Case file No. 13 · Fields, photos and lights
Crop circles
The claim
Crop circles and the complex patterns in fields cannot be made by people. They are made by alien craft, or by unknown natural forces.
Explained
People make them. The first makers said so and showed how.
Two men who started making circles in 1978 showed journalists how in 1991. People now make complex designs overnight with simple tools. A few studies of plant changes have been claimed as evidence, but we found no independent study showing that the changes differ from those in ordinary flattened crops.
Short answer
Crop circles became widely known in southern England in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1991 two men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, told a newspaper that they had started making circles in 1978 as a joke, using a plank, rope and a wire sight, and demonstrated it [1][2]. Since then, other makers have come forward and large designs are made overnight with simple tools [4]. Claims of plant changes, such as lengthened stem nodes, have been published [3], but we found no independent study showing that they differ from the changes in crops flattened by ordinary weather. No physical trace has pointed to anything other than human activity [1][4].
What supporters can show
Some are found overnight with no visible tracks
Plants in some circles show differences
- Source
- The biophysicist W. C. Levengood reported lengthened growth nodes and small cavities in the stems of plants taken from formations, compared with control plants [3].
- Shows
- That differences in plant growth were measured in some samples.
- Does not show
- That they show a non-human cause. Plants knocked flat bend up toward light through normal growth, and we found no independent study showing that the changes differ from that response [3].
A cloud of energy or “plasma” makes them
Claims that supporters often repeat and that we looked for but could not confirm in a reliable source.
- Circles that appear in seconds. Reports of people who saw a circle form. We found no recording or independent witness record.
- Soil changes and radiation. Reports of changed soil or magnetism. We found no independent laboratory study.
What science found
The first makers explained how
In 1991 Doug Bower and Dave Chorley told a newspaper that they had begun making circles in 1978. Their method used a wooden plank to flatten the crop, a rope and a wire sighting device on a cap. They demonstrated it to journalists, who watched them make a circle [1][2]. They said they were inspired by earlier reports from Australia.
Other makers came forward after the confession
After Bower and Chorley's confession, others came forward. Many pranksters simply walked through dry fields at night, flattening the crop as they went [4].
The formations got more complex as the makers learned
Early formations were single circles. Over the years, groups of makers added rings, geometric forms and fractal designs. This looks like human craft developing, not a steady pattern from outside [1].
Plant changes occur in ordinary flattened crops
Plants that are flattened by wind and rain, or by people, bend upward by growth within days. We found no independent study showing that the reported changes in nodes differ from this normal response [3].
What is still open
Not every formation has a named maker, and some makers keep their identity secret. This is expected, as an anonymous prank is the nature of the activity [1].
If this happens to you
If you find a crop circle on a farm, respect the farmer: trampling and visitors can damage the crop. A circle can be a prank, an advertisement or an art work [4].
Sources
- Schnabel, J. (1993). Round in Circles: Poltergeists, Pranksters and the Crop Circle Mystery. Hamish Hamilton.
- Today (London newspaper), 9 September 1991. Report on Doug Bower and Dave Chorley demonstrating how they made crop circles.
- Levengood, W. C. (1994). Anatomical anomalies in crop formation plants. Physiologia Plantarum, 92(2), 356–363.
- JSTOR Daily. Article on how crop circles were a hoax. Source
Change log
15 November 2026: First publication. Verdict: Explained.