TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/091889/09188900.033

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 3.7 KB | 72 lines

                                                                                WORLD, Page 50

BRITAIN

Around and Around in Circles


Who -- or what -- is creating those mysterious crop-field rings?


    Finally Britain has an issue that cuts across social,
economic and political lines: something very odd is going on in
the farmlands of southern England. Strange circular depressions,
up to 100 ft. in diameter, have appeared in crop fields
throughout the area, leaving no clues about how they got there.
These puzzling circles -- large sweeping areas neatly flattened
in a swirling pattern -- do not exhibit the kind of rough damage
caused by harsh weather, animals or humans. Researchers studying
the phenomenon have convincingly ruled out man-made hoaxes, yet
they differ on how to explain the occurrences. The search for
answers has even sparked interest in Parliament, where two M.P.s
have called for the government to investigate.

    The first recorded sighting of the circles took place in
1976, when a farmworker at Headbourne Worthy in Hampshire
noticed a large circular pattern in a field near the A34
highway. Since 1980, when serious research into the mystery
began, more than 600 occurrences have been reported in Britain,
including almost 250 this year. While there have been reports
of circles from as far away as the Soviet Union, Japan and New
Zealand, by far the greatest number have appeared in Hampshire
and Wiltshire. To some, it is no coincidence that this area of
southern England is also home to the similarly mysterious stone
formations at Stonehenge and Avebury.

    Whatever the cause, the circles are particularly intriguing
because they are beautiful geometric formations that level
crops in a precise pattern. The plant, usually a grain, although
mustard, soybeans and sugar beets have also been affected, is
flattened in a distinctive swirl; nonetheless, it continues to
ripen until ready for harvest. The formations range from single
rings to more complex quintuplets and even a "Celtic cross" of
four circles linked by one large ring. This year two new
patterns were spotted: a ringed circle with swirls in opposite
directions, and the "tadpole," a single circle with a long
curling tail.

    The recent upsurge in circle sightings coincides with the
publication of two new books on the subject. The most carefully
documented is The Circles Effect and Its Mysteries by Dr.
Terence Meaden, a physicist who has been tracking the puzzling
formations since 1980. Meaden speculates that the disturbances
may come from what he calls the "plasma vortex phenomenon," a
previously unknown form of atmospheric disturbance with
associated electrical effects. He contends that a "spinning ball
of air" that is highly charged with electricity hits the crop
field and marks out the circle. But how could something as wild
as a vicious wind produce such carefully sculpted creations?

    The other book, Circular Evidence by Pat Delgado and Colin
Andrews, is handsomely illustrated but largely anecdotal. It
attempts to link the circles to such paranormal events as
luminous apparitions and UFOs. Some observers support such
supernatural notions, claiming that one of the groupings might
be formed by landing pods from a spaceship.

    Humbug, responds Dr. Meaden. "Those who like to fantasize
that something from outer space is responsible can be excluded,"
he insists. "What does cause these circles is better than
fiction." But with or without government research funding, it
may be a while before students of the phantasmagoria come up
with a totally convincing explanation. Indeed, some suspect that
researchers and the locals may enjoy their novel oddity so much
that another ring is more interesting than a conclusive answer.