Crop Circles

I live in Wiltshire (England), and Wiltshire, if anywhere, is the beating heart of crop-circle country. And it is in north Wiltshire, in the area that includes Avebury, and the Vale of Pewsey that the greatest concentration occurs.

But it was only last month that I saw my first crop circle. I was walking on the southern flank of Milk Hill, the highest point in Wiltshire. The photographs I took of it  gave a very foreshortened view, but it was impressive enough. I checked it out on a website I visit from time to time - http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2011/milkhill/milkhill2011a.html

Now, what really interests me about this and similar web sites are the explanations given with regard to possible causes of these phenomena. It would seem that there are, broadly, four points of view:

1. That crop circles are a man made phenomenon – guys going out in the fields while no-one is looking, and making pretty patterns with ropes, planks or whatever.
2. They are natural, but terrestrial phenomena, e.g quirky weather conditions.
3. They are supernatural – essentially the work of spirits, gods, fairies or whatever you like.
4. They are the work of extraterrestrial intelligence, very probably in an attempt to communicate with we earthlings.

I find them all fascinating. For myself I am a hard scientist, and think that all such phenomena are going to be explained, if ever they are, in terms of the activity of earthmen and women. I was going to say “intelligent” activity, but I don’t know. It seems a pretty dumb thing to do with one’s time. And I am quite sure that the farmers whose crops are mucked about would agree.