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CROP C IRCLES

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The sun sets on a field in southern England. When it rises again the following morning, that field has been transformed into an enormous work of art. A large section of the crop has been tamped into a pattern of circles, rings and other intricate geometric shapes. But who created it?

•Are crop circles the work of alien visitors?• Are they a natural phenomenon, created by electrically charged currents of air? Or •Are they elaborate hoaxes perpetrated by savvy, talented and very determined circle makers?

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What are Crop Circles?Crop circles are patterns that appear in fields. The pattern is created when certain areas of the crops are tamped down, but others are left intact. The edge is so clean that it looks like it was created with a machine. Even though the stalks are bent, they are not damaged. Most of the time, the crop continues to grow as normal.Farmers have reported finding strange circles in their fields for centuries. The earliest mention of a crop circle dates back to the 1500s. A 17th-century English woodcut shows a devilish creature making a crop circle. People who lived in the area called the creature the "mowing devil."

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Crop Circle DesignsCrop circles are not just circles -- they can come in many different shapes. The most basic (and the most common) crop circle is the single circle. The stalks inside a crop circle are typically bent into what is known as a swirl pattern.Crop circles can range in size from a few inches to a few hundred feet across. Most early crop circles were simple circular designs. But after 1990, the circles became more elaborate. More complex crop patterns, called pictograms, emerged. Crops can be made to look like just about anything - smiling faces, flowers or even words.

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Some of the more sophisticated patterns are based on mathematical equations. In one crop circle that had an outer and an inner circle, the area of the outer circle was exactly four times that of the inner circle.

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Crop Circle LocationsMost circles are concentrated in the south of England, primarily in the counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire. Many of them have been found near Avebury and Stonehenge, two mystical sites containing large stone monuments. But crop circles are not confined to England. They have been spotted in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, India and other parts of the world.The "season" for crop circles runs from April to September, which coincides with the growing season. Circles tend to be created at night, hiding their creators (human or otherwise) from curious eyes Crop circles can be found in many different types of fields -- wheat, corn, oats, rice, oil-seed rape, barley, rye, tobacco even weeds.

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Who Makes Crop Circles?1)UFOs and Aliens ?Possibly the most controversial theory is that crop circles are the work of visitors from other planets -- sort of like alien calling cards.People who agree with this theory say that the circles are either the imprint left by landing spacecraft or messages brought from afar for us earthlings. Some eyewitnesses claim to have seen UFO-like lights and strange noises emanating from crop circle sites.

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2) WindsProbably the most scientific theory says that crop circles are created by small currents of swirling winds called vortices. The spinning columns force a burst of air down to the ground, which flattens the crops. They are charged with energy. When dust particles get caught up in the spinning, charged air, they can appear to glow, which may explain the UFO-like glowing lights many witnesses have seen near crop circles. But the question remains -- how can a few seconds worth of spinning air create such intricate and perfectly defined crop circles?

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3) Earth EnergySome researchers believe that the earth creates its own energy, which forms the circles. One possible form of earth energy is electromagnetic radiation. In fact, scientists have measured strong magnetic fields inside crop circles, and visitors have sometimes reported feeling a tingling sensation in their body while in or near the circles.4) HumansAmong the most famous hoaxers are the British team of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, known as "Doug and Dave." In 1991, the duo came out and announced that they had made hundreds of crop circles since 1978. To prove that they were responsible, they filmed themselves for the BBC making a circle with a rope-and-plank contraption in a Wiltshire field.

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How Do Researchers Study Crop Circles?When researchers come to the scene of a crop circle, they conduct a thorough investigation, including the following methods:

•Talking to possible eyewitnesses and residents living nearby•Examining the location and the weather where circles have formed•Examining the affected crops and the surrounding soil with sophisticated techniques such as x-ray diffraction analysis•Taking electromagnetic energy readings inside and near the crop circles•Analyzing the circle patterns

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Researchers have been still pondering over the question of crop circles for several decades, but they still haven't come up with a real answer as to why they exist ?

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