Monday 6 August 2012

Ever increasing circles

Summer is now upon us and as you travel through the Wiltshire countryside, some strange patterns may well catch your eye as you pass by. Why does Wiltshire have so many crop circles? It may be coincidence but the geography and geology of the area appears to increase the chances of them appearing. Data suggests that in the UK, 71% of crop circles are found on chalk land and 87% are found to be above aquifers. Also agriculturally Wiltshire is ideally suited to grow cereal crops and oilseed rape-which are the most favoured mediums of the crop circle artistes, whoever they may be.


Crop circles are classed as recent phenomenon; they have only started to come to notice in the last 25 years or so. In fact, these oddities have been reported in at least 54 countries. From America to Africa, there have been many accounts over the centuries. These weird geometric shapes have not only appeared in crops as the name would suggest, but also in snow, grass, sand and reeds. In almost all cases, the shape has been circular and usually a very basic structure.
During the 1990s crop circle activity increased substantially and the designs became more elaborate. Up until now, the shapes had been explained away by many due to their simplicity. The first square to appear within a crop formation was recorded at Winterbourne Bassett in 1998. This particular pattern was believed to represent the cub octahedron. Since then there have been images of aliens, Celtic symbols and even a TV programme’s logo.

This is taken from http://www.wshc.eu/blog.html