New theories on the origins of crop circles

Crop circles have mystified and fascinated us for centuries. Swiss researcher, Werner Anderhub, has been studying the phenomenon for more than a decade. He explained his theories to Michael Morris.

Crop circles have mystified and fascinated us for centuries. The sudden appearance of geometric patterns in farmers’ fields has many convinced that extraterrestrial powers are at work.

Swiss researcher, Werner Anderhub, has been studying crop circles for more than a decade. He points out that crop circles need not be circles at all. They take the form of a variety of geometric patterns, from simple squares to many-sided shapes.

Originally, they were thought to be the work of the devil. Werner Anderhub tells how, in 1678, farmers would talk of Satan “mowing” their fields. Others thought they were caused by fairies.

Several centuries on, we still have no idea how or why crop circles exist. They do appear to be evolving, though. Werner Anderhub tells how they are growing in size and becoming more complex.

“In the beginning, they were maybe three metres in diameter. Now we have formations of more than a kilometre in diameter. Most are between 70 and 150 metres.”

Sceptics dismiss these mysterious formations as the work of noctural pranksters, who get their kicks by flattening wheat or corn plants into strange shapes. The problem with this theory, says Werner Werner Anderhub, is that no one has been ever caught making a crop circle.

“You could make these formations. But the question is, how long would you need? And how could you do it without being seen? Huge crop circles have appeared in a matter of two hours. It seems impossible that they are the work of humans.”

Moreover, he says, crop circles are not confined to farmers’ fields. They have been reported in snow and ice in Canada and Scandinavia.

Werner Anderhub says work by researchers in the United States suggests they are caused by some kind of microwaves. He himself says “new” or “fresh” crop circles contain some sort of electro-magnetic force, which produces electric “tingles” in the body, and can play havoc with cameras and aircraft instruments.

Werner Anderhub believes crop circles are written in what the Italian astronomer, Galileo Galilei, called “the language of the universe – mathematics”. And he says they are becoming more articulate.

In the last two decades, there has been a substantial increase in both the number and mathematical complexity of crop circles. In 1999, there were 250 reports of sightings worldwide, 160 in the British Isles alone.

Werner Anderhub’s new book: “The Mystery of the Crop Circle”, will be published this summer.