Circular Thinking, published in Kindred Spirit magazine this month, threatens to re-open old wounds. Andover resident, Nick Parkins considers metaphysics, and evidence that suggests not all crop-circle makers are in fact fakers…
Crop-circles have always had form. In fact, according to a strange 17th century English wood-cut known as the Mowing Devil, they have beguiled and perplexed us for centuries. In more recent times however secular minds have sought to fashion the phenomenon in their own image.
In the 1980s, Terence Meaden first coined his Plasma Vortex theory. As head of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation, it was Meaden’s belief that localised weather disturbances accounted for crop formations as swirling vortices of electrically charged air. The theory, curiously, upon first glance, promised to shed light on strange luminous objects often caught dancing in close proximity to reported formations.
By the early 90s however the wind had changed. The plasma-vortex theory could find no answer to the highly-charged atmosphere that was about to consume it. Circle formations were clearly not merely the random act of swirls in corn; the geometric complexity appeared to imply an underlying intelligence, a purpose or control that was, for want of expression, consciously guided. The question was, by what, or by whom?
Inspired by Australian crop-circle accounts of the 60s a back-dated claim by circle-makers Doug Bower and Dave Chorley was eagerly embraced by the prevailing system of thought as a tidy denouement. In actual fact, the ends that justified whatever the means proved untidy and frayed. According to reports, self-confessed pranksters Bower and Chorley had seemingly plied their trade – creating 200 circles – in and around the Warminster area, with little more than a board and rope for 13 years, managing to delay suspicion from family, friends and their local community.
Despite the ease of convenience, troubling questions remained. Where was the proof? Worldwide, southern England remains home to some ninety per cent of known formations. Who or what had created circles found nationwide and further afield that went unclaimed? A similar phenomenon continues to this day in prairie grass, rice paddies, even tree-top canopies. The prescribed panacea did not make sense.
An increasing number of expert minds remain cynical and suspect the story as cover with which to dilute and discredit further enquiry. How after all does the act of mechanically flattening crops account for physiological changes documented in crop-circle formations? At the time, none of these curiosities seemed to matter. Enough mud had stuck to the flip-side of the stomp-board debate to dent the public mood. Whatever the true story, it made no odds. The media circus had packed up and gone…
Read the full story and discover why:
- Crop-circle makers are wrongly maligned in the mainstream;
- Traditional physics and dogma can offer no answer to the crop-circle enigma;
- Innate physiological changes in crops and soils also occur in many man-made formations;
- Reports by circle-makers of strange phenomena go unreported in the media;
- The split between circle-makers and believers is actually illusory; and why it is time for a re-think;
- The very essence of crop-circles might be all in the mind;
- The implications are far greater than we could possibly imagine.
To find your nearest stockist and read the full article click here. The May/June issue is on sale until the 8th June.
To read the full article on Nick Parkins’ site, click here.
