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."

[Dengar01]

I live in Naperville a suburb 30 minutes west of Chicago. This just happened yesterday into today. I haven't seen the circle inperson but it has been on all of the local news stations.

My honest opinion is it's a hoax. But the circle was very elaborate. I'm going to head out there later today it is about 5 minutes from my house so I'll post some pictures here later.

[michigander]

[mhking]

Y'sure it's not a publicity stunt for the movie?

[alisasny]

ITS CONCENTRIC CIRCLES not RINGS : ))

[Notforprophet]

I also live in Naperville, and this was on the news here today. I seriously doubt it's anything more than a malicious prank.

Hey Dengar01, howdy neighbor!

[Dengar01]

See I have no idea the local media is blowing this out of proportion. This has been at the top of the stories on the news so far today.

The thing is, Naperville is a large city and the area where this soybean field is, is located around a heavy traffic area. So it is odd that the police couldn't catch anyone in the act when two busy roads are right by this field.

Like I said I am heading out there later on today to check it out for myself.

[Dengar01]

Then I guess you were surprised as me when they said on the news "crop circles in Naperville". It was very strange especially in the area. I do think it is a publicity stunt though since it is right near the Cantera movie theatres. But whoever pulled off this prank was very crafty. But my only question is why would anyone choose Naperville to do a prank like this?

[Aquinasfan]

< Homer Simpson voice > "Mmmm.... Crop rings."

[Momaw Nadon]

Here's a cool picture of a recent crop circle.

[RightWhale]

Is that the subject of this investigation? If so, it is clearly two guys with boards and a rope that did it. Most crop circles are obvious hoaxes. There are a few that make you wonder, but this isn't one of those.

[Paid4This]

You can do just about any pattern, if Michagander's pic is the one from Naperville, it even looks like the ones in the movie posters. Copycat from the movie or out and out publicity stunt for the movie.

[babylonian]

"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.

Vercler sounds like the typical ignorant knee-jerk American reaction. Anybody who still believes that somebody named Al and Fritz sneak out at night and make all of these crop circles, most of which, nowadays, are incredibly complex, has their brain on hold.

[Dengar01]

Michigander's pic is the actual pic of the crop circle. My first thought was the closeness in proximity to the huge movie theater. So hoax seems to be the best answer. However, the local news has given a large amount of coverage to this story.

[RightWhale]

That one is obvious hoax, too, but nicely done.

[Rebelbase]

RE#9, Impressive.

[pupdog]

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

OK. I'm about as Fox Mulder as they get in terms of giving the benefit of the doubt to the "supernatural." But the thing is, we've already seen videotapes of people making these things. It's not like we don't know we have the capability to do this.

So could someone give me any plausible reason why we should suspect that all of these are anything but human created? I'm not trying to bash the believers, but Occam's Razor is pretty clear on this one.

Seriously, any advocate or devil's advocate, please speak up. I'm really curious.

[michigander]

That's the picture from the sourced site for the original article.

[RedWing9]

Better vote those open border types out of office, Chicagoland. The aliens are marking territory...

[uglybiker]

[Siegfried]

ITS CONCENTRIC CIRCLES not RINGS : ))

Right. If it were rings, then it would be a promo for the next Lord of the Rings installment, The Two Towers, due out around next Christmas. Everybody knows that!