Crop Circles

[sjastro]

I remember it well View attachment 311439

My old man was convinced that it was all about aliens. He was also very impressed when Uri Geller bent spoons.

To be honest - my old man wasn't the sharpest knifer in the drawer.

OB

I read the book many years ago.
It apparently outraged many fundamentalist Christians at the time as an attack on the Bible with suggestions such as the Ark of the Covenant being a communication device between Israelites and aliens.
If I recall correctly these wise crack aliens passed themselves of as "gods" so gullible humans would worship them and perform tricks such building the geoglyphs on the Nazca plains in Peru.

 

[SkyWriting]

Been following the crop circle phenomenon since the outset more than 30 years ago, although I admittedly lost interest a decade or so ago. There is definitely a mysterious aspect, including other phenomena observed and photographed in association with the circles. Two things have always struck me: (1) to the best of my knowledge, we never find partially completed but abandoned circles because the human makers were surprised in mid-project; and (2) despite all of the eyes in the sky, from aircraft to satellites, to the best of my knowledge we have no aerial photographs of the supposed human makers at work. If the circles were all mundane human phenomena, I would think that fact would be far easier to expose than it has proved to be. I remember when old "Doug and Dave" surfaced 30 years ago as the supposed makers of the circles, how many uninformed idiots demonstrated the level of their knowledge by jumping on the Doug and Dave bandwagon.

I can't fathom what you mean by "hard to expose" as the vast majority have been.

The Crop Circle Mystery: A Closer Look
Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian

How Crop Circles Work

https://www.nature.com/articles/465693a.pdf?origin=ppub

 

[SkyWriting]

You talk as though crop circles and the unexplained nature of them begins and ends with one inconclusive incident that any of us could replicate! The phenomenon of crop circles remains a mystery and you don't have an explanation for them either.

Only a scattered few are unsolved.

 

[Irkle Berserkle]

I can't fathom what you mean by "hard to expose" as the vast majority have been.

The Crop Circle Mystery: A Closer Look
Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian

How Crop Circles Work

https://www.nature.com/articles/465693a.pdf?origin=ppub

No, they haven't. Not if you're familiar with the full history of the phenomenon. Your comments, including that "only a scattered few are unsolved," reflect an understanding derived from sources like Nature and the Smithsonian. As with all anomalous phenomena, those sources have a definite bias and agenda.

Certainly, many circles can be and have been made by humans. As the phenomenon reached worldwide prominence, duplicating the circles became both a game and an art form. As inevitably happens, the silliness obscured the core phenomenon.

The core phenomenon remains as mysterious as it was decades ago. The circles have occurred in locations and circumstances where a mundane location is extremely difficult.

As one who has spent upwards of 50 years in deep study of anomalous phenomena, I've run out of patience with those who "explain" them to me on the basis of a thimble of knowledge derived from a couple of articles or YouTube videos.

 

[SkyWriting]

No, they haven't. Not if you're familiar with the full history of the phenomenon. Your comments, including that "only a scattered few are unsolved," reflect an understanding derived from sources like Nature and the Smithsonian. As with all anomalous phenomena, those sources have a definite bias and agenda. Certainly, many circles can be and have been made by humans. As the phenomenon reached worldwide prominence, duplicating the circles became both a game and an art form. As inevitably happens, the silliness obscured the core phenomenon. The core phenomenon remains as mysterious as it was decades ago. The circles have occurred in locations and circumstances where a mundane location is extremely difficult. As one who has spent upwards of 50 years in deep study of anomalous phenomena, I've run out of patience with those who "explain" them to me on the basis of a thimble of knowledge derived from a couple of articles or YouTube videos.

There is no need for you to explain anything. Just provide your best sources from 50 years of research.

There was a comment about a lack of footprints or access to the designs. Looking at all the photos one of the MOST common elements of all the designs is that they have connecting features where people can move from one element to the next. Most of the designs also have multiple points of access at roads or open pathways.

As to your issue on bias by Nature and Smithsonian, it would support your claims if you provide any of your favorite sources. So try that next. Your 50 years of research should have covered making links to sources.

How do you do an online citation?
Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in quotation marks, the web site name in italics, the publisher, and the posting date. Follow with the date of access. Include screen names as author names when author name is not known.
Purdue Online Writing Lab


Is it not odd that every single crop circle has elements that touch each other?
What if one had unconnected design elements? Wouldn't that be amazing?
Wouldn't that be baffling if you could not walk on the ground with a piece
of rope from one part of the design to the next? That would be mysterious!
But every single design includes links so that you can walk from one feature
to another. Or hover on a personal anti-gravity hover disk. These Anti-Grav
hoverboards are said to leave behind healing properties. So that explains that.

{edit} No explanation for the universal "touching" features?

 

[SkyWriting]

I'll admit that most of them were hoaxes.

Most of them.

But what about some that have electromagnetic anomalies accompanying them?

They were made by people with ropes using magnetic powered hoverboards to avoid footprints. Hoverboards are reported to leave behind healing properties.

In 1990 while studying the energetics of a crop circle, Lucy Pringle experienced a miraculous healing of a severe shoulder injury. Inspired, she expanded her research to investigate the physical, psychological, and energetic effects of these mysterious formations on people as well as on animals. In this book, alongside her stunning full-color aerial photographs of crop circles, Pringle shares the results of her research, including anecdotes from an 800-person questionnaire study, in combination with detailed scientific explanations by aerospace engineer and fellow crop circle researcher James Lyons.

The authors discuss case histories of healing, from temporary respite from arthritis, Reynaud’s, and Parkinson’s, to the permanent cure of muscle strains and chronic pain, to emotional healing and feelings of peace and happiness. They explore the relationship of crop circle formations and consciousness, highlighting “intention” as a key factor in crop circle manifestation. Pringle describes the wide range of physiological effects--both positive and negative--caused by the frequencies in crop circles and shows how the negative symptoms may possibly be caused by heavy use of pesticides.

 

[Hans Blaster]

The core phenomenon remains as mysterious as it was decades ago. The circles have occurred in locations and circumstances where a mundane location is extremely difficult.

As one who has spent upwards of 50 years in deep study of anomalous phenomena, I've run out of patience with those who "explain" them to me on the basis of a thimble of knowledge derived from a couple of articles or YouTube videos.

As the images show tracks in the fields are incredibly common in crop "circle" locations. These are places where farm equipment has already trampled some of the plants. Walking along these tracks leaves no visible marks in the crops.

You claim to have decades of "deep study of anomalous phenomena" (a wide and nebulous term), but have you ever even been in a field of ripe grain? Do you know how to find the paths of humans passing through? (Or the difficulties that might arise in trying to do so?)

I've been aware of crop circles for several decades and in that time the man-made nature of them was always made known to me. (That is I have seen and read materials about how they are created and heard many claims about the "anomalies".) This is not some new thing that I (or I suspect other "skeptics" of crop circle extra-human origin stories) have only recently become aware of.

 

[Albion]

It's strange, though, that people go to extremes to believe that Bigfoot or UFOs are real, citing all sorts of apparent facts, video evidence, and so on....

...but here when it's Crop Circles that are the topic, and no one can explain how they come to be (the attempts to phony up one notwithstanding),

the knee-jerk attitude of many seems to be to DISbelieve all the evidence!

 

[Hans Blaster]

Your post is a bit confusing...

It's strange, though, that people go to extremes to believe that Bigfoot or UFOs are real, citing all sorts of apparent facts, video evidence, and so on....

So you don't believe in Bigfoots or UFOs, then? Neither do I.

...but here when it's Crop Circles that are the topic, and no one can explain how they come to be (the attempts to phony up one notwithstanding),

I thought we'd made it obvious -- All crop circles are consistent with small teams of humans making them quickly at night using aids to knock down the plants and ropes, measuring tapes, and other surveyors tools to lay out the pattern -- All of them.

the knee-jerk attitude of many seems to be to DISbelieve all the evidence!

What are we supposed to disbelieve? Obviously some of them have been tied to specific groups of human crop artists, but not all have been so identified.

Are we supposed to be concerned that some designs have not been identified with specific creators? (Are all graffiti artists identified? [Not just talking about taggers, but those making artistic designs.] No? I wonder why? Could it be avoiding charges of vandalism? Hmmm.)

 

[Irkle Berserkle]

As the images show tracks in the fields are incredibly common in crop "circle" locations. These are places where farm equipment has already trampled some of the plants. Walking along these tracks leaves no visible marks in the crops.

You claim to have decades of "deep study of anomalous phenomena" (a wide and nebulous term), but have you ever even been in a field of ripe grain? Do you know how to find the paths of humans passing through? (Or the difficulties that might arise in trying to do so?)

I've been aware of crop circles for several decades and in that time the man-made nature of them was always made known to me. (That is I have seen and read materials about how they are created and heard many claims about the "anomalies".) This is not some new thing that I (or I suspect other "skeptics" of crop circle extra-human origin stories) have only recently become aware of.

Odd how these subjects so quickly take on the tenor of a religious debate.

For the record, I have been a longtime member of the American Society for Psychical Research, the (British) Society for Psychical Research, and numerous other professional and popular organizations dealing with anomalous phenomena. I have published in these areas, which are indeed broad and multi-faceted. And you are ... who?

Yes, many crop circles are manmade. No one disputes this. As I stated, duplicating the phenomenon quickly evolved into a game, a sport and an art form. The telltale signs are typically quite obvious. I largely lost interest in the field when the silliness overwhelmed serious study of the core phenomenon.

Those who Don't Know What They Are Talking About play the familiar game of extrapolating from the circles that can be explained to any and all circles. I don't really care - I don't have the quasi-religious emotional investment in the authenticity of the circles that debunkers seem to have in insisting they are all manmade. The fact is that there is a core phenomenon that defies mundane explanation. The fact is, credible witnesses have reported anomalous phenomena such as light orbs being associated with the formation of circles. The fact is, circles have appeared in locations and circumstance where "Doug and Dave with a roll of twine and some boards" simply isn't a plausible explanation.

 

[Hans Blaster]

For the record, I have been a longtime member of the American Society for Psychical Research, the (British) Society for Psychical Research, and numerous other professional and popular organizations dealing with anomalous phenomena. I have published in these areas, which are indeed broad and multi-faceted. And you are ... who?

I publish in the scientific journals of actual scientific societies.

 

[SkyWriting]

Odd how these subjects so quickly take on the tenor of a religious debate.

For the record, I have been a longtime member of the American Society for Psychical Research, the (British) Society for Psychical Research, and numerous other professional and popular organizations dealing with anomalous phenomena. I have published in these areas, which are indeed broad and multi-faceted. And you are ... who?

Yes, many crop circles are manmade. No one disputes this. As I stated, duplicating the phenomenon quickly evolved into a game, a sport and an art form. The telltale signs are typically quite obvious. I largely lost interest in the field when the silliness overwhelmed serious study of the core phenomenon.

Those who Don't Know What They Are Talking About play the familiar game of extrapolating from the circles that can be explained to any and all circles. I don't really care - I don't have the quasi-religious emotional investment in the authenticity of the circles that debunkers seem to have in insisting they are all manmade. The fact is that there is a core phenomenon that defies mundane explanation. The fact is, credible witnesses have reported anomalous phenomena such as light orbs being associated with the formation of circles. The fact is, circles have appeared in locations and circumstance where "Doug and Dave with a roll of twine and some boards" simply isn't a plausible explanation.

Still no links to sources? That's an automatic Fail.

 

[SkyWriting]

It's strange, though, that people go to extremes to believe that Bigfoot or UFOs are real, citing all sorts of apparent facts, video evidence, and so on....

...but here when it's Crop Circles that are the topic, and no one can explain how they come to be (the attempts to phony up one notwithstanding),

the knee-jerk attitude of many seems to be to DISbelieve all the evidence!

Still no links to sources? That's an automatic Fail.

 

[SkyWriting]

It's strange, though, that people go to extremes to believe that Bigfoot or UFOs are real, citing all sorts of apparent facts, video evidence, and so on....
...but here when it's Crop Circles that are the topic, and no one can explain how they come to be (the attmpts to phony up one notwithstanding),the knee-jerk attitude of many seems to be to DISbelieve all the evidence!

We all believe the evidence. The patterns all follow the contours of the fields and ground. - This is the evidence that people were walking on the ground at all times.

The crops were not scrapped off the land. This is the evidence that they used a flexible rope.

The evidence is all there. Including the connection points to walk from one design to another.

Glowing lights? Yes, I'd use one too.

 

[partinobodycular]

For the record, I have been a longtime member of the American Society for Psychical Research, the (British) Society for Psychical Research, and numerous other professional and popular organizations dealing with anomalous phenomena. I have published in these areas, which are indeed broad and multi-faceted.

All this says is that you're officially biased...congratulations.

 

[Albion]

I remember it well View attachment 311439

My old man was convinced that it was all about aliens. He was also very impressed when Uri Geller bent spoons.

To be honest - my old man wasn't the sharpest knifer in the drawer.

OB

IMHO von Daniken's explanations were little more than armchair quarterbacking. That is to say, it's guesswork that anyone could come up with.

For instance, old artwork that shows halos around a person's head isn't evidence of people wearing space suits. Or that the South American geoglyphs prove that some intelligent being way up in the sky must be looking at them.

 

[AV1611VET]

IMHO von Daniken's explanations were little more than armchair quarterbacking. That is to say, it's guesswork that anyone could come up with.

For instance, old artwork that shows halos around a person's head isn't evidence of people wearing space suits. Or that the South American geoglyphs prove that some intelligent being way up in the sky must be looking at them.

Daniken's selling point was being able to connect the two.

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

They were made by people with ropes using magnetic powered hoverboards to avoid footprints. Hoverboards are reported to leave behind healing properties.

In 1990 while studying the energetics of a crop circle, Lucy Pringle experienced a miraculous healing of a severe shoulder injury. Inspired, she expanded her research to investigate the physical, psychological, and energetic effects of these mysterious formations on people as well as on animals. In this book, alongside her stunning full-color aerial photographs of crop circles, Pringle shares the results of her research, including anecdotes from an 800-person questionnaire study, in combination with detailed scientific explanations by aerospace engineer and fellow crop circle researcher James Lyons.

The authors discuss case histories of healing, from temporary respite from arthritis, Reynaud’s, and Parkinson’s, to the permanent cure of muscle strains and chronic pain, to emotional healing and feelings of peace and happiness. They explore the relationship of crop circle formations and consciousness, highlighting “intention” as a key factor in crop circle manifestation. Pringle describes the wide range of physiological effects--both positive and negative--caused by the frequencies in crop circles and shows how the negative symptoms may possibly be caused by heavy use of pesticides.

They've got a web site: ¤ c i r c l e m a k e r s ¤

 

[Albion]

Daniken's selling point was being able to connect the two.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that he could guess at a connection but that's all he did. If so I would agree.

Possibly something like this: "there's an ancient sculpture (or painting) and it kinda looks like the movie versions of spacemen and the clothing looks unfamiliar, ergo, that can only be extraterrestrials and the ancients must have seen them with their own two eyes! ???

The ancients didn't see Medusa, by the way, but they were able to make representations of her, so....

 

[AV1611VET]

You mean like a connection like "there's an ancient sculpture (or painting) and it kinda looks like the movie versions of spacemen or something kinda human but not exactly, ergo, that's what the ancients must have seen first hand--extraterrestrials! ???

Anything for a buck I guess.

Evolution is kinda like a game of connect-the-dots too.

And I'm ... fascinated (saddened actually) ... at how they can connect us right back to bacteria.