Crop Circles - An ovine theory of agricultural ellipses
By Hector Ramsbottom, Jonathon Bleat and Mary Shearer
Centre for Research in Oval Profiles, Salop, Shropshire, UK.
Introduction
Agricultural ellipses, or crop circles as they are more commonly known, were first described as early as 1678. Modern circles first surfaced in Warminster on the night of August 12th, 1972, and then came to prominence with the solar circles of 1995, which displayed a precision far greater than anything that had been seen before. They have appeared in many other countries all over the world, but have been most prolific in the UK, most commonly appearing in the English counties of Wiltshire and Somerset - the old stomping ground of the great King Alfred. They have ignited a heated debate the world over, often appearing overnight, with apparently no clues as to how or why they came into existence. With a large quantity of tenuous explanations and no clear favourite, here we present a new theory, with evidence and commentary.
Previous crop circle theories
Aliens - It’s long been thought that little green men have been flying to and from Earth and when not starting inter-galactic wars, abducting inbreds from remote locations or appearing in Hollywood blockbusters, they have been accused of creating crop circles. Whether they landed, walked around for a bit and left; or whether they produced the entire thing from an aerial position with lasers can only be speculated, but why would they come half way across the universe just to play in the corn?
L-R: Platonic solids at Allington Down, the Lotus at Golden Ball Hill, and the circle and grapeshot near Adam’s Grave, Wiltshire.
Wind - Tornados are infamous for causing large-scale damage to property, but also cause small scale flattening of crops, trees and other vegetation. The high spin-rate of these mini twisters has been thought responsible for the tightly flattened wheat. The thin corridors and other random patterns between circles possibly caused by an increased wind velocity, or a sudden shift in the direction of the vortex. Unlikely? Surely this can’t be true - wind just isn’t that cool.
Lightning - Ball lightning is a fairly uncommon phenomenon and remains poorly understood to this day; it is defined as an electrical discharge that takes the form of a luminous sphere like a plasma ball, which often floats in air. It has been claimed that this may have caused some crop circle patterns, although the lack of significant burning around the compressed crop zone means that many investigators are still sceptical, and rightly so - this theory is just ridiculous…
Hoaxes - People always want to create something different and unusual, especially those living around the Melksham or Shepton Mallett areas. Many people suspect that at the dead of night, hoaxers, using an array of precision tools and some sturdy footwear, cunningly fashion shapes and patterns in fields all around the country. Surely there are more fulfilling pastimes. Even in Wiltshire.
Sound - Modern research has suggested that sound below the threshold of 20 Hz is capable of boiling water in plant stems, causing them to steam at the nodules and bend over towards the ground - a characteristic pattern found in most crop circles. This infrasound also leaves very slight burning along the stems, another distinctive feature. But let’s face it, it’s going to be pretty hard to wheel a huge sound system to a field without being spotted - although this may explain any circles in the Glastonbury area...
Magnetism - Crop circles often seem to appear at intersecting points of the Earth’s magnetic field. These energy pathways, it has been suggested, may cause sudden flattening of crops with the associated rise in energy felt by some people in the area. There are often changes in the local electromagnetic field; compasses cannot locate north and cameras and mobile telephones cease to work properly. Whether this is a genuine contender for the production of crop circles is still under discussion, but it’s almost certainly nonsense.
A new circle hypothesis
The theories outlined above have been put forward to explain the existence of crop circles at some point, but we feel that one has been hitherto overlooked in the literature, and it is this that we critically assess here: sheep.
Overview - Sheep are field lovers, they are born, raised, live and (if they are lucky) die in fields. There are few animals on Earth that know more about fields than sheep (with the possible exception of harvest mice, although they have rubbish eyesight). There are over 40 breeds of sheep in the UK alone, and they are found in every county. Being one of the first animals to be domesticated, they also are world-class grazers, it’s their raison d'être - they graze therefore they are. We believe sheep are rebelling against years of domestication and lamb-chop abuse by creating circles to baffle their human captors. Sheep are really super-intelligent beings testing us until we realise the truth.
Knowledge and access - Because sheep live in fields, they circumvent the access and right-of-way problems that people have to deal with. What species could have greater access to fields day or night? The very same fields that then contain crop circles. Having a free range of choice over which fields to sleep and work in also means they are able to select the most appropriate field in which to carefully create a new crop circle design and cause maximum suspicion among the scientific community.
Evolution - Sheep have evolved to get the best out of their tiny brains. ‘Four strong hooves and a woolly coat’ may sound like an insulting chant, but it is top equipment for crop circle creating, enabling them to uphold a clean appearance to the finished circle leaving no trace. Rolling on trampled crops also allows for the crooked finish that is characteristic in most circle complexes. Short corridors between circles, or fancy crop polygons are easily created using hooves of two or more sheep walking abreast, or in single file for small linkage-lines. Pregnant sheep do not get involved in crop circle strategies - if a pregnant sheep falls over it can’t stand up again. The sharp incisors and crushing molars that sheep possess can be used on stubborn grass stems, or on hindering barbed wire, and sheep love to chew... Finally, sheep have suspiciously strange eyes, who knows what they’re really looking at or what they’re really thinking?
The logarithmic spirals of Berwick Bassett, Wiltshire, whose diameters conform to the diatonic scale (right) - something that every good sheep learns in Ewe-niversity.
Communication - Although sheep sound quite stupid, with an apparent repertoire of only a few simple bleats, they in fact have a complex system of calls, sounds and audio signals with which they communicate effectively over great distances. First documented in Babe (1995), they exhibit pack behaviour on a scale equivalent to wolves and dolphins. Speech that is cleverly used, but not over-used, can ensure they remain one step ahead of police, farmers and nighttime onlookers. Possessing pack behaviour also allows them to bunch together to discuss ideas. But, sheep are skittish, we all know that sheep run when they see movement near them, another clear sign that they are likely to be scheming their next ‘creation’.
Music - Sheep appear in the title of a Pink Floyd song of the same name. Roy Harper sang on the Pink Floyd song Welcome to the Machine, and Led Zeppelin wrote a song on Led Zep III called Hats Off to [Roy] Harper. And what do we find on the cover of the Zep's greatest hits collection? An elaborate crop circle - if that’s not a clear example of a conspiracy I don't know what is.
Conclusions
Sheep seem to have all the necessary basics, and more, to be considered among the prime suspects in the crop circle phenomenon. The fact that they have probably stood close by watching investigators measure the depth, diameter and angles of new crop circles whilst not even being considered as a cause is laughable, nay farcical. We hope this theory “the ovine orbital phenomenon” is seriously considered by cereologists around the world. If you see sheep huddled in circles, or hear them bleating unnecessarily, don’t pity them. Instead, we urge you to contact us, help bring an end to the scepticism and stop them pulling the wool over our eyes.
Further reading:
http://www.lovely.clara.net
Full history of crop circles from their beginnings to the present day. With a list of on-going research and further reading ideas.
http://www.cropcircleresearch.com
Information on the latest sightings, current research and a full database of crop circles found all over the world in the last 50 years or so. Includes some spectacular aerial pictures.
Crop circle photos reproduced with the kind permission of Freddy Silva: writer, best-selling author and researcher. Read about the book at http://www.lovely.clara.net
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