Crop Circles
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Crop Circles are geometric patterns that appear mysteriously in crop fields. The crop is not cut, but is usually laid flat and most often swirled into an attractive floor pattern. Most patterns appear in cereal crops such as wheat and barley, but circles have been known to occur (in lesser numbers) in oilseed rape, maize, linseed, grass and even borage – to name a few.
There are many theories about who or what makes the crop circles. Whirl-winds, earth energies, extraterrestrials and human hoaxers to name but a few. What makes the crop circle subject so fascinating is that anyone and everyone can take part in the search for answers. There has been some very interesting scientific work carried out on the crop and soils from the circles which should be investigated by all those with an interest in the phenomenon. Much the same goes for the ultimate meaning behind the designs, there has been some fascinating research into the geometry and mathematics of the crop circle designs and shapes, which suggest that the designs are not arbitrary or meaningless, but quite the opposite. People have connected the circles to subjects as diverse as star constellations and quantum physics to alchemy and spirituality. Some of the most fascinating research is concerned with shape and vibration (Cymatics) and the collective unconscious.
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Ghost Circles: designs reappearing the next year in the same location but different crop
(lemmy.world)
I have to concede that the design of essentially every crop circle so far could potentially be reproduced by man given enough time, since some of the formations that are known to be man made can be very complex and beautiful. Human artists are amazingly talented and are capable of pulling off great designs.
However this concept of ghost circles suggests that in addition to the known man made formations, there is also something anomalous happening in the "genuine" formations. Granted, this ghost phenomenon doesn't happen with every formation. If it did, then we could conclude that the pressure of the planks or rollers used by humans would compact the soil and alter the growth of the next crop planted in that field. But we don't ever see the return of formations that are known to be man made.
So there has to be some kind of energetic or chemical change happening in the soil of the "genuine" formations that affects the plant growth of the next year's crop.
In John Root's fantastic presentation "The Majesty And Mystery of Crop Circles", he shows that this phenomenon doesn't always manifest itself in the same ways. While it can lead to stunted plant growth in the next year's crop:
It can also lead to enhanced plant growth:
And also it can have effects on snow, like delaying the melting of the snow where the formation was:
Or even accelerating the melting of snow:
Here's a few other examples of ghost formations:
Also more ghost pics of the Cley Hill formation above, taken between the two pics in the pics above
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If one believes that some of the "real" crop circles are not made by planking (human creation) then there are a number of interesting theories to explain how the crops are bent. Rapeseed, one of the favorite mediums, is a very brittle plant which usually will break if the long narrow stalks are bent. While there are many broken stalks in the crop circles, many plants exhibit a very unusual phenomenon where the "nodes" are bent, not broken.
Just like bamboo grows in segments, rapeseed stalks have segments which are connected by a special formation called a node which has the ability to be somewhat dynamic and orient the growing plant to maximize exposure to the sun. The node is not flexible, but it does have active cells that can grow quicker on one side or the other to change the plants orientation.
In "real" crop circles it has been observed that the nodes are often bent -- sometimes at 90 degrees -- and this accounts for the horizontal positioning that makes the designs of the crop circle. Other nodes exhibit holes in the nodes, while surrounding crops show none of these changes.
One good theory is that some sudden and extreme heat source has cooked the moisture inside the crops, causing the nodes to become soft (as if steamed from the inside) and, in some cases, to pop open under pressure. Indeed this has become the objective method for determining if a crop circle is "real" and samples of the plants are now routinely gathered for this assessment.
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