Crop circles
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📖 Term
Contents 5
| Type | Term |
|---|---|
| Also known as | crop circle |
Crop circles are patterns made by flattening crops, usually cereals, which became famous in southern England in the 1980s and were often linked to UFOs. All are consistent with human making, and two British men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, admitted in 1991 that they had been making them since the 1970s.[1][2]
Early reports
Older reports of flattened circles exist. The best-known modern precursor was a 1966 "saucer nest" in Tully, Queensland, Australia, where a farmer said he saw a saucer-shaped craft rise from a swamp and then found a circle of flattened reeds.[1]
The English circles
Circles began appearing in growing numbers in Hampshire and Wiltshire in the late 1970s and 1980s. Researchers Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado documented them in their 1989 book Circular Evidence. Some researchers looked for natural or paranormal causes.[1]
Bower and Chorley
In 1991 Doug Bower and Dave Chorley said they had begun making circles in the 1970s, inspired by the Australian "saucer nest" stories. They used a plank of wood, rope and a cap fitted with a wire sight to keep straight lines. To prove it, they made a circle for journalists, which Delgado examined and declared genuine before the hoax was revealed.[1][2] They claimed more than 200 circles.[1]
Later formations
After 1991 crop circles appeared around the world, and teams of artists began making ever larger and more complex designs, some with thousands of elements and mathematical patterns.[1][2] Researcher Jeremy Northcote found that circles in Britain cluster near roads, towns and ancient monuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury, which points to human makers.[1] Crop circles have become a tourist attraction in Wiltshire.[1][2]
References
- Crop circle — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Rob Irving and Peter Brookesmith, "Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax", Smithsonian (Dec 2009), archived · web.archive.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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