial presentation about his research to staff,delegates, and the public at the United Na-tions in 1992.

Ramsby, Quinn. Colin Andrews brother-in-law, and owner of the audio-video pro-duction company Memorology. Memorologyproduced Colin’s highly acclaimed cropcircles CD Cosmic Artist. Cosmic Artistshowcases 280 of the best crop circle pho-tographs taken by Colin since 1983. It alsoincludes the only public record of Police andMinistry of Defense photographs of the cropcircle mystery. Maps and captions also ac-company a fully automated slide show onthe CD.

Robbins, Peter. Internationally-known,highly respected UFO researcher and salesexecutive with Central Park Media in NewYork. CPM produced the first in-depth cropcircle interview (starring Colin Andrews)recorded on DVD for public sale. Robbinsis co-author to the best-selling book, Leftat East Gate.

Roy, Archie. Professor Emeritus of As-tronomy at the University of Glasgow inScotland and one of the first scientists toresearch the crop circle mystery. His mainfield is astrodynamics and he worked withColin Andrews on crop circle research dur-ing the 1980s. Roy is a fellow of the Royal

Society of Edinburg, the Royal Astronomi-cal Society, and the British InterplanetarySociety. He is currently director of theNATO Advanced Study Institute. He is theformer president of the Center for CropCircle Studies, of which he was a foundingmember.

Russell, Ron. Internationally renowned“Space Artist” whose work is displayed atthe Smithsonian Air and Space Museum,the Jet Propulsion Lab, and elsewhere. Heis director of Midwest Research, an orga-nization established to study crop circles inthe United States.

Schnabel, Jim. Author of Round inCircles, a book that purports to prove thatalmost all crop circles in existence arehoaxes.

Shyamalan, M. Night. Director and writerof the blockbuster 2002 movie Signs, whichused crop circles as a plot device.Shyamalan also wrote and directed the mov-ies The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

Silva, Freddy. Crop circle researcher whospent several years walking the fields ofsouthern England researching the mysterywith Colin Andrews. After attending oneof Andrews’ lectures in the United States,he became hooked and began to investi-gate them himself. He recently publishedhis first book, Secrets in the Fields.

Sorensen, Peter. Videographer and direc-tor who, since the mid-1990s, has made amajor contribution to the archival videorecord of crop circles in England. The cropcircle footage in the highly acclaimedvideo, Something Important Has Hap-pened—But You Did Not See It On TheNews, was shot by Sorenson. In 2000, hebecame convinced that many of the com-plex crop designs in England weremanmade and deliberately establishedworking relationships with several of thecrop counterfeitors involved.


Spignesi, Stephen J. New York Timesbest-selling author; Colin Andrews’s co-author for Crop Circles: Signs of Con-tact; author of more than 30 books.

Talbott, Nancy. Worked as a road man-ager for several rock groups and becameinterested in crop circles after watching aprogram on television. She has had severalparanormal experiences and has becomethe public voice for biophysicist WilliamLevengood. Levengood was the secondscientist to study plants from crop circles.Talbott now works with B.L.T., a studygroup established to carry out scientificresearch on crop circles. She has appearedin several crop circle documentaries. Herdiscourse in Crop Circles: Quest for Truthis extraordinarily complete, understand-able, and persuasive.

Taylor, Busty. A pilot and driving instruc-tor who regularly flies his light aircraft overthe fields of England looking for new cropcircles. In 1985, he discovered a set of fivecrop circles forming a Celtic Cross southof his home. When he later drove to thespot, he found a strange white sticky sub-stance in the circles which is still, to thisday, unidentified. (See Robert Boerman.)Taylor has worked with Pat Delgado,Terence Meaden, and Colin Andrews and,in the 1980s, was part of the first researchteam to undertake investigation of the cropcircle mystery.

Thomas, Andy. Boy Scout leader whospends all his free time researching cropcircles. Thomas has made a valuable con-tribution to the study of crop circles withhis work for the Center for Crop CircleStudies’ “West Sussex” group ofcereologists. Author of Vital Signs: A Com-plete Guide to the Crop Circle Mysteryand Why It Is Not a Hoax.

Thompson, Marcus. Owner of Holly-wood Daze Motion Pictures and directorof the British movie A Place To Stay, which

was filmed in the crop circles of Wiltshire,England during 2001 and shown at theCannes Film Festival in 2002. Thompsonengaged Colin Andrews to provide data andserve as the film’s chief consultant for thecrop circle scenes.

Tuersley, Don. Crop circle enthusiast whooften accompanied the C.P.R. team into thefields during the 1980s. Tuersley was oneof the first to pay close attention to tracksthat were being found on occasion in somefields and circles. He suspected humanhoaxing of crop circles well before manyother researchers.

Vigay, Paul. Computer programmer andcrop circle researcher; has one of the bestcrop circle sites on the Internet and one ofthe most extensive online databases. He isalso the editor and publisher of Enigma,the New Sciences Research Journal.

Wabe, John “Weyleigh.” British manwho claimed to have captured on filmimages of UFOs flying very low over afield near Devizes, Wiltshire creating a“snowflake” crop circle design. Accord-ing to his story, he was camping out onan ancient hill fort known as Oliver’sCastle and was doing a “crop watch,”hoping to see a circle form. He beganfilming after seeing strange lights abovethe field, and he later came to ColinAndrews with his film. Andrews was,at first, intrigued, but then, suspicious.Andrews hired private detectives to in-vestigate the man and his claims andalso subjected Weyleigh’s footage toprofessional analysis. It was ultimatelylearned that Weyleigh’s real name wasJohn Wabe, that he was a video editor,and that his film was a fraud. There arestill many who believe that the Oliver’sCastle video could not have been hoaxedand that it does, indeed, show UFOs cre-ating a crop formation, even though Wabelater confessed to the hoax.


White, John. Writer, editor, and author-ity on higher consciousness and enlight-enment. He is the founder and directorof the annual UFO Experience conven-tion; founder of the Noetics Society withastronaut Edgar Mitchell; veteran, civicleader, and devoted patriot; and literaryagent for both authors of this book. ColinAndrews met his wife Synthia, as well asmany of his key contacts at one of White’sUFO conferences in 1991.

Williams, Matthew. The first person tobe arrested and charged with trespassingafter making a crop circle design in En-gland. Williams has proven to those re-searchers that are willing to listen that heis capable of making very impressive croppatterns with a small team of workers.

Wingfield, George. Respected crop circleresearcher who has been working in the

field since 1987. Wingfield has done valu-able research on the existence and causeof crop circles, and he also looked into theBritish and American governments’ in-volvement in the phenomenon.

Withers, James. Crop circle researcherknown for his superior observation skills.Withers has spent hundreds of hours overmany days and nights looking for clues tothe crop circle phenomenon in the fieldsand in the skies. Withers was a highly val-ued participant at the Operation WhiteCrow and Operation Blackbird crop circlesurveillance operations. Along with ShellyKeel, Withers constructed a crop circlefor one of the major scenes in the Britishmovie, A Place To Stay. A few days afterthe crop circle was built, a huge forma-tion now known as “The Galaxy” ap-peared nearby at Milk Hill.

Crop Circle Web Sites / 203

Appendix DCrop Circle Websites

203

home.clara.net/lucypringleLucy Pringle’s fantastic site. Loaded withstunning photographs. A must-see.

www.busty- tay lor.com/cropper /98busty2.htmWell organized site about crop circles.

www.circlemakers.orgThe Website of one of the most organizedgroup of hoaxers, three men who go by thename of “Team Satan,” and who DannySotham describes as “fibbing bounders.”The Circlemakers regularly claim “author-ship” of complex crop patterns, includingsome of the designs to which many expertsassign the most credibility. As Freddy Silvasays in Secrets in the Fields:

According to the images postedon their Website, one would think theycreated...the original ‘Julia Set,’which, of course, they would have hadto make in broad daylight besideStonehenge while invisible. But thenagain it’s far more convenient to claima bank robbery than do the deedyourself, just as it is common practicefor multiple terrorists to claim respon-sibility for the same bomb.

The unpleasant violent imagery not-withstanding, Silva’s point is well-taken.

www.coasttocoastam.comThe Website that replaced the Art Bellshow’s site. George Noory’s Coast to

Coast radio show covers a wide range ofparanormal topics, including crop circles.Colin Andrews has appeared on Noory’sshow several times.

www.CosmicArtistCD.comWebsite of Colin Andrew’s Cosmic Art-ist CD-ROM, which compiles hundredsof Colin’s original crop circle photographs,location maps, and detailed explanatorycaptions.

www.cropcircleanswers.comEd and Kris Sherwood’s excellent site.Scientific research into the crop circlephenomenon.

www.cropcircleconnector.comExcellent crop circle site.

www.cropcircleinfo.comCircles Phenomenon Research Interna-tional (CPR), Colin Andrews’s Website.

www.cropcircleradius.comGood site for crop circle links.

www.cropcircleresearch.comA well-organized, comprehensive Websiteabout crop circles. Excellent crop circlesearch engine.

www.stephenspignesi.com.Website of Colin Andrews’s co-author onCrop Circles: Signs of Contact.

www.swirlednews.comA well-organized, comprehensive Websiteabout crop circles.

The Andrews Catalog / 205

Appendix EThe Andrews Catalog

205

I established the Andrews Crop CircleCatalogue system in 1983. Each croppattern is assigned a specific “T” num-

ber. I have included designs for all the cropformations I have come upon during my re-search over the years, be they authentic ormanmade. The designs are not all drawn toscale, although many are. Some patterns haveappeared many times in various countries.

A companion pamphlet to theAndrews Catalogue is available. Thisstand-alone publication provides the loca-tion, month, and year of appearance ofevery design shown. For more details,contact either of the authors through theirWebsites (See Appendix D) or through thepublisher.

233

Index

Index / 235

Index

235

AA Place to Stay, 16, 171

alien spacecraft as crop circle creators, 70

Andrews Catalog, The, 205-231

Andrews, Synthia, 145

Australia, 78

Austria, 80

Avebury Lights, 50

Bball of light, 164

biological changes in crops, 51

Bowers, Doug, 153-158

Brazil, 81

CCanada, 77

cattle mutilations and crop circles, 72-73

Celtic Cross of Longstock, 112-113

Celtic Cross, 31, 33

Center for Crop Circle Studies, 53-54

China, 82

Chorley, Dave, 153-158

Circles Phenomenon ResearchInternational Newsletter, 91, 111, 115

Circles Phenomenon ResearchInternational, 28, 76, 145

Circular Evidence, 21, 22, 26, 115-116,127

communication, crop circles as form of,45-46

Conway, Stuart, 93

cover photo, story behind, 15-16

Crop Circle Apocalypse, 151

crop circle A–Z, 183-191

“Crop Circle Empowerment,” 145-152

crop circle F.A.Q., 177-181

crop circle food and drink, 54-55

crop circle movies and documentaries,169-172

crop circle theories, 61-73

crop circle Websites, 203


crop circle Who’s Who, 193-201

crop circlesand cattle mutilations, 72-73and sacred sites, 40-41of the past, 38-40

crop circles, defined, 37

crop circles, fate of, 46-47

crop circles, magic of, 38

crop circles, number of, 37

Crop Circles: Quest for Truth, 162, 171

Crop Circles: The Latest Evidence, 21

Curry, Mike, 162

Czech Republic, 79-80

Ddeceased as creators of crop circles,

70-71

deception, cost of, 150-151

Delgado, Pat, 21, 127-128, 132-135, 162

Deveruex, Paul, 148

Diatonic Ratios, 115-117

Dickinson, Rodney, 163

documentaries about crop circles,169-172

E80/20 Statement, 153-158

energy, theory of, 148-150

England, 76

extraterrestrial intelligences, 28-29

Ffarmers, reaction of, 47-49

Finland, 80

first crop circle, 38

Fischbach, Ephraim, 165

fractal geometry, 87

fractal mathematics, 34

France, 79

GGaia Theory, 61-65, 68

Gazecki, William, 162

geography, 59sacred, 41

Germany, 77-78

Gibson, Mel, 27, 169-171

golden lights, 50

government satellites theory, 71-72

Greer, Dr. Steven, 112

HHadley, Robert, 16

Hawkins, Gerald, 16, 93

History’s Mysteries: Crop CircleControversy, 172

hoaxes, 52, 75, 119-165reason for, 123-124

Hungary, 78

Iice rings and snow circles, 72

India, 81

insecurity, 85

intelligent design of crop circles, 35-36

Ireland, 81

Israel, 80

Italy, 80

Index / 237

JJapan,. 78-79

Julia Set, 13, 34

Julia Set, 87-90

LLang-Bernhand, Nicolae, 38

Levengood, William, 16, 51-53, 90

life force energies, 68

Lodge, Oliver, 71

MMadison Square Garden speech, 17,

25-26, 59, 85, 101, 121

magic of crop circles, 38

magnetism theory, 65-68

Macnish, John, 151

Mexico. 81

Michell, John, 148

microwave radiation as theory, 68-69

movies about crop circles, 169-172

NNetherlands, The, 78

New View Over Atlantis, The, 148

New Zealand, 80

nodal expansion, 51

OOliver’s Castle video, 139-143

Operation Blackbird, 131-137

Operation White Crow, 105

Pplants, changes in, 13, 16, 34, 51

plasma vortices and whirlwinds, 69

Poland, 81

Presley, Reg, 19-20

Probert, David, 89

profiting from crop circles, 49-50

Rradiation, 53-54

Reich, Wilhelm, 68

requesting crop circles, 13-14, 32

robust erections, 54

Russell, Ron, 113-114

Russia, 80

Ssacred geometry, 41

sacred sites and crop circles, 40-41

Scotland, 79

Secret of Ancient and Sacred Places, 148

September 11, 2001, 35


Shyamalan, M. Night, 169-171

Signs, 15, 169-171

snow circles and ice rings, 72

sounds of crop circles, 103-105

South Africa, lack of crop circles, 75

spiraling views, 101

spirituality and crop circles, 34-35

starch crystals, changes in, 52

Stonehenge Decoded, 93

Stonehenge Julia Set, 87-90

“Stonehenge: A Coincidental Discovery,”91-93

Stonehenge, 13, 41-42, 59, 83-97, 104

Sweden, 81

Switzerland, 79

TTaylor, Busty, 21, 162

interview with, 95-97

Thompson, Marcus, 16

UUFO Experience, 27

UFO landing sites, 70

UFOs, 22, 27, 32, 124, 139-143

Ultimate Crop Circles: Signs fromSpace?, 172

Undeniable Evidence, 172

underground water theory, 58

United States, 76-77

Unsolved Mysteries, 75

V“Viagra Effect,” 54

WWales, 79

War of the Worlds, The, 124-125

Wessex Triangle, 42-45

Wild Things They Don’t Tell Us, 20

YYugoslavia, 82


About the Authors

1

Colin Andrews, a former engineer with the British Government, is universally con-sidered the world’s leading authority on the crop circle phenomenon. Beginning hisstudy of crop circles in 1983, his first book, Circular Evidence, was a worldwide best-seller. He was a scientific consultant for Signs, the blockbuster movie starring Mel Gibson.Colin travels all over the world investigating crop formations, and lectures regularly onthe subject. His Website, CropCircleInfo.com is an exhaustive resource.

Stephen J. Spignesi is a New York Times best-selling author of more than 30 booksabout American and world history, biography, film, TV, popular culture, crime, and theparanormal.

REVELATION

crop circles signs of contact colin andrews

Documents

david andrews

jean andrews

synthia andrews

hayley andrews

acknowledgments colin

david spignesi

steve spignesi

pam spignesi