Ep 207: Crop Circles Part 2
“It is perfectly natural to ask if crop circles are hoaxes, but very difficult to explain why they cannot be hoaxed satisfactorily.”
– Pat Delgado, Nasa Engineer, Crop Circle Researcher
Description:
As we dive deeper into exploring the phenomenon of Crop Circles, it seems that the story of its research takes on the shape of other histories of paranormal investigation. Misinformation and misdirection from government and military agencies, hoaxes complicating genuinely anomalous evidence, and the phenomena itself presenting an ever-moving target for those that seek the truth are akin to the serious study of UFOs, for example. And curiously, for being thought of by many as just prankish art installations in grain stalks, Crop Circles come with a Grab Bag of High Strangeness too. For tonight's Part Two in our series, we first cover inexplicable occurrences associated with some circle formations. We'll focus on one surveillance experiment in a crop circle dubbed "Operation White Crow" with bizarre and unsettling effects for Colin Andrews, Pat Delgado, Busty Taylor, Dr. Terence Meaden, and others. Then we look at what appeared to be an attempt by the British military to discredit Andrews and other "cereologists" called "Operation Blackbird" that ironically may have generated its own enigmatic results and the question of why would they bother? And lastly, we'll begin to examine the mindset and role of the hoaxer and the symbiosis they may participate in with earnest researchers, one that hoaxers may not realize they share as they do their part to keep the mystery alive.
![The “ Julia Set ” opposite Stonehenge, Wiltshire, July 7, 1996. Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619324830447-FUIYR6EG0TP3TS27QBIU/Stonehenge+%2B+Julia+Set+Opposite+Stonehenge+Wiltshire+1996-07-07.jpeg)
![A 780-foot (238 meters) which appeared in 2001 in the remote area of Milk Hill in Wiltshire, England. This crop circle is composed of 409 circles that form a pattern called a double, or six-sided, triskelion, consisting of three interlocking spirals](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1618204048450-T39SXKT7GIOQRYQIEM95/406+circle.jpeg)
![Alton Barnes, Wiltshire, 11th Jul 1990. “A huge pictogram, possibly the most famous crop circle of all, and featured on the Led Zeppelin album cover. It consisted of a number of circles, rings, paths, and various appendages to the rings.” Photo: ©](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619321200578-9Q7EL5A5XTT2DUOZX4Q1/Alton+Barnes+Wiltshire+1990-07-11.jpeg)
![Barbury Castle, Wiltshire, July 7, 1994. “An elaborate formation resembling a huge 'Bee'. Visible from the castle.” Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619321693553-HN25BINUGAYCDXWNKQWV/Bee+-+Barbury+Castle+Wiltshire+1994-07-07.jpeg)
![Bishop Cannings, Wiltshire, July 15, 1994. The “Scorpion” formation. Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619321875746-58R8ZVF5BAAMUCF63U7P/Scorpion+-+Bishop+Cannings+Wiltshire+1994-07-15.jpeg)
![East Field, Wiltshire, July 21, 1994. The 'Eye of Horus' formation. Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619322352171-VE7387GCAZNBJFN9ZQQK/Eye+of+Horus+-+East+Field+Wiltshire+1994-07-21.jpeg)
![Uffington, Oxfordshire, July 1994. “A huge formation nearly 1/2 mile long.” Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619322859911-ZWWIF1LC9NL41IM5GH2L/Uffington+Oxfordshire+1994-07.jpeg)
![Litchfield, Hampshire, July 6, 1995. “A complex 'brain' formation consisting of a wide curving outer path and 7 rings around a central circle.” Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619323132542-ILZVZ2IMNDJZN2I8EG05/Brain+-+Litchfield+Hampshire+1995-07-06.jpeg)
![Henwood, Hampshire, mid-July 1995. “Three nested crescents within a wide ring with two smaller rings within the inner crescent. Outside the formation lie four small grapeshot circles.” Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619323354012-DZFV9LCTWCZILQHSZOYH/Crescents+-+Henwood+Hampshire+1995-07.jpeg)
![Brockwood Park, Hampshire, July 1995. “A circle with two semi-circular paths inside it. Four outlying circles form a quintuplet with the inner circle and a ring surrounds the whole formation. A small circle lies outside the ring.” Photo: © Lucy Pri](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619323599808-CIVO1D7KE8YQMWADB8U7/Brockwood+Park+Hampshire+1995-07.jpeg)
![Winterbourne Bassett, Wiltshire, July 23, 1995. “A complex '3D hypercube' formation consisting of a central ring with three lines forming an equilateral triangle inside it.” Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619324286614-ZRRIP9H3ZPT1C496JIM6/Winterbourne+Bassett+Wiltshire+1995-07-23.jpeg)
![Close up of the “ Julia Set ” opposite Stonehenge, Wiltshire, July 7, 1996. “A complex 'Julia Set' formation (915.2'x508')” Photo: © Lucy Pringle 1990](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1619325213135-UMR587GAZZ9RS5Z230M3/Julia+Set+Stonehenge+1996-07-07.jpeg)
![Crabwood, UK, 2002. Click here for the message .](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57eaab3659cc68cc4f3275a5/1621831348815-QYJFQRT14V13J0KMJP3W/crabwood+alien+msg+crop+circle+2002.jpeg)
Location:
Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury, where the intricate “Julia Set” Crop Circle appeared in July of 1996 across the road from it, during a 45 minute period, in full daylight and on a very busy major highway, the A303 London to Exeter Road. It may be that faint traces of it can still be seen in this Google Maps aerial photo.
Reference Links:
JOIN US AT FIRESIDE FOR LIVE INTERACTIVE CHATS - You can listen at this link, but space permitting they are also still allowing folks to join the beta if you click ‘Request Fireside Access’ at either one of our profile pages. The link above will take you to Scott’s at firesidechat.com/scottphilbrook. Forrest’s is firesidechat.com/forrestburgess.
“Lost in the Digital Age” with Colin Andrews, Lonnie Park, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Krista Wallhagen
“Eye witness to the formation of a crop circle opposite Stonehenge” –“Julia Set” by Colin Andrews
The audio of the sound heard during White Crow from Colin Andrews
“Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax” By Rob Irving and Peter Brookesmith on SmithsonianMag.com
“An analysis of the hoax theory using dates of the formations” by J. Marshall Dudley
“How The CIA Tried To Thwart Crop Circles And Colin Andrews” by Michael Irving
“UFOTV Presents Crop Circles Quest for Truth” on Amazon Prime
“The ancient and mysterious chalk white horses” on TheVintageNews.com
“Inside Out: Crop circle investigation” from BBC Cambridgeshire
History and Math Behind The Crop Circles Phenomenon: A Skeptical Perspective on YouTube
The mysterious death of UFO and Crop Circle researcher Paul Vigay
OLD Crop Circles found in aerial photography, researched by Greg Jefferys
Animal Rescue League of Berks County https://www.berksarl.org/
The Astonishing Legends legendary, prolix series on the Patterson-Gimlin Film
The Astonishing Legends episode on “Orfeo Angelucci: Secret of the Saucers”
“Dedication to my dear friend and co-author, Pat Delgado” by Colin Andrews
The Natural History of Staffordshire by Robert Plot as a digital download, at Clay Lake Publications
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Credits:
Episode 207: Crop Circles Part 2. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2021 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.