What are crop circles?
Crop circles are circular designs made in fields by flattening the standing crops. The crops in the circles have their stems bent down to make the patterns. In some circles, the stems are bent very near the ground; in others, they are bent higher up in the middle of the stem. The stems are never broken, just gently folded down. At the time crop circles began to be talked about in the media in the 1970s in England, the crop circles were just that —circular in design — but in later years, the designs assumed complicated geometric shapes and could no longer be called circles. They appeared overnight and were reported from all over the world, from Canada to South America and Japan. Nobody could figure out how the circles were being formed or who or what was creating them. There were suggestions that they were made by aliens but scientists pooh-poohed that idea. They said, and continue to maintain that there has to be a natural explanation for them. In 1991, two Englishmen Doug Bower and Dave Chorley claimed that they had made all the circles reported in England until 1987 as a prank. They demonstrated how it could be done with simple tools like a loop of wire, rope and a wooden plank. However, crop circles continue to intrigue people, especially as the first crop circle observations in England date back to 1678. Most crop circle researchers say that while there is no denying that a great majority of the crop designs are man made, there are a few that just can’t be explained.
