Crop circles are designs that are depressed into fields of growing crops, especially wheat, rye, and barley. The name came about because the first formations noticed in southern England in the late 1970s consisted only of circles.

These areas of flattened crop seem to appear overnight. They are considered remarkable because they often appear in pristine wheat fields which show no signs of having been entered during the night. The plant stalks are often bent gently, not broken, and exhibit other unusual physical changes that are studied in laboratories.

Crop circles occur in “seasons” – growing seasons – and each successive year the phenomenon changes and grows in enigmatic and unpredictable ways. Beginning with the simple circles of the 1980s, the designs have gotten more complex with each year – to the point that they are now called “crop formations”. During an average summer, between 75 and 150 crop formations appear in southern England. Some of these formations include hundreds of design elements and can cover up to three or four acres of ground.

Crop circles also occur in other countries, including the U.S., Canada, Holland, and Germany. Since the 1990s, the crop circle phenomenon has become international, with estimates that over 5,000 formations have appeared in the last 20 years. The vast majority of them have appeared in an area of southern England which used to be known as Wessex. Today, it is know as Wiltshire and Hampshire.

As researchers grappled with this ever-changing mystery, they also uncovered a credible body of evidence that crop circles are not a recent phenomenon, but have appeared throughout history.

For many people, the most amazing thing about crop circles is not simply that large designs are imprinted on fields in the darkness. It is the greater intellectual and esoteric profile of the designs themselves that amaze. Crop circles have been found to contain ancient esoteric designs, modern metaphysical and religious symbols, accurate astronomical information, precise fractal mathematics, musical diatonic ratios and new geometric theorems. The designs are so complex that they would be astonishing feats of landscape design if they were constructed in daylight. The fact that they appear fully realized and constructed within the five hour space of an English summer night is beyond astonishing.

The crop circles also seem connected to the sacred landscape of southern England, where standing stones and earthworks such as Stonehenge and Avebury have existed for thousands of years. Crop circles are said to be situated on “ley lines”, the electromagnetic pathways that criss-cross the countryside.

At night, crop circle country teems with activity. Many people have seen mysterious balls of light, or luminosities, floating across the fields of crop circle country. Others claim to see more traditional UFOs. And the nearby military airfields provide the sometimes ominous helicopter gunships that practice maneuvers and seem to observe crop circle activities. It’s no wonder that the self-professed “human circlemakers” claim many unusual nighttime sightings and experiences.

The first people to claim responsibility for making crop circles were two older gentlemen named “Doug and Dave”, who went public in England in 1991. Since that time, others have come forward claiming to have taken up the covert skill of crop circle “hoaxing”, which they claim must be done in utter secrecy. The number of hoaxers or “circlemakers” around the world is unknown, although many British circlemakers claim that there are between 7 and 10 teams of circlemakers operating in England during any given summer.

It is clear that people make some crop circles. Some researchers now feel that most or all complex crop circles are made by people. Yet no hoaxers have ever been caught in the act, and the sheer number of crop circles occurring world-wide suggests that there may be a deeper mystery that is still unsolved.

For more information on crop circles, go to the links page. Or click here to read an article by Producer/writer Laurence Newnam that was published in Convergence magazine in 1997.