There are many theories about the origin of mysterious patterns that appear in fields of corn around the world – commonly known as crop circles. While some people believe they are the work of alien spacecraft, many of them are known to be man-made. Unusual weather, such as small tornadoes or electrical storms, is thought to be the cause of some of the patterns.
George Meaden, a meteorologist and physicist, explained crop circles in terms of atmospheric physics, as the effect of a plasma-vortex. Meaden likened the phenomenon to ball-lightning, but larger and longer-lasting. He expanded his theories in later research to include ionisation and electromagnetism. Physicist Stephen Hawking appeared to give credence to this view, writing in 1991 that corn circles are either hoaxes or formed by vortex movement of air.
Meaden’s ideas were taken up by Ralph Noyes, a senior Ministry of Defence official and an expert in UFO phenomena, who wrote as follows:
If Meaden is right, our atmosphere is sometimes able to produce a short-lived but vigorously swirling disturbance with strong electrical properties. A layman grasps after the analogy of something between ball-lightning and a mini-tornado. Depending on conditions, this transient energy-form can manifest as a globe of light, often with associated sounds. It may be able to interfere with the ignition system of automobiles and perhaps to affect close witnesses. Descending to earth, it can make a cropfield circle. Acting more vigorously it may well cause more violent circular damage at ground level. In short, a good meteorologist whose sole concern has been to investigate cropfield circles has ended by describing much of the UFO phenomenon!
Picture Credit : Google