Historic Crop Circle
Research

Crop circles in the Google Earth England
1945 Overlay

Historic Crop Circles in Aerial
Photographs.

by Greg Jefferys MA, BA, dip
Ed.

Copyright 2012

I would particuarly like to acknowledge the
work of Terry Wilson, whose book The Secret History of Crop
Circles was
fundemental in stimulating my interest in historic crop circles. If you would
like a copy of his book please contact Terry direct via his website Old
Circles.

Abstract

When crop circles first began to attract
public interest, in the early 1980’s, there was an effort by several groups of
scientists to explain their occurrence.  However serious scientific
research all but ceased in the early 1990’s due to a perception amongst
researchers, and the general public, that crop circles were hoaxes perpetuated
by a group of publicity seeking artists. Conversely it has been claimed by a
number of authorities that crop circles began appearing in the English
countryside at least 300 years before the period when the hoaxers claim to have
begun their work.  Indeed a study of the existing literature dealing with
crop circles indicates that this unexplained empirical phenomenon has been
occurring in the grain fields of England for at least the last one hundred years
in measurable, statistically significant numbers.

This paper will show, using aerial
photographs primarily from the Google Earth 1945 overlay, that the number of
crop circles appearing each summer has been relatively constant for at least the
last 70 years and that these historic crop circles cannot be explained by the
“hoax theory”. This removal of the validity of the hoaxers’ claims means that
crop circles remain an unexplained natural phenomenon deserving of serious
investigation by academic institutions and other research organisations.

Background

Crop circles began attracting considerable
media attention and public interest in the early 1980’s riding on the back of
the almost hysterical media coverage of UFOs. Then in 1991 two artists, Dave
Chorley and Doug Bower claimed that they were responsible for the creation of
all English crop circles.  They stated that their activities were intended
as a UFO related hoax and that they began their activities in 1978. As a result
of their claims they gained considerable international fame as well as travel
and financial benefits. Later in the 1990’s several other artists began to
garner media attention, and income, by claiming that they were also the creators
of crop circles. All of these people claimed they created the crop circles
simply; by using planks to press down grain crops to create a circle or circular
pattern. These claims have been disputed by numerous people and groups who
believe that most crop circles do not have a human origin.

It is reported that over the past thirty
years more than ten thousand crop circles have appeared world wide and that
various individuals and organisations have kept reliable and detailed records of
annual totals.  These records indicate that about one hundred (+- 20%) crop
circles appear each year in the English countryside and about three hundred,
each year, world wide. There also exists a body of reputable scientific
literature describing the appearance of well defined and unusual circular
formations in grain crops that goes back to 1880 and includes a detailed
description by the late Sir Patrick Moore.  One of these early
descriptions, from 1932, also includes a photograph and diagram of a cluster of
crop circles, in a field of grain, taken from the vantage point of a hill.

Dr. E Curwen made this diagram and also took
photos of a cluster of crop circles in 1932. His photo, taken from nearby Bow
Hill is the first known photograph of a crop circle. Because of the low altitude
of the hill and the angle of the shot only one of the circles is clear in the
photograph however it clearly shows the “ring” style crop circle. For analytical
purposes Curwen’s diagram is most useful as it shows all of the circles and
their relationship to each other and the surrounding environment. Of particular
interest is how the interruption of the formation of the circle by the fence and
road did not stop the circle forming in the field. This effect has been noted in
modern circle formation.

For information on other scientific journal
articles that described crop circles read the work on the Historic Crop Circles pages (click here)

Apart from the above historic descriptions
in scientific journals the most comprehensive record of pre-1978 crop circles is
contained in the book The Secret History of Crop Circles
by Terry Wilson.  Of the hundreds of
pre-1978 crop circle reports collected by Wilson the first comes from a 1678
booklet known as The Mowing Devil (for a detailed analysis of this text click
here).  As well as oral histories and
newspaper reports Wilson also includes the above mentioned reports published in
scientific journals.

Wilson’s thesis is that crop circles have
been occurring in the English countryside, in significant numbers, for at least
the past century and that they are not the result of human activity. Wilson
further suggests that the claims by artists to have created the majority of crop
circles as a hoax is, in itself, a hoax.

This paper is largely a response to Wilson’s
thesis using technology that was not available to Wilson at the time he
completed his work.

The simplest and most reliable way to test
Wilson’s theory that crop circles existed well before the hoaxers began their
activities is to study a complete set of aerial photographs of the English
countryside from a period prior to the 1978 date given by the hoaxers as the
start date for their work. If Wilson’s theory is correct a similar number of
crop circles should be present in any given year’s photographic record of the
English countryside providing the necessary statistical adjustments are made to
allow for periods when crop circles are not likely to be present. These periods
include the post harvest period of grain crops, when the crop circles will have
been destroyed by the harvest, and the “off season” for grain crops, when there
is no crop growing for the crop circles to form in. Put simply this means that
for approximately two thirds of the year there will be no crop circles existent
to be photographed.

Given that the only prerequisite for taking
aerial photographs is that the day be cloudless and that cloudless days can
occur at any time of year it is reasonable to assume that of any collection of
aerial photographs of the English countryside only one third will be taken
during the period when crop circles are likely to exist. On this basis, given
that the number of crop circles taken to occur each year in England is
approximately one hundred then any complete collection of aerial photographs of
the English countryside in any year should show approximately 30 crop
circles.

Whilst there are now numerous aerial
photographic records of England the first complete one comes from the photos
taken toward the end of World War Two by the RAAF, which are now available to
the general public as an overlay, dated 1945, on Google Earth. At the time of
writing (January 2013) this overlay has not been made available in its entirety
by Google. About 35% of the 1945 overlay of England is presently on-line and
that material available does not include the acknowledged crop circle “hot
spots” around Wiltshire.

Method

The Google Earth 1945 overlay eye altitude
meter is set at 650 meters +- 10% then, depending on the shape of the block of
1945 aerial imagery available on Google Earth, an appropriate starting point is
chosen on the outer edge of the overlay and a grid search of the block is
commenced by scrolling the cursor along North > South or East >West lines
using the longitude and latitude indicator provided by Google Earth. At the
beginning and end of each line searched a numbered marker is placed using the
markers provided by Google Earth. Using this method the entirety of the
presently available 1945 image blocks of England was searched by the author over
many hundreds of hours.

Criteria

There are two primary challenges in
searching Google’s 1945  imagery for crop circles. First is the quality of
the original images, which are often, although not always, poor; this means that
one has to be extra careful not to assume any circular shape in a field is a
crop circle. In fact more than 98% of circular shapes that appear on the 1945
overlay are not crop circles. Most of these can be eliminated easily by using
the time slide bar provided by Google. By moving to more modern image overlays
of the selected location it is possible to see if the circular shape is
repeated. If it is repeated then it is not a crop circle but a permanent
landscape feature. Using this method a number of reoccurring circular features,
which could be mistaken for crop circles were discovered, these included
archaeological remains such as barrows and the foundations of round houses as
well as ponds, golfing greens, sports fields, artillery targets, airfield
markers etc.

Another source of circular shapes in the
1945 overlay is caused by faults, or flaws, on the film itself. Crop circles
normally show up in aerial photographs, particularly black and white photos, as
a light circular area within the field of a darker grain crop. This effect is
caused by the fact that the flattened grain stalks of the circle refract light
at a different angle to the vertical grain stalks. This effect is well
documented in modern crop circle photography and can also be seen in the
difference in shading in partially headed, or  partially mown, fields of
grain. There are many examples of half mown fields in the 1945 overlay that
clearly demonstrate this contrast (see fig. 1).

Fig. 1. A crop circle S.W. of Woodmancote in
a half harvested field of grain showing the tone difference between the
flattened grain in the circle, the harvested grain and the non-harvested grain.
In this image the camera is almost directly above the field and it is close to
mid-day so even the hedge is not casting an obvious
shadow.

Because many of the original negatives used
to produce the 1945 overlay were not well preserved there are faults resulting
from either mechanical or chemical damage to the negatives. These often show up
on the Google overlay as either very bright white circular spots or as lighter
shaded rings, both of which might be mistaken for a crop circle. To distinguish
a film flaw from a genuine crop imprint the presence of a shadow within the
circular area, created by the wall of grain at the outer edge of the imprint, is
required as a lighter patch caused by damage to the negative will not produce a
shadow. Further a direct relationship between the shadow within the crop circle
and other shadows present in the image, such as those cast by trees, hedges or
buildings, is required before a value is ascribed to the
circle.

(see fig. 2)

Fig. 2 Enville. This image shows the shadow
from trees and hedge falling in same line as shadow within the crop circle. It
is important to keep in mind that the wall of grain producing the shadow within
the crop circle will not be more than 60 cm high whereas the hedge is likely to
be at least five times higher. Obvious film flaws on this image include the two
parallel scratch marks.

A further way of distinguishing a film flaw
from an image of something in the landscape, particularly those flaws caused by
some chemical effect on the negative such as water droplets or condensation, is
if the lighter shade of the circle is imposed over something other than the
grain crop, such as a fence, hedge, track or tree.

Results

After more than 300 hours searching the
presently available 1945 overlay 64 shapes that were possible 1945 crop circles
were found. Of those 64 shapes thirteen were selected that conformed strictly to
the above mentioned criteria or had features which made them and worthy of
further close study. A selection of these is shown below.

Asthall Lea. The poor resolution of the
image showing this circle does not hide the shadow on its south edge and the
absence of a shadow on the north is obvious. Its diameter is about 15 meters
based on the width of the road.

Chapperton Down. This formation, whilst not
strictly a circle is worthy of note when considered in the context of later,
more complex, crop circle patterns. Initially thought to be a film flaw the fact
that the formation does not overlay the hedge or roadway suggests otherwise. The
1932 diagram by Curwen clearly shows this well documented characteristic of crop
circles not completing their perimeter when they intersect with an intrusive
landscape feature such as a fence or hedge.

Halesowen: this classic crop circle is about
ten meters in diameter. The shadow on its south east perimeter corresponds
precisely with the shadows cast by the trees and hedges. The quality of this
image is good enough to show there are no tracks through the grain crop leading
to or from the crop circle.

Whiston Cross. Although the resolution on
this image is poor the crop circle is quite clear as is the relationship between
the circle’s internal shadow and those shadows cast by objects in the
landscape.

Tatton Park. This cluster is included
because it is reminiscent of the more complex crop circles that would appear in
later years. I got quite excited when I found this image however, because of its
unique design, I studied later Google Earth images of this location very closely
and found a slight hint of the pattern in a 2005 image so it is certain that
these are NOT genuine crop circles,
though what their purpose might have been remains a mystery.  Any
suggestions that can be backed up with solid evidence happily accepted. (Update:
I am recently informed that Tatton Park was a training place for military
parachutists in WW2 and that these patterns were related to the training of
parachutists, apparently they were some kind of target for the jumpers to aim
at???)

Conclusion

The number of circular features in crops
that can be reasonably confirmed as crop circles that have been so far found in
the survey of the currently available 1945 Google Earth overlay numbers more
than one dozen. As this survey did not include more than 35% of England and
excluded the known crop circle “hot spots” around Wiltshire the findings are
consistent with an annual occurrence of at least 100 crop circles across the
English countryside in 1945. This, combined with a significant body of historic
records describing historic crop circles, gives the lie to the claims made by
various 'artists' to be the originators and creators of all crop circles. This
in turn begs the question “If not them, then who or what is responsible for the
creation of crop circles?”

It is not within the scope of this work to
offer any kind of explanation as to what might be the actual cause of crop
circles. Rather it is to point out that instead of the investigations into the
subject being left to quacks and the pseudo sciences there is a need for serious
scientific research. Whilst it is fair enough that until this point in time the
various academic and scientific institutions and organisations who ought to have
been investigating this unexplained phenomenon have not done so because of the
claims of the hoaxers, this work, combined with the works of other scholarly
researchers such as Wilson, Meaden and Levengood, shows that there are many
unanswered questions on the subject of crop circles and that further research is
needed before any serious speculation as to the real origins can be
made.

Bibliography

Capron J.‘Storm Effects’ Nature Vol. 22, 29 July 1880 pp.
290–291

Curwen E.‘Crop Marks in
Stoughton Down’ Sussex Notes and Queries 1937 p.139

Levengood W.‘Anatomical
anomalies in crop formation plants’ Physiologia Plantarum Vol. 92: 1994 pp.
356-363.

Levengood et al‘Dispersion  of  Energies In  Worldwide  Crop
Formations’  Physiologia Plantarium Vol. 105,

1999 pp. 615-624.

Meaden T.The Circles Effect and its Mysteries London 1989

Moore P.‘That Wiltshire
Crater’ New Scientist, Vol. 19; August 1963 p.304

Taylor R. ‘The Crop Circle Evolves’ Nature Vol. 465/10 June 2010

Taylor R.‘Crop Circles’ Physics World August 2011 p.2-3

Wilson T.The Secret History of Crop Circles Plymouth 1998

Home

Appendage to the original
article.

Since this article received a bit of
coverage in the international media I have had a few requests for a more
complete representation of the images of crop circles found in the Google Earth
1945 overlay so I include below a representative selection. Please keep in mind
that, at the time I am writing this work most of the main crop circle areas in
the south of England are not presently available on Google Earth 1945 so it will
be very interesting to see what happens when those areas do come into the public
domain. In particular it will be interesting to see how many crop circle
clusters are found as the writings of Cappron and Moore, as well as the accounts
recorded in Terry Wilson's Secret History of Crop Circles indicate that crop
circle clusters were historically fairly common.

Rings.

Historic accounts indicate that simple ring
patterns were relatively more common in the earlier part of the 20th century.
The most significant of these accounts is the description published in 1934 in
the archeaological journal Sussex Notes and Queries by
Dr. Cecil Curwen M.D. F.S.A.

Dr Curwen's article not only contains a good
description and diagram but the first photograph of a crop circle (see
below).

A survey of the Google Eartrh 1945 overlay
finds quite a few ring type circles in crops.

Barnett

This ring type crop circle is on a sloping
hillside, which is important to note because some ring shapes that show up on
Google Earth are actually rings used for training horse or possibly dogs. Rings
caused by such activities can usually be recognised by the presence of a track
or path leading to the ring. Also these training rings are inevitably on flat
ground not a hillside or slope as is the case with this ring.

Because of the Google Earth 'elevation tool'
which shows height above sea level it is very easy to determine a sloping field
from a flat field by moving the cursor.

Bibury

This crop circle is clearly in a field of
grain and there is the suggestion of a pattern within the perimeters of the
ring

This image of 1945 Chartridge shows a ring
type crop circle, again the crop circle is on a slope

This crop circle is near the town of
Cotton

This 1945 crop circle is near the village of
Derry Downs.

I do love it when I find a crop circle in a
field of grain that is in the process of being harvested as it places the entire
image in a context.

To my eye this field is probably of wheat
half of which has been headed but not mown so the stalks are still standing but
the heads of wheat have gone. The tractor has not yet reached the circle but its
activity can be seen not many meters north of the crop
circle

Fairlop Waters is to the north and east of
London. I can not guess what kind of crop this circle is in but the field above
it has been recently harvested

This crop circle from Great Bookham
(above), is a classic crop circle, even showing a suggestion of that little
vertical twisted tuff in the center of the circle that has been photographed so
many times in modern crop circles. From the shadow on the hedge the photograph
appears to have been taken about 11.30 am and the field of grain is not
mature.

Here is a crop circle that is not a
circle but which should appeal to all the conspiracy theorists who think that
the Freemasons are behind everything.

This 'crop triangle' even has the suggestion
of the Eye of Horus.

Triangles in crops have been noted and even
photographed in modern times.

It appears that this crop triangle is in a
field of oats. It does not have any tracks leading to or from it and does not
re-occur in any future Google images.

The weird thing about the large ring in this
photo is that it is on the top of a little hill where, quite a few years later,
an astronomical observatory was built.

Do you find that interesting? Maybe the ring
is just the foundations for the observatory being laid or maybe there is
something special about that hill. Suggestions gratefully
accepted

Click here to learn more about the 1945 crop circle
project