The very first mention of the crop circles dates back to 1678 – an English brochure called “The Mowing-Devil” depicted a circle of lodged wheat. In August 1980, in Westbury, Wiltshire, South England, three strips of neatly tamped oats were found in a field. The stripes formed rather large circles. Their diameter was 18 meters, and the centers and edges were clearly marked. It seemed as if something massive had fallen from the sky, crushed the ears and then flew away again. There were no tracks outside the circle, so it was impossible to say that any car drove up to the field and spoiled the crops.
The idea of landing a “flying saucer” arose automatically. In 1981-1982, new circles appeared on the fields of Wiltshire and Hampshire several times. In July 1982, an amazing configuration of five circles suddenly appeared – one in the center and four around it. It became clear to any uninitiated that atmospheric vortices would hardly be able to construct such a correct and highly symmetrical composition. Ufologist Pat Delgado told the media that crop circles are signs that are left by some intelligent creatures (most likely aliens).
The number of crop circles increased rapidly over time. In 1987, about 50 mysterious circles, in 1988 – about 100, in 1989 – already 270. Some of the structures of 1990-1991 had an unprecedentedly complex pattern. In Wiltshire in 1990, on Tim Carson’s field, appeared an amazing composition. It consisted of nine interconnected circles with branches, similar to the key barbs, and rectangles parallel to each other. The farmer began selling tickets to enter his field so that people could look at the composition. Special centers for the study of crop circles arose. British Centre Officer George Wingfield suggested that such circles occur unusually quickly – perhaps in 10-15 seconds. It was because no one had ever seen how crop circles were formed. A specific “science” was formed, which was called cereology (the science of cereals).
Specific trait of symbology
The specifics of the crop circles are: Within one circle, all spikelets lie flat, but they are not broken, but bent in the same direction.
The edges of the figure are clear, never vague: the spikelets at the edge of the circle remain intact. The diameters of the circles vary widely – from the size of a car tire to one hundred meters. Some of them are surrounded by one or more circles, the spikelets in them may be laid in the direction opposite to the main circle. Some circles were accompanied by smaller circles.
General Meaning of symbology
The crop circle symbols can depict a variety of symbols: geometric shapes, animals, mathematical equations, symbols from ancient cultures, diagrams of molecules of organisms. About 80% of the “field patterns” are fakes, i.e. made by human hands. However, the remaining 20% provide unprecedented interest for researchers and various enthusiasts. There is only information from several eyewitnesses who observed the phenomenon in different places and at different times. All of these people claim that the formation of patterns occurs in a few moments and is accompanied by strange light and sound, reminiscent of crackling.
