Alton Barnes, 2001 (Steve Alexander)
|
Crop circles are appearing during the 2001 season with as
much frequency as before, despite the predictions of skeptics
that this season would be a sparse one. The fact that a crop
circle hoaxer was arrested for trespassing and mischief after
last year's season, and the restrictions on movement in rural
areas due to the Foot-and-Mouth epidemic, caused many
researchers to predict that there would be few formations
during this year's season.
Liddington Castle, 2001 (Steve Alexander)
|
However, this has proved not to be the case. In May and
June of 2000, there were approximately 33 formations
reported. This year during the same period, 29 have been
reported, according to the database at
Cropcircleresea
rch.com.
An extremely wet spring slowed the growth of crops in the UK
this year, but other factors do not seem to have deterred the
circlemakers.
The scientific evidence that shows that unusual changes
take place in some crops affected by the phenomenon
continues to be ignored by researchers making the claim that
the majority of circles, or all of them, are manmade. Until a
methodical approach is taken to the scientific testing of crop
inside the formations, the debate will remain meaningless.
Much of this evidence has been gathered by
the
BLT Research Team and published either privately or in
scientific journals. The team consists of biophysicist Dr.
William C. Levengood, John Burke and Nancy Talbott.
Opinion: A lack of funding for objective research is really the
only thing preventing a solution to the crop circle mystery.
However, there are strong social and possibly political forces
that distort the whole process, causing a clash between
irrational skepticsm and irrational belief that leads to no net
gain of knowledge at all.
For more information, click here.
