OK, that’s a misleading headline. Crop circles are definitely real, there are tons of examples. And FoxNews.com reports on one, generally promoting the myth that these things were created by aliens.
I recall reading about crop circles when I was a kid. At first it sounds so eerie. Geometric shapes made from flattened crops where the shape is only revealed from the sky. To a ten year old, clearly that could only be made by aliens. OK, maybe I wasn’t that smart when I was ten.
Hmm. Making a circle from flattened corn. That would require the amazing technology of a rope and something heavy enough to flatten corn. What about more complex shapes? Well, think about it. What would you do if you needed to create something more complex? A few sheets of graph paper to diagram it, some different lengths of rope, c’mon how hard is this really?
What I as a ten year old never considered was that someone might do this just as a prank.
One good quote in a discussion of crop circles is this:
Before you start stockpiling shotgun shells and tin-foil helmets, you should know that the vast majority of crop circles appear in English wheat fields. This is significant because, apparently, British people have a lot of free time. Doug Bower and David Chorley admitted in 1991 that they had made over 250 crop circles by hand over the course of a number of years.
Of course, those who truly believe that aliens made all the crop circles are convince that the confessions were coerced. And you see some of the more complex crop circles and wonder. But then you read about this:
For Hello Kitty’s 30th anniversary, Sanrio (the company that owns the “cute” little kittens’ likeness) commissioned an enormous crop circle shaped like the cat’s head
OK, if you can do Hello Kitty with flattened corn, you can probably do anything. It turns out that crop circling is somewhat of a competitive thing. Not unlike hacking. People try to outdo one another. It is apparently most popular in England. There are lots of comments about the Brits having too much free time on their hands:
Apparently, England has a surplus of rope and young men with too great a knowledge of geometry, too little with which to keep themselves occupied, and a powerful lust for laying intricate plans.
I’m surprised there was no comment about the large number of pubs…
And now it’s mainstream. This one was created to promote a Danish Newspaper (apparently that’s Danish for “Big words”). I’m sure someone still thinks it was created by aliens.
There is a web site devoted to the creation of crop circles. I love the page that highlights top crop circles of the 2007 season. I wasn’t aware there was a season. I have to admit they are very cool designs. But what do the top crop circlers do during the off-season? Try out new designs in Australia?
My other favorite part of this site is the beginner’s advice:
After ensuring that you haven’t been followed from the pub, drive to the field and unload the roller and stalk-stomper (the measuring tape can be carried in a pocket or rucksack).
Really, I’m just amused by the opening phrase, “After ensuring that you haven’t been followed from the pub…”. That really sums it up, doesn’t it?
I find the whole thing amusing, but can we get over the whole aliens thing? I’m not saying that it’s impossible that aliens have ever come to this planet. I’m just saying they’d probably have better things to do than flatten corn…
Steve Fischer's Random Blog 