crop circle - The Skeptic's Dictionary

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head><title>crop circle - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_style/style.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_style/printstyle.css" media="print"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="s1.ico"> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.0"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-5487a05a7e027f30" async="async"></script>  </head> <body><br /> <div class="container"> <div class="header"> <div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticrypto.html">Cryptozoology</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialien.html">ETs & UFOs</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tifraud.html">Frauds, Hoaxes, Conspiracies</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tijunk.html">Junk Science</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tilogic.html">Logic & Perception</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tinewage.html">New Age</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tipara.html">Paranormal</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tiscience.html">Science & Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tisuper.html">Supernatural</a></li> <li> </li> </ul> <h2>Other Writings</h2> <ul class="nav_2"> <li> <a href="http://59ways.blogspot.com/">Unnatural Acts blog</a></li> <li><a href="skeptimedia/skeptimediaarchive.html">Skeptimedia</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/funkarchive.html"> Mass Media Funk</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bunkarchive.html"> Mass Media Bunk</a></li> <li><a href="refuge/harmarchive.html">What's the Harm?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter Archives</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/wwwbunk.html"> Internet Bunk</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/2good.html"> Too good to be true</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/essays.html"> Skeptical Essays</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/randr.html"> Book Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/suburbanmyths.html"> Suburban Myths</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/memoriam.html"> In Memoriam</a></li><li></li> </ul> <h2>Other Resources</h2> <ul class="nav_3"> <li> <a href="http://sd4kids.skepdic.com/"> Mysteries and Science for Kids</a> </li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/UnnaturalVirtue.html">Podcast: Unnatural Virtue archive</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/hollow.html">A Skeptic's Halloween</a></li> <li> <a href="http://renish.skepdic.com/AllNotes.html">Editor's Notes</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/getinvolved.html"> Get involved</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/future.html">Future Topics?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/permissions.html"> Permission to print</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/report/">Site Statistics</a></li><li></li> </ul> </div> <div class="content"> <div class="it"> <h2>From Abracadabra to Zombies<span class="small"> | <a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html">View All</a></span></h2> <ul class="alphabet"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#A">a</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#B">b</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#C">c</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#D">d</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#E">e</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#F">f</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#G">g</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#H">h</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#I">i</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#J">j</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#K">k</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#L">l</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#M">m</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#N">n</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#O">o</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#P">p</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Q">q</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#R">r</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#S">s</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#T">t</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#U">u</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#V">v</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#W">w</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#X">x</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Y">y</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>crop "circle"</h1> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3"> <img SRC="graphics/cropcirc.jpg" ALT="Alien DNA?" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5" HEIGHT="150" WIDTH="150" ALIGN="right" style="float: right"> </font> <font face="Arial" size="3">A crop "circle" is a geometric pattern, often very<a href="http://www.crystalinks.com/crop2000.html"> intricate and complex</a>, appearing in fields, usually wheat fields and usually in England. Most, if not all, crop circles are probably due to pranksters. For example, Doug Bower and David Chorley admit to hoaxing approximately 250 circles over many years. </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Some believe that the crop designs are messages from alien spacecraft. Some maintain that the aliens are trying to communicate with us using ancient Sumerian symbols or symbolic representations of alien DNA. Those who engage in such serious study and theorizing about crop circles are known as <i>cerealogists</i> (after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility) or <i>croppies</i>. </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Even scientifically minded people have been brought into this fray. They have wisely avoided the thesis that aliens have been carving out messages in crop fields. But they have stretched their imaginations to come up with theories of vortexes, <a href="balllightning.html">ball lightning</a>, plasma, and other less occult explanations involving natural forces such as wind, heat, or animals.  Some think the designs are clearly the work of the U.S. Air Force and the RAF using a "military microwave cannon, piloted by computer," and a design book.<a href="http://www.ovnis.atfreeweb.com/5_crop_circles.htm">*</a> However, when looking for an explanation of weird things we should never omit from our checklist the possibility that the phenomenon we are studying is a hoax.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Had crop circles existed in the thirteenth century, they would have been attributed to <a HREF="satan.html">Satan</a>, who was said to have been responsible for many weird happenings as well as for many unweird things, such as the construction of Stonehenge and Hadrian's wall between England and Scotland. It was believed by many that the ancients could not possibly have accomplished such feats on their own. Today, Satan's power as an explanation for weird or wondrous things has been usurped by <a HREF="vondanik.html">aliens</a>. </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>See also</b> <a HREF="aliens.html">alien abduction</a>, <a href="vondanik.html">ancient astronauts</a>, <a HREF="cattle.html">cattle mutilation</a>, <a HREF="saucers.html"> flying saucer</a>, and <a HREF="ufos_ets.html">UFO.</a> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b><a HREF="comments/cropcom.html">reader comments</a></b></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>further reading</b> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Allen, Robin. "Cerealogy is Dead - Long Live Cerealogy!" <i>Skeptic</i> (UK), vol 8, no 1 (part 1), no 2 (part 2).</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Hempstead, Martin. "The Summer of '91," <i>Skeptic</i> (UK), vol 5, no 6 (1991) </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0873649125/roberttoddcarrolA/">Huston, Peter. <i>Scams from the Great Beyond : How to Make Easy Money Off of Esp, Astrology, Ufos, Crop Circles, Cattle Mutilations, Alien Abductions, Atlantis, Channeling, and other New Age Nonsense</i> (Paladin Press, 1997).</a> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0954805429/roberttoddcarrolA/">Irving, Robert. 2006. <em>The Field Guide: The Art, History & Philosophy of Crop Circle Making.</em> Strange Attractor Press.</a></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Nickel, Joe. "The Crop Circle Phenomenon: An Investigative Report," in <i>The Skeptical Inquirer</i> (Winter, 1992). </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879759348/roberttoddcarrolA/"> <font size="3">Schnabel, Jim, <i>Round In Circles: Physicists, Poltergeists, Pranksters and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers </i>(Penguin: London, 1994).</font></a></font><font size="3"></font><p style="text-align: left"><b><font size="3">websites</font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060707212846/http:/www.csicop.org/hoaxwatch/cropcircles.html">CSICOP's Crop Circle Report</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/levengoods_crop-circle_plant_research/">Levengood's Crop-Circle Plant Research</a> by Joe Nickell</font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.csicop.org/si/2002-09/crop-circles.html">Circular Reasoning: The 'Mystery' of Crop Circles and Their 'Orbs' of Light by Joe Nickel </a></font> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00350.html"> Hollywood Fertilizes Profits with Crop Circles</a> (CSICOP press release in response to the movie <i>Signs</i>)</font><p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00038B16-ED5F-1D29-97CA809EC588EEDF"> Crop Circle Confession</a> by Matt Ridley</font><p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/crop.html">Wheat Graffiti</a> by Daniel Pinchbeck</font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a HREF="http://cropcircleconnector.com/anasazi/connect.html">The Crop Circle Connector </a> </font> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a HREF="HTTP://www.konsulting.com/steve/circle.htm">Critchley's Crop Circle Connections</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.circlemakers.org/">Circlemakers' Gallery</a></font><p> <font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c363e5a1-ce48-488b-bd21-9f3943e2d952&k=60192"> Farmer embarrassed by crop circle hoax </a></font></p></a> <p><font size="3"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/england/2138424.stm">Experts 'amazed' by crop circle designs </a></font> <p><b><font size="3"><a name="news">news</a></font></b><p style="text-align: left"> <font size="3"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8080315.stm"> Plea over jellyfish crop circle</a> (A 250m-long crop circle<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/uk_enl_1243991226/html/1.stm"><img border="0" src="graphics/jellyfish.jpg" width="226" height="170"></a> of a jellyfish has appeared on farmland in Oxfordshire.)</font></p> <p> <p> <p><b><font size="2" face="Book Antiqua">photo by Colin Baker</font></b><p></webContent>Last updated 21-Aug-2015 </p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="adrt"> <p><a href="http://sd4kids.skepdic.com/cropcircles.html">crop circles in Mysteries and Science for Kids </a></p> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. T. Carroll </strong></a></p> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><img src="http://skepdic.com/graphics/CTDcover140.jpg" alt="cover The Critical Thinker's Dictionary" width="140" height="212" /></a></p> <div align="right"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0471272426/roberttoddcarrolA/"> <img src="_images/book_01.jpg" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" border="0" width="140" height="171" /></a> </div> <h2 align="center">OTHER LANGUAGES</h2> <ul class="nav_4"> <li><a href="http://nederlands.skepdic.com/">Dutch</a></li> <li><a href="http://sdkinderen.skepdic.com/">Dutch voor kinderen</a></li> <li><a href="http://dictionnaire.sceptiques.qc.ca/">French</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/German/morgenwelt.html">German</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.gr/">Greek</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.szabadgondolkodo.hu/szkeptikus/szotar/">Hungarian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.vantru.is/efahyggjuordabokin/">Icelandic</a></li> <li><a href="http://italiano.skepdic.com/">Italian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.genpaku.org/skepticj/">Japanese</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?isbn=8995876441">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="http://brazil.skepdic.com/">Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.ru/">Russian</a></li> <li><a href="http://slovnik.skepdic.com/">Slovak</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepticus.org/dicc/">Spanish</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.vof.se/skepdic/">Swedish</a></li> <li><a href="http://turkish.skepdic.com/">Turkish</a></li> </ul> <p>Print versions available in <a href="http://www.lannoo.be/content/lannoo/wbnl/listview/1/index.jsp?titelcode=24816&fondsid=8" >Dutch</a>, <a href="http://skepdic.com/russian.html">Russian</a>, <a href="http://www.rakkousha.co.jp/info/index.html#2" > Japanese</a>, and <a href="http://www.aladdin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?isbn=8995876441" >Korean</a>.</p> <p align="center"> <font face="Arial"> <img border="0" src="graphics/earthmissing.jpg" align="center" hspace="3" vspace="3" width="150" height="152"></font><p align="center"> <b><font face="Arial" size="2">“Earth is Missing”<br>  © 2001 <a href="http://cropcircleconnector.com/Sorensen/PeterSorensen99.html">Peter Sorensen</a></font></b><p align="center"> <b> <font face="Arial" size="2">This circle is not a hoax. It was done by Matt Williams and friends for a film.</font></b><p align="center"> <font face="Arial"> <img border="0" src="graphics/longwood.gif" width="146" height="106"></font><p align="center"> <font face="Arial" size="2"><b>The original was done at Longwood Warren, near Winchester in 1995.</b> <br> <a href="http://www.swirlednews.com/article.asp?artID=199">Some prefer the original</a>.</font> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <a href="creation.html"> <img src="graphics/larrow.gif" alt="larrow.gif (1051 bytes)" border="0" align="bottom" width="14" height="26"> creationism</a> | <a href="crowley.html">Aleister Crowley <img src="graphics/rarrow.gif" alt="rarrow.gif (1048 bytes)" border="0" align="bottom" width="13" height="26"></a></div> </div> <div class="bottom"> © Copyright 1994-2016 <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert T. Carroll</a> * This page was designed by <a href="http://www.cristianpopa.com/portfolio-2/">Cristian Popa</a>.</div> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

crop circle - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com