Mysterious Suburban Chicago Crop Circles

NBC 5 Chicago ^ | 7/26/02 | NBC 5 Chicago

[Dengar01]

Timing Suspicious On Mysterious Suburban Crop Circles
Could Eerie Mystery Have To Do With Movie Release?

Is it a case of mysterious crop circles -- or an elaborate movie hoax?

A soybean farmer in Naperville said the broken, concentric rings that appeared in a field off Diehl Road left him scratching his head.

"Have you ever heard of something so crazy?" Steve Berning said. "Unbelievable."

Berning said the circles appeared last weekend and damaged more than 10 percent of his 8-acre field.

The circles do resemble similar ones seen in England, but in this case, the timing of their appearance in the western suburb is a bit suspicious.

Two weeks from now, "Signs" hits the big screen. The movie starring Mel Gibson involves -- you guessed it -- mysterious crop circles.

William Leone, an investigator with the Mutual UFO Network, said soil analysis could determine whether the circles have human or extraterrestrial origins.

But Illinois Farm Bureau spokesman Dennis Vercler scoffed at that idea.

"Since I don't believe in UFOs -- at least not soybean-destroying UFOs -- I have to assume whoever did this did it intentionally as a malicious prank," Vercler said.

Meanwhile, Berning doesn't seem overly upset about the circles.

"There's some damage, which upsets me," Berning said. "But I'm more curious than anything. I"ll always be asking questions."

[balrog666]

Obvious fakes.

Not fakes, art!

[FormerLurker]

As far as interesting artifacts go, this one fits the bill..

Discovery of an Ancient 3D "Relief Map" of the Ural Region. Discovered in China!

Do you think it impossible that in the course of at least 994,000 years of time that went by while we were here on this planet but before our history begins, that human civilization just may have done something other than dwell in caves?

[FormerLurker]

The dot-matrix image IS symmetrical if you consider a human face as such. The binary message is interesting, but does lean towards something that was hoaxed. I haven't read anything about the condition of the crops in that formation, so I don't know what the facts are on that...

[FormerLurker]

Sorry Jedi, but I'd say it's got hoax written all over it.

[discostu]

Watch it again. There are certain questions about that film.
1 - It's got some fast jitteriness, this is often the sign of a hand held camera and speed up film (time lapsed photography the hard way), also notice we have no for of time signature to indicate how much time has truly ellapsed.
2 - There's no form of physical perspective in the film. We have no idea how large or how far away anything in it is.
3 - The lighting is odd, it's dim like twilight but it doesn't appear to have the long shadows of twilight, again with no time signature also. So not only do we not know how long a period is filmed, we have no idea when it was filmed. IMHO it looks like it could be post production light enhanced night filming.
4 - Notice that the field is being filmed BEFORE the mysterious lights appear. This raises the question of why the person was filming the field in the first place, it looks pretty mundane and featureless, unless you know something interesting is going to happen.

If you watch close you can see a definite progression as the circles get formed, sometimes more than one seems to be made at a time but it's clearly not all at once.

Because of all the lack of certainty in the film the mystery light COULD be UFOs projecting some sort of bending beam. Or it could be two electric lanterns on sticks being used by people to help see what they're doing. Or it could even be light from BEHIND the filmer reflecting off a window (one of the more popular "UFO" films out there is quite clearly the record light of the camcorder reflecting off the window, you can tell because no matter how fast the filmer moves that camera around the light always stays in the same part of the frame).

[PatrickHenry]

Do you think it impossible that in the course of at least 994,000 years of time that went by while we were here on this planet but before our history begins, that human civilization just may have done something other than dwell in caves?

Our species has been around maybe 5% or 10% of that time. And yes, it's impossible for them to have done anything of significance without leaving a lot of evidence behind. If it pleases you to believe that the "Old Ones" are coming back, and are scrunching up the corn fields to tell us about it, that's fine with me. It's your brain. Use it as you wish.

[Jedi Master Yoda]

Sorry Jedi, but I'd say it's got hoax written all over it.

Can you tell me the reasons why you think the crop formation in post #519 is a hoax?

Sure, it is not symmetrical, but does asymmetry automatically disqualify a crop formation from being authentic?

[discostu]

Funny that a Star Wars fan should post this, because my first instinct was that it looked like the kind of "cultural art" Lucas like to put in the background of the Star Wars series to give his societies deapth and history. Of course since it's non-symmetrical it's clearly a fake. Perhaps you're taking credit this one? ;-)

[discostu]

While the "subject" of the face picture is arguably symmetrical, the "circle" itself is not. According to everything you've put out here if it's not symmetrical it's a hoax.

[Jedi Master Yoda]

I'm not taking credit for it, I was just curious what everyone's reaction would be to the crop formation in post #519.

[FormerLurker]

Can you tell me the reasons why you think the crop formation in post #519 is a hoax?

The circles are irregular, there are obvious paths connecting the circles which would need to be there for humans with planks and ropes to wander through the field while creating the formation, and the pattern is non-geometric. There is no symmetry reflected in the execution of the design nor in the design itself.

And this WOULD be the perfect time for hoaxsters to get some attention in relation to the movie "Signs". And it would also be the perfect time for those wishing to discredit crop circles to perpetrate a hoax or two in order to reinforce the claim that all crop circles are man-made by hoaxsters.

[discostu]

I think it's pretty. Artistically I've always liked crop circles. I just haven't found a reason to think they're made by people other than over educated taggers.

[balrog666]

And it would also be the perfect time for those wishing to discredit crop circles to perpetrate a hoax or two in order to reinforce the claim that all crop circles are man-made by hoaxsters.

Uh-oh, now it's a conspiracy. He's definitely entering The Medved Zone!

[PatrickHenry]

He's definitely entering The Medved Zone!

He spent his adolescence there, and he's moved on, way beyond the Medved Zone. This guy's way out there, on the north pole of Uranus.

[dennisw]

Hey you didn't post information on what kind of crop it was.
______________________

Barley and wheat fields in the UK. Often a winter crop that is ready in spring or early summer.

I cannot remember a corn field having a crop circle.

[dennisw]

3 - I have proof, the proof is the numerous films of people actually making crop circles.
___________________

SOME PROOF! They make crop circles that are quickly seen as "off" and not as good as the real thing. The real thing that no one seems to take credit for.

[FormerLurker]

Our species has been around maybe 5% or 10% of that time.

So now you're claiming that Homo Sapiens have only been around for 50,000 to 100,000 years?

Well, if you look at the Timeline of the Hominids, it appears that modern Homo Sapiens have been here for around 500,000 years. BUT, you'll also see that "archaic" Homo Sapiens date back to around 1.2 million years.

---

 

 

       Timeline of the Hominids

    (in millions of years)
 

5.0                4.0               3.0                2.0                   1.0                    .0
  |------------- |-------------|-------------|----------------|----------------|

                                         A.robustus *********
                                            A.boisei  ***************
                       A.aethiopicus *****
 
A.ramidus*
A.anamensis****
A.afarensis**************
                   A.africanus***************
 
                                      H.habilis*************
                                              H.erectus***********************
                                                        archaic H.sapiens *************
                                                                            Neanderthals*******
                                                                      modern H.sapiens********
  |---------------|------------|-------------|---------------|----------------|
 
 
 

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[Gumlegs]

Obvious fakes.

Not fakes, art!

Maybe it's both: farts!

[FormerLurker]

According to everything you've put out here if it's not symmetrical it's a hoax.

If the formation is geometric, but it is asymmetrical and geometrically incorrect, then it is flawed. If the formation is a human face, and it is symmetrical and of proper proportions, then it is not flawed.

[discostu]

They make crop circles. That's where you can stop. We have seen PEOPLE make crop circles. Therefore it is entirely within the realm of possibility for PEOPLE to make crop circles. Therefore in order for us to accept that some crop circles are not made by PEOPLE you need evidence to put it outside the realm of possibility.

The simplest answer is the most likely. That's is the religion of logic. Until you stack up extra ordinary evidence that moves the activity up in complexity past the current simplest answer there is no reason for any person using logic to assess the situation to not assume they're made by people.