For years, mysterious crop circles have appeared in fields throughout Europe, and their sightings have dated back to the 1500s. Crop circles are areas of farm fields (typically of wheat and corn plants) that are matted down to create detailed designs. The designs are either circular or intricate connections of geometric shapes. The crops utilized in crop circles are typically left undamaged and able to grow normally (Stephanie Wilson). The interest and popularity of this supposed phenomenon began to flourish in the media during the 1970s due to increased crop circle sightings in England.
Links between the legend of a “Mowing-Devil” and crop circles began throughout Europe during the 1600s. This apparent devil was a wood cutter who destroyed a farmer’s oat field with crop circle-like images. The legend states that the farmer rejected a mower’s price to mow the farm and said he’d rather the devil mow his field instead. Today, the commonly held belief is that these designs were created by aliens through electromagnetic radiation. Many crop circle witnesses have observed unusual lights in the night sky along with craft beams on fields where crop circles have emerged. In England, two men, Arthur Shuttlewood and Bryce Bond, viewed the creation of a crop circle from 100 feet away, noting that the crops were flattened within seconds (crystalinks).
Skeptics believe that these designs are of human creation while others believe that they are too complex and too symmetrical to have been created by humans – especially at night. A group of researchers in New York proved how easy crop circles are to create, though. Using a rope and a “stalk stomper,” they made a 100 foot long design with 2 circles in a field of oat plants. They concluded that domestic plants allowed for better, easier crop circle formation and that crop circle creations are rather simple and quick. Circle symmetry can easily be accomplished with a rope as well (Kevin Christopher). In 1991, two men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, revealed that they began making crop circles in the 1970s as a prank using tools similar to the researchers in New York.
Clearly, crop circles are a hoax. Although it is pretty disappointing, it's also pretty obvious.
I actually saw a documentary a while ago that had, i believe, those two men you wrote about. The only unbelievable thing about crop circles is how unbelievable easy it is to make them. The aftermath of these crop circles is just another instance of people who are unwilling to think about things and instead just assume aliens did it.
The popular media and self-help industry is rife with extraordinary claims. Alien experimentation, psychic detectives, mediums, ESP, extreme therapies and miracle products are all examples of how pseudoscience and the paranormal have become prevalent, popular and even an extremely lucrative enterprise. The majority of these examples defy the basic laws of science, logic and common sense yet they appeal to a large number of people. Here we will use science, specifically a psychological perspective to explore these popular theories and claims, and learn to think critically in order to be able to constructively evaluate them.
he commonly held belief is that these designs were created by aliens through electromagnetic radiation. Many crop circle witnesses have observed unusual lights in the night sky along with craft beams on fields where crop circles have emerged. In 
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I actually saw a documentary a while ago that had, i believe, those two men you wrote about. The only unbelievable thing about crop circles is how unbelievable easy it is to make them. The aftermath of these crop circles is just another instance of people who are unwilling to think about things and instead just assume aliens did it.
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