For a lot of people, Crop Circles are the work of hoaxers or aliens. The truth is that Crop Circles don’t fall into either category. That doesn’t mean they aren’t strange – even paranormal, though – as you’ll now find out why. The fact is, there is some genuinely weird activity in Crop Circles, but there’s no definitive data to suggest it’s the work of extraterrestrials. Even in the slightest. It was back in the 1980s when I first heard about Crop Circles. And it was in the 1990s – in my twenties – when I first took a trip down to Wiltshire, England, where most of the Crop Circles were seen. That’s still the case to this day, for the most part. Now, let’s look at some of the weirdness that surrounds the Crop Circle puzzle, and why there aren’t any E.T.’s in sight. As one example of the strangeness, there’s the matter of an ancient castle and one of those circular creations, as you’ll see. I spent most of 2006 back in England, and in the latter part of July of that year, I received a telephone call late one night from deep in the heart of the county of Wiltshire. It was my good friend Matt Williams – one of just a handful of people in the world who, thus far, that have been arrested, charged and duly convicted for making under cover of darkness a “Pictogram”-style Crop Circle . In reality, the charge, as it usually is, was of causing damage to private property: a field. Blah-blah-blah. Whatever.
(Nick Redfern)
Did I know, Matt asked me in somewhat excited tones, that a fairly complex Crop Circle design had appeared only days earlier next to Chartley Castle? No, I did not, I told him. But, I soon hit the road to have a look at it, as it wasn’t far from my dad’s place. And with that information now digested, I will acquaint you with the next player in the odd saga. Jane Adams is a devotee of Wicca who I first met in a Wiltshire Crop Circle back in August 1997. She has an intriguing theory to account for the presence of those out of place feathers. She is of the opinion that the presence of the feathers at Chartley Castle is evidence that the people she believes are guilty of making the formations in the crops use the peacock’s “Evil Eye” in what she describes as “black ceremonies.” Interestingly, peacock feathers were all over the place. Now, onto Crop Circles and large black cats. In the summer of 2007, I spoke with Marcus Matthews, a researcher of mysterious, large cats in Britain, who told me that he was then currently investigating a case involving a person who had seen a “huge black cat” sitting inside the confines of a Wiltshire Crop Circle. Precisely how we explain these rogue cases that suggest a link between Crop Circles and exotic beasts and unknown animals, I have no firm idea. However, I am inclined to think we have not heard the last of such tales.
(Nick Redfern)
How about other strange things in Crop Circles? There’s plenty of them. Matthew Williams told me: “There was one time, I’d rather not say when or where exactly, as I could get into trouble for admitting I trespassed on the farmer’s land and made the formation. Plus, I had a friend named Paul helping me with this one. We were making this circle when we noticed these three bright lights – small balls of light coming towards the field. We watched them; we were fascinated.” That’s right: the strange phenomena that Matt encountered was in the very crop formation that he had created. Matt has an explanation for that: “I was given countless tales of UFO activity and even strange synchronicities which took place in the man-made Crop Circles, and which made the Crop Circle makers wonder if they were being influenced by a higher, guiding hand – perhaps at the design stage, or out in the field. I believe that the human Crop Circle makers may be guided by a connection to a higher intelligence, a gestalt or group mind; and the symbols that are put down are deep-routed subconscious expressions. This would explain why some telepaths or psychics claim to have seen Crop Circle designs before they appear – because we are all dialed into the same group-mind ‘internet.’”
An Avebury, Wiltshire Stone (Nick Redfern)
Even more amazing, Matt told me: “The synchronistic events which happen each year in the unfolding designs that the Crop Circle makers come out with are often remarked as being too much of a coincidence. Crop Circle designs have been repeated in different parts of the country by teams who didn’t share designs beforehand. There have even been teams who have gone out on the same night to the same field, made designs, not knowing the other team was present, and their designs have had similarities.” Matt continued: “Why do Crop Circles have power? I know that crop is a living medium. Unlike any other type of canvas that an artist may use, crop has a life-force energy which, when used on such a large scale, makes crops blend natural Earth-energy magic with human-energy magic. What Crop Circle-makers may have rediscovered is the ancient art of natural magic – working with large emblems as part of the energy system of the Earth. Take sacred sites such as stone-circles: these were erected as temples for people to visit, perhaps as part of a sacred quest seeking answers. Today, Crop Circles fill a similar role, attracting people who ask questions and putting visitors closer to paranormal sources.”
My view on all of this? Yes, there is a real Crop Circle enigma. But, as all of the above demonstrates, that same enigma has zero to do with visiting aliens. It’s wilder.