Crop Circles   

Crop circles are geometrical formations within flattened crops of barley, canola, corn, linseed, rye, wheat and soy.   These phenomena became noted after its appearance in England crops in the late 1970s.   Although it has recently been discovered that many of the crop circles were created by man, there are still a few notable crop circles that have been the topic of anomalous phenomena discussions.  

   In 1991, two men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, revealed that they had been making crop circles in England since 1978 using planks, rope, hats and wire as their only tools.  The earliest recorded crop circle is depicted in a 17th century woodcut called the Mowing-Devil. The image depicts a strange creature creating a circular design in a field of corn.  

   Although the pixie circles created by Elves in Scandinavian folklore were most likely caused by fungus colonies, there was also a rarer kind, consisting of circular patches where the grass had been flattened:

On lake shores, where the forest met the lake, you could find elf circles. They were round places where the grass had been flattened like a floor. Elves had danced there. By Lake Tisaren , I have seen one of those. It could be dangerous and one could become ill if one had trodden over such a place or if one destroyed anything there (an account given in 1926, Hellström 1990:36).  

   To date, thousands of circles have appeared at sites across the world, from disparate locations such as the former Soviet Union, the UK and Japan , as well as the U.S. and Canada . Some skeptics note a strong inverse correlation between crop circles and the presence of fencing and/or anti-trespassing legislation, as well as a great increase in the number of crop circles after media coverage.