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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help

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<v Speaker 1>you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about crop circles. A

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<v Speaker 1>crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern

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<v Speaker 1>created by flattening a crop, usually a serial. The term

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<v Speaker 1>was coined in the early nineteen eighties. Crop circles have

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<v Speaker 1>been described as all falling within the range of the

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<v Speaker 1>sort of thing done in hoaxes by Tanner Edis, Professor

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<v Speaker 1>of physics at Truman State University. Although obscure natural causes

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<v Speaker 1>or alien origins of crop circles are suggested did by

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<v Speaker 1>fringe theorists, there's no scientific evidence for such explanations, and

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<v Speaker 1>all crop circles are consistent with human causation. In nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety one, two hoaxers, Doug Bauer and Dave Chorley, took

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<v Speaker 1>credit for having created over two hundred crop circles throughout

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<v Speaker 1>England and widely reported interviews. The number of reports of

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<v Speaker 1>crop circles increase substantially after interviews with them. In the

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<v Speaker 1>United Kingdom. Reported circles are not distributed randomly across the landscape,

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<v Speaker 1>but appear near roads areas of medium to dense population

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<v Speaker 1>and cultural heritage monuments such as Stonehenge or Avebury. They

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<v Speaker 1>usually appear overnight. Nearly half of all crop circles found

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<v Speaker 1>in the UK in two thousand three were located within

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<v Speaker 1>a fifteen kilometer radius of the Avebury stone circles. In

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<v Speaker 1>contrast to crop circles or crop formations, archaeological remains can

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<v Speaker 1>cause crop marks in the fields in the shapes of

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<v Speaker 1>circles and squares, but these do not appear overnight and

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<v Speaker 1>are always in the same place every year. A sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy eight news pamphlet The Mowing Devil or Strange News

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<v Speaker 1>out of Hartfordshire describes a crop whose stocks were cut

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<v Speaker 1>rather than bend. In sixteen eighty six, in English, naturalist

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Plott reported on rings or arcs of mushrooms in

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<v Speaker 1>the natural History of Staffordshire, proposing air flows from the

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<v Speaker 1>sky as a cause. In nineteen ninety one, meteorologist Terence

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<v Speaker 1>Meden linked this report with modern crop circles, a claim

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<v Speaker 1>that has been compared with those made by Eric Phondennikin

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<v Speaker 1>an eighteen eighty letter to the editor of Nature by

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<v Speaker 1>amateur scientist John Rand Capron describes how several circles of

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<v Speaker 1>flattened crops in a field were formed under suspicious circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>and possibly caused by cyclonic wind action, stating as viewed

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<v Speaker 1>from a distance, circular spots, they all presented much the

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<v Speaker 1>same character, namely of few standing stocks as a center,

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<v Speaker 1>some prostrate stocks with their heads arranged pretty evenly in

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<v Speaker 1>a direction, forming a circle round the center, and outside

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<v Speaker 1>there a circular wall of stocks which had not suffered.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen thirty two, archaeologist E. C. Kerwin observed four

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<v Speaker 1>dark rings in a field that stoutened down near Chichester,

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<v Speaker 1>but could examine only one, a circle in which the

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<v Speaker 1>barley was lodged or beaten down, while the interior area

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<v Speaker 1>was very slightly mounded up. In fourteen times, David Wood

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<v Speaker 1>reported that in nineteen forty he made crop circles near

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<v Speaker 1>Gloucestershire using ropes. In nineteen sixty three, Patrick Moore described

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<v Speaker 1>a crater in a potato field in Wiltshire that he

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<v Speaker 1>considered was probably caused by an unknown meteoric body. In

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<v Speaker 1>nearby wheat fields there were several circular and elliptical areas

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<v Speaker 1>where the wheat had been flattened. There was evidence of

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<v Speaker 1>spiral flattening. He thought they could be caused by air

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<v Speaker 1>currents from the impact, since they led towards the crater.

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<v Speaker 1>Astronomer Hugh Ernest Butler observed similar craters and said they

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<v Speaker 1>were likely caused by lightning strikes. During the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>there were many reports of UFO sidings and circular formations

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<v Speaker 1>and swampreeds and sugar cane fields in totally Queensland, Australia,

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<v Speaker 1>and in Canada. For example, on August eighth, nineteen sixty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>three circles were found in a field and to Hanmel Alberta, Canada.

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<v Speaker 1>Department of National Defense investigators concluded that it was artificial,

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<v Speaker 1>but couldn't say who made them or how. The most

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<v Speaker 1>famous case is the nineteen sixty six Toley Saucer nest,

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<v Speaker 1>when a farmer said he witnessed a saucer shaped craft

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<v Speaker 1>rise nine or twelve meters from a swamp and then

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<v Speaker 1>fly away. On investigating, he found a nearly circular area

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<v Speaker 1>ten meters long by eight meters wide, where the grass

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<v Speaker 1>was flattened in clockwise curves to water level within the circle,

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<v Speaker 1>and the reeds had been uprooted from the mud. The

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<v Speaker 1>local police officer, the Royal Australian Air Force and the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Queensland concluded that it was most probably caused

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<v Speaker 1>by natural causes a downdraft, a Williewillie test devil or

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<v Speaker 1>a water spout. In nineteen seventy three, G. J. Adgers,

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<v Speaker 1>director of Public Relations, Department of Defense Air Office, wrote

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<v Speaker 1>to a journalist that the saucer was probably debris lifted

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<v Speaker 1>by a williwilly. After the nineteen sixties, there was a

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<v Speaker 1>surge of uithologists in Wiltshire and there were rumors of

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<v Speaker 1>saucer nests appearing in the area, but they were never photographed.

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<v Speaker 1>There are other pre nineteen seventies reports of circular formations,

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<v Speaker 1>especially in Australia and Canada, but they were always simple

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<v Speaker 1>circles which could have been caused by whirlwinds. British pranksters

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<v Speaker 1>Doug Bauer and Dave Chorley reported they started creating crop

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<v Speaker 1>circles in British cornfields in nineteen seventy eight, inspired by

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<v Speaker 1>the Tully saucernest case. The first film to depict a

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<v Speaker 1>geometric crop circle, in this case created by superintelligent ants,

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<v Speaker 1>was the nineteen seventy four Science fiction film Phase four.

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<v Speaker 1>The film has been cited as a possible inspiration or

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<v Speaker 1>influence on the pranksters who started this phenomenon. The majority

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<v Speaker 1>of reports of crop circles have appeared and spread since

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<v Speaker 1>the late nineteen seventies, as many circles began appearing throughout

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<v Speaker 1>the English countryside. Around this time, researcher Colin Andrews began

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<v Speaker 1>documenting the phenomenon, and in nineteen eighty nine he co

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<v Speaker 1>authored Circular Evidence with Pat Delgado, a work that compiled

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<v Speaker 1>reports and photographs of early formations. The phenomenon became widely

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<v Speaker 1>known in the late nineteen eighties after the media started

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<v Speaker 1>to report crop circles in Hampshire and Wiltshire. After Bauer

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<v Speaker 1>and Chorley gave interviews in nineteen ninety one about how

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<v Speaker 1>they had made crop circles, circles started appearing all over

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<v Speaker 1>the world. By two thousand one, approximately ten thousand crop

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<v Speaker 1>circles have been reported internationally from locations such as the

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<v Speaker 1>former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, the U S

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<v Speaker 1>and Canada. Researchers have noted a correlation between crop circles,

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<v Speaker 1>recent media coverage and the absence of fencing and or

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<v Speaker 1>anti trespassing legislation. Although farmers expressed concern that the damage

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<v Speaker 1>caused to their crops, local response to the appearance of

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<v Speaker 1>crop circles was often enthusiastic, with locals taking advantage of

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<v Speaker 1>the increase of tourism and visits from scientists, crop circle researchers,

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<v Speaker 1>and individuals seeking spiritual experiences. The market for crop circle

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<v Speaker 1>interests consequently generated bus or helicopter tours of circle sites,

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<v Speaker 1>walking tours, t shirts, and book sales. Since the start

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<v Speaker 1>of the twenty first century, crop formations have increased in

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<v Speaker 1>size and complexity, with some featuring as many as two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand different shapes and some incorporating complex mathematics and scientific characteristics.

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<v Speaker 1>The researcher Jeremy Northcott found that crop circles in the

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<v Speaker 1>UK in two thousand two were not spread randomly across

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<v Speaker 1>the landscape. They tended to appear near roads, areas of

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<v Speaker 1>medium to dense population, and cultural heritage monuments such as

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<v Speaker 1>Stonehenge and Avebury. He found that they always appeared in

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<v Speaker 1>areas that were easy to access. This suggests strongly that

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<v Speaker 1>these crop circles were more likely to be caused by

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<v Speaker 1>intentional human action than by paranormal activity. Another strong indication

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<v Speaker 1>of that theory was that inhabitants of the zone with

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<v Speaker 1>the most circles had a historical tendency for making large

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<v Speaker 1>scale formations, including stone circles such as stonehenge, earth and

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<v Speaker 1>mounds such as Silbury Hill, long barrows such as West

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<v Speaker 1>Kenneth Long Barrow, and white horses in chalk hills. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety one, two self professed branksters, Doug Bauer and

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<v Speaker 1>Dave Chorlie, made headlines by saying they had started the

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<v Speaker 1>crop circle phenomenon in nineteen seventy eight, using simple tools

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<v Speaker 1>consisting of a plank of wood, rope and a baseball

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<v Speaker 1>cap fitted with a loop of wire to help them

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<v Speaker 1>walk in straight lines. To prove their case, they made

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<v Speaker 1>a circle in front of a journalist. A seriologist advocate

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<v Speaker 1>of paranormal explanations of crop circles, Pad Delgado, examined the

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<v Speaker 1>circle and declared it authentic before was revealed that it

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<v Speaker 1>was a hoax. Inspired by Australian crop circle accounts from

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty six, Bauer and Chorley claimed to be responsible

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<v Speaker 1>for all circles made prior to nineteen eighty seven and

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<v Speaker 1>for more than two hundred crop circles in nineteen seventy

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<v Speaker 1>eight to nineteen ninety one, with one thousand other circles

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<v Speaker 1>not being made by them. Writing in Physics World, Richard

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<v Speaker 1>Daylor of the University of Oregon said that the pictographs

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<v Speaker 1>they created inspired a second wave of crop artists. Far

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<v Speaker 1>from fizzling out, crop circles have evolved into an international phenomenon,

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<v Speaker 1>with hundreds of sophisticated pictographs now appearing annually around the globe.

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<v Speaker 1>After reports of simple circles in the nineteen seventies, increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>complex geometric designs have been created by anonymous artists, in

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<v Speaker 1>some cases to attract tourists to an area. Since the

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<v Speaker 1>early nineteen nineties, the UK arts collective Circle Makers, founded

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<v Speaker 1>by Rod Dickinson and John Lundberg and subsequently including Will

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<v Speaker 1>Russell and Rob Irving, has been creating crop circles in

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<v Speaker 1>the UK and around the world as part of its

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<v Speaker 1>art practice and also for commercial clients. The led Zeppelin

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<v Speaker 1>Box Said that was released on September seventh, nineteen ninety,

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<v Speaker 1>along with the remasters of the first Box Said, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as the second Box Said, all feature an image

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<v Speaker 1>of a crop circle that appeared in Eastfield in Alton, Barnes, Wiltshire.

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<v Speaker 1>On the night of July eleventh to the twelfth, nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety two, a crop circle making competition with a prize

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<v Speaker 1>of three thousand pounds, funded in part by the Arthur

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<v Speaker 1>Kessler Foundation, was held in Berkshire. The winning entry was

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<v Speaker 1>produced by three Westland helicopter engineers using rope, PVC pipe,

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<v Speaker 1>a plank string, a telescope device and two step ladders.

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<v Speaker 1>According to Rupert Sheldrake, the competition was organized by him

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<v Speaker 1>and John Mitchell and co sponsored by The Guardian and

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<v Speaker 1>The Seriologist. The prize money came from PM, a German magazine.

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<v Speaker 1>Sheldrake wrote that the experiment was conclusive humans could indeed

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<v Speaker 1>make all the features of state of the art crop formations.

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<v Speaker 1>At the time. Eleven of the twelve teams made more

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<v Speaker 1>or less impressive formations that followed the set design. In

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and two, Discovery Channel commission five aeronautics and

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<v Speaker 1>astronautics graduate students from MIT to create crop circles of

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<v Speaker 1>their own, aiming to duplicate some of the features claimed

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<v Speaker 1>to distinguish real crop circles from the known fakes, such

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<v Speaker 1>as those created by Bauer and Chorley. The creation was

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<v Speaker 1>recorded and used in the Discovery Channel documentary Crop Circles

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<v Speaker 1>Mysteries in the Field. In two thousand and nine, The

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<v Speaker 1>Guardian reported that crop circle activity had been waning around Wiltshire,

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<v Speaker 1>in part because makers preferred creating promotional crop circles for

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<v Speaker 1>companies that paid well for their efforts. A video sequence

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<v Speaker 1>used in connection with the opening of the twenty twelve

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<v Speaker 1>Summer Olympics in London showed two crop circles in the

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<v Speaker 1>shape of the Olympic Rings. Another Olympic crop circle was

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<v Speaker 1>visible to passengers landing at nearby Heathrow Airport before and

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<v Speaker 1>during the Games. A three hector or seven acres crop

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<v Speaker 1>circle depicting the emblem of the Star Wars Rebel Alliance

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<v Speaker 1>was created in California in December twenty seventeen by a

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<v Speaker 1>father and his eleven year old son as a spaceport

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<v Speaker 1>for X wing fighters. The scientific consensus on crop circles

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<v Speaker 1>is that they are constructed by human beings as hoaxes, advertising,

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<v Speaker 1>or art. The most widely known method for a person

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<v Speaker 1>or group to construct a crop formation is to tie

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<v Speaker 1>one end of a robe to an anchor point and

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<v Speaker 1>the other end to a board, which is used to

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<v Speaker 1>crush the plants. It is also possible to bend grass

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<v Speaker 1>without breaking it if it is recently rained, a method

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<v Speaker 1>that was used to create crop circles in Hungary in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen ninety two. Skeptics of the paranormal point out that

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<v Speaker 1>all characteristics of crop circles are fully compatible with their

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<v Speaker 1>being made by hoaxers. Bauer and Chorely confessed in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety one to making the first crop circles in southern England.

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<v Speaker 1>When some people refuse to believe them, they deliberately added

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<v Speaker 1>straight lines and squares to show that they could not

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<v Speaker 1>have natural causes in a copycat effect. Increasingly, complex circles

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<v Speaker 1>started appearing in many countries around the world, including fractal figures.

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<v Speaker 1>Physicists have suggested that the most complex formations might be

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<v Speaker 1>made with the help of GPS and lasers. In two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand and nine, a circle formation was made over the

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<v Speaker 1>course of three consecutive nights and was apparently left unfinished,

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<v Speaker 1>with some half made circles. The main criticism of alleged

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<v Speaker 1>non human creation of crop circles is that while evidence

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<v Speaker 1>of these origins, besides eyewitness testimonies is absent, Many are

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<v Speaker 1>definitely known to be the work of human pranksters, and

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<v Speaker 1>others can be adequately explained as such. There have been

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<v Speaker 1>cases in which researchers declared crop circles to be the

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<v Speaker 1>real sing, only to be confronted was the people who

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<v Speaker 1>created the circle and documented the fraud, such as Bower

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<v Speaker 1>and Chorli and Tabloid Today hoaxing, Pad Delgado, the Wessex Skeptics,

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<v Speaker 1>and Channel four's Equinox hoaxing Terence Meaden or a friend

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<v Speaker 1>of a Canadian farmer hoaxing a field researcher of the

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<v Speaker 1>Canadian Crop Circle Research Network. In his nineteen ninety five

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<v Speaker 1>book The Demon Haunted World Science Says a Candle in

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<v Speaker 1>the Dark, Carl Sagan concludes that crop circles were created

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<v Speaker 1>by Bower and Chorley and their copycats, and speculates that

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<v Speaker 1>eupologists willingly ignored the evidence for hoaxing so they can

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<v Speaker 1>keep believing in an extraterrestrial origin of the circles. Many

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<v Speaker 1>others have demonstrated how complex crop circles can be created.

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<v Speaker 1>Scientific American published and article by Matt Ridley, who started

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<v Speaker 1>making crop circles in Northern England. In nineteen ninety one,

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<v Speaker 1>he wrote about how easy it is to develop techniques

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<v Speaker 1>using simple tools that can easily fool later observers. He

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<v Speaker 1>reported on expert sources such as The Wall Street Journal

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<v Speaker 1>who had been easily fooled, and used about why people

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<v Speaker 1>want to believe supernatural explanations for phenomena that are not

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<v Speaker 1>yet explained. Methods of creating a crop circle are now

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<v Speaker 1>well documented on the Internet. Some crop formations are paid

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<v Speaker 1>for by companies who use them as advertising. Many crop

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<v Speaker 1>circles show human symbols like the hard and arrows symbol

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<v Speaker 1>of love, and stereotyped alien faces. Foaxers have been caught

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<v Speaker 1>in the process of making new circles, such as in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand four in the Netherlands. It has been suggested

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<v Speaker 1>that crop circles may be the result of extraordinary meteorological phenomena,

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<v Speaker 1>ranging from freak tornadoes to ball lightning, but there is

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<v Speaker 1>no evidence of any crop circle being created by any

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<v Speaker 1>of these causes. In eighteen eighty an amateur scientist John

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<v Speaker 1>Rand Capron wrote a letter to the editor of journal

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<v Speaker 1>Nature about some circles and crops and blame them on

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<v Speaker 1>a recent storm saying their shape was suggestive of some

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<v Speaker 1>cyclonic wind action. In nineteen eighty, Terence Meaden, a meteorologist

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<v Speaker 1>and physicist, propose that the circles were caused by whirlwinds

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<v Speaker 1>whose course was effected by southern England hills. As circles

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<v Speaker 1>became more complex, herons had to create increasingly complex theories,

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<v Speaker 1>blaming an electromagneto hydrodynamic plasma vortex. The meteorological theory became popular,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was even referenced in nineteen ninety one by

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<v Speaker 1>physicist Stephen Hawking, who said that corn circles are either

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<v Speaker 1>hoaxes or formed by vortex movement of air. The weather

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<v Speaker 1>theories suffered a serious blow in nineteen ninety one, but

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<v Speaker 1>Hawking's point about hoaxes was supported when Bower and Surely

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<v Speaker 1>stated that they had been responsible for making all those circles.

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<v Speaker 1>By the end of nineteen ninety one, Maiden conceded that

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<v Speaker 1>those circles that had complex designs were made by hoaxers.

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<v Speaker 1>In two thousand and nine, the Attorney General for the

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<v Speaker 1>island state of Tasmania stated that Australian wallabies had been founded,

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<v Speaker 1>creating crop circles and fields of opium poppies, which are

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<v Speaker 1>grown legally for medicinal use, after consuming some of the

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<v Speaker 1>opiate laden poppies and running in circles. In science magazines

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<v Speaker 1>from the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties, for example, Science Illustrated,

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<v Speaker 1>one could read reports suggesting that the plants were bent

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<v Speaker 1>by something that could be microwave radiation rather than broken

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<v Speaker 1>by physical impact. The magazines also contained serious reports of

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<v Speaker 1>the absence of human influence and measurement of unusual radiation. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>this is considered to be pseudoscience, while at the time

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<v Speaker 1>it was subject of serious research. At that time, it

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<v Speaker 1>was also more likely that an unknown factor was behind

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<v Speaker 1>the incidents, not least seeing in light of the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that GPS was not available to the public. Since becoming

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<v Speaker 1>the focus of widespread media attention in the nineteen eighties,

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<v Speaker 1>crop circles have been the subject of speculation by various paranormal, euphological,

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<v Speaker 1>and anomalistic investigators, ranging from proposals that they were created

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<v Speaker 1>by bizarre meteorological phenomena the messages from extraterrestrial beings. There

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<v Speaker 1>has also been speculation that crop circles have a relation

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<v Speaker 1>to lay lines. Some paranormal advocates think that crop circles

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<v Speaker 1>are caused by ball lightning and that the patterns are

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<v Speaker 1>so complex that they have to be controlled by some entity.

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<v Speaker 1>Some proposed entities are Gaya asking to stop global warming

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<v Speaker 1>and human pollution, God supernatural beings for example, Indian divas,

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<v Speaker 1>the collective minds of humanity through proposed quantum field and

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<v Speaker 1>extraterrestrial beings. Responding to local beliefs that extraterrestrial beings in

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<v Speaker 1>UFOs were responsible for crop circles appearing, the Indonesian National

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<v Speaker 1>Institute of Aeronautics and Space described crop circles as man made.

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<v Speaker 1>Thomas Jamaluddin, research Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at LAPPIN stated,

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<v Speaker 1>we have come to agree that this thing cannot be

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<v Speaker 1>scientifically proven. Among others, paranormal enthusiasts, eufologists, and anomalistic investigators

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<v Speaker 1>have offered hypothetical explanations that have been criticized as pseudo

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<v Speaker 1>scientific by skeptical groups and scientists, including the Committee for

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<v Speaker 1>Skeptical Inquiry. No credible evidence for extraterrestrial origin has been

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<v Speaker 1>presented a small number of scientists, physicist el t Yo Hazelhoff,

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<v Speaker 1>the late biophysicist William Levenwood have claimed to obscure differences

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<v Speaker 1>between the crops inside the circles and outside them, citing

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<v Speaker 1>this as evidence they were not man made. Levin Goood

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<v Speaker 1>published papers in journal Physiologia Planetarum in nineteen ninety four

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<v Speaker 1>and nineteen ninety nine. In his nineteen ninety four paper,

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<v Speaker 1>he found that certain deformities in the grain inside the

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<v Speaker 1>circles were correlated to the position of the grain inside

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<v Speaker 1>the circle. In nineteen ninety six, Joe Nicol objected that

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<v Speaker 1>correlation is not causation, raising several objections to Levin Goood's

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<v Speaker 1>methods and assumptions, and said until this work is independently

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<v Speaker 1>replicated by qualified scientists doing double blind studies and otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>following stringent scientific protocols, there seems no need to take

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<v Speaker 1>seriously the main dubious claims that Levin Goood makes, including

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<v Speaker 1>his similar ones involving plants that alleged cattle mutilely sites.

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<v Speaker 1>Nicol also criticized Levin Goood for using circular logic, stating

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<v Speaker 1>there is in fact no satisfactory evidence that a single

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<v Speaker 1>genuine I E. Vortex produced crop circle exists, so Levin

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<v Speaker 1>Goood's reasoning is circular. Although there are no guaranteed genuine

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00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:29.359
<v Speaker 1>formations on which to conduct research. The research supposedly proves

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<v Speaker 1>the genuineness of the formations. Advocates of non human causes

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<v Speaker 1>discount on site evidence of human involvement as attempts to

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<v Speaker 1>discredit the phenomena. When Ridley wrote negative articles and newspapers,

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<v Speaker 1>he was accused of spreading government disinformation and of working

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<v Speaker 1>for the UK military Intelligence Service m I five. Ridley

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<v Speaker 1>responded by noting that many seriologists make good livings from

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<v Speaker 1>selling books and providing high priced personal tours through crop fields,

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<v Speaker 1>and he claimed that they have vested interests in rejecting

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<v Speaker 1>what is by far the most likely explanation for the circles.

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<v Speaker 1>Patterns similar to crop circles can also be made in

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<v Speaker 1>snow by using skis, snow shoes, or just walking with

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<v Speaker 1>ordinary shoes. Images can be made in forests by cutting trees,

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<v Speaker 1>especially in areas with snow. Celebrating the Olympic Games in Lillehama, Norway,

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00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:46.759
<v Speaker 1>in nineteen ninety four, a three hundred and sixty meter

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<v Speaker 1>tall stylized image of an Olympic torch runner was made

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<v Speaker 1>in a forest close to one of the arenas Researchers

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<v Speaker 1>of crop circles have linked modern crop circles to old

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<v Speaker 1>folkloric tales to support the claim that they are not

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<v Speaker 1>artificially produced. Crop circles are culture dependent. They appear mostly

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<v Speaker 1>in developed and secularized Western countries where people are receptive

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<v Speaker 1>to New Age beliefs, including Japan, but they do not

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<v Speaker 1>appear at all in other zones, such as Muslim countries.

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<v Speaker 1>Fungi can cause circular areas of crop to die, probably

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<v Speaker 1>the origin of tales of fairy rings. Tales also mention

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<v Speaker 1>balls of light many times, but never in relation to

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<v Speaker 1>crop circles. In nineteen forty eight German story dietzvo Schwene

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<v Speaker 1>The Twelve Swans, a farmer every morning finds a circle

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<v Speaker 1>ring of flattened grain in its field. After several attempts,

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<v Speaker 1>his son seized twelve princesses disguised as swans, who take

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<v Speaker 1>off their disguises and dance in the field. Crop rings

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<v Speaker 1>produced by fungi may have inspired such tales, since folklore

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<v Speaker 1>considers that these rings are created by dancing wolves or fairies,