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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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100989
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10098900.058
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1990-09-18
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LETTERS, Page 10Theories on Crop Rings
Your description of the mysterious circles of flattened crops
found in southern England and elsewhere (WORLD, Sept. 18) cites
the opinion of Dr. Terence Meaden that the rings have nothing to
do with extraterrestrial activity. As a member of a
UFO-investigation organization, I firmly believe an outside
intelligence not related to our planet is the sole cause of this
phenomenon. Meaden's view that the circular depressions are created
by atmospheric disturbances has little substance, as the formations
are geometrically precise and the likelihood of random vortices
creating such patterns time and time again is small.
Richard Tarr
Bristol, England
There is no need to look for a "spinning ball of air" or
extraterrestrials to explain crop rings. Any gardener will tell
you that poor or excessive drainage of water from the soil
surrounding plants will cause them to lie down. Ah, you say, why
are these formations so perfectly symmetrical and geometric? Again
the answer is simple. There are man-made structures -- foundations
or monuments -- lying just underground that block the growth of
roots or impede drainage or prevent water's getting to the roots
of the vegetation. The result is that these plants collapse and
assume the shape of whatever is underground. Try this: put a round
plate below the surface of your lawn and see what happens after a
few days. Then you too can claim that a UFO has landed.
Robert Grant Wealleans
Encino, Calif.
Similar formations were photographed more than 20 years ago in
Australia. They were described in the late Raymond Palmer's U.S.
Flying Saucers magazine in April 1968. Called Tully nests, the
circular and swirled depressions (one was 30 ft. in diameter)
appeared to have resulted from terrific rotary forces and were
attributed to meteorological whirlwinds, small tornadoes or UFOs.
Kenneth Lloyd Larson
Los Angeles
The crop rings depicted are larger than but similar to the
fairy rings that occur on lawns in Europe and the U.S. The cause
of fairy rings is a fungus that starts at the center and works
outward into a beautifully precise circular ring; the outer edge
of the grass becomes much greener, as if fairies had danced in a
circle there. I suggest that the investigation be centered on the
plants or soil instead of on the atmosphere or UFOs. I saw fairy
rings some 6 ft. to 8 ft. in diameter in Portage County, Ohio,
during the 1980s.
Shirley A. Riemenschneider
Rootstown, Ohio