Since the 1970s, complex geometric patterns have frequently appeared in wheat fields in southern England. In 1991, two British men confessed to making some of them, but many patterns remain unexplained.
Overview
Crop circles are large geometric patterns that appear overnight in wheat or other farm fields. The crops are neatly bent over, but the stalks are not broken and can continue to grow.
The earliest recorded account dates back to a 1678 English pamphlet called The Mowing-Devil.
Modern Outbreak
1970s-1980s
Wiltshire, England became the most concentrated area for crop circles. Dozens to hundreds of patterns appeared every summer.
1990s
Patterns evolved from simple circles to complex geometric shapes, fractal patterns, and even hieroglyphs.
2000s-Present
Appearances have been reported worldwide, including the USA, Germany, Russia, and China.
Human-Made Theory
In 1991, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley of Southampton, England confessed that they had been making crop circles since 1978, responsible for over 200 patterns.
They said it started as a joke after drinking, and they couldn't stop once they realized each creation was reported by the media.
Unexplained Aspects
1. Some patterns were completed in extremely short time (overnight or even within hours), with scales of hundreds of meters.
2. Some crop stalk nodes show "expansion" and can return upright after heating.
3. Abnormal electromagnetic signals have been detected near some patterns.
4. Some patterns have extremely high geometric precision, difficult to achieve manually in one night.
Main Hypotheses
- Human hoax: Most patterns are indeed man-made.
- Atmospheric phenomena: Natural phenomena such as plasma vortices.
- Earth energy: Manifestations of geomagnetic fields or ley lines.
- Extraterrestrial signals: Communication attempts by non-human intelligence.
Sources: The Mowing-Devil 1678 pamphlet, Bower & Chorley 1991 confession interview, records from multiple crop circle research centers.