Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Crop pattern sparks fresh debate

"An elaborate pattern in flattened crops in a Wiltshire field has sparked fresh debate over one of rural Britain's most perplexing mysteries - crop circles."

I've become almost stodgily skeptical about crop glyphs. I think the cerealogical signal-to-noise ratio is even more withering than that of raw UFO sightings -- which is all the more depressing because crop circles are undeniably physical and amenable to empirical investigation. You can actually take your time and walk around a crop formation taking measurements, which is certainly more than you can say for the study of UFOs. (Or at least the ones we know about.)




Elaborate example of probable hoax in Crabtree, England.


I'm certainly open to the possibility that some circles are actual anomalies. But I suspect "real" circles are almost vanishingly scarce. Colin Andrews, self-professed circle "expert" (and believer), amazed field-watchers when he estimated that 80% of all formations were hoaxes. But 80% is most likely a wild understatement; I'd put the figure much closer to 99%.

Despite the endless proclamations of devout crop circle enthusiasts, these things can be faked surprisingly easily, and I fear the more elaborate specimens are hoaxes capitalizing on the misguided belief that manufacturing a circle is superhumanly difficult.

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