Patterns created by flattening crops, mostly in southern England, that grew from simple circles in the 1970s to complex designs. The scientific consensus is that they are made by people — as hoaxes, advertising or art — and no scientific evidence supports other explanations.[1]
By the Project Strange team · Not yet reviewed line by line · 1 source
On this page
At a glance
- Also known as
- Crop formation
- Subject
- Physical formations
- Associated places
- Wiltshire, England (most reported formations)
- Sourcing
- 1 source listed · 1 cited inline. Not yet reviewed line by line.
Background
BackgroundHistory, folklore and cultural context.
A 1678 English pamphlet, The Mowing-Devil, is sometimes cited as an early account, though it describes a crop whose stalks were cut rather than bent.[1] Before the 1970s, reports of circular marks in fields were of simple circles.[1]
In 1991 two men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, said in widely reported interviews that they had created more than 200 crop circles across England, and the number of reports increased substantially after their interviews. Formations have since grown in size and complexity, some with as many as 2,000 shapes.[1]
The scientific consensus is that crop circles are made by people as hoaxes, advertising or art. Obscure natural causes and alien origins are suggested by fringe theorists, but there is no scientific evidence for them, and all crop circles are consistent with human causation.[1]
What witnesses describe
Witness claimsFeatures that recur in accounts. These are claims, not established facts.
- Appears overnight, often in hours of darkness, without witnesses
- Genuine formations: stalks bent at node without breaking, continuing to grow
- Soil samples show unusual magnetic particles and altered crystalline structure
- Electromagnetic anomalies detected at formation sites
- Increasing geometric complexity — fractals, phi ratios, binary code
- Military and aviation personnel report lights above fields immediately before formations
- Some formations are kilometres in diameter with millimetre-precision geometry
Notable cases
Each case is labelled by the kind of account it rests on.
1991Barbury Castle, UKLater retelling
Barbury Castle formation
A complex triangular formation that appeared in a field near Barbury Castle, Wiltshire, in 1991, often cited by enthusiasts for its geometry. We have not yet found a reliable source for the details.
Read the story as commonly toldHide the story
Unverified: this is the traditional telling of the case. Its details have not been checked against sources and may be inaccurate.
A complex formation encoding a tetrahedron — a geometrically perfect three-dimensional shape — appeared overnight. Mathematical analysis showed the ratio of elements matched known physical constants.
Disputed or contrary evidence
Crop circle researchers who favour unexplained origins read mathematical meanings into such designs; the scientific consensus is that formations are made by people.[1]
2001Chilbolton, UKLater retelling
Arecibo reply formation
A 2001 formation near the Chilbolton radio telescope in Hampshire resembled a modified version of the 1974 Arecibo radio message, and is often described as a "reply". We have not yet found a reliable source for the details.
Read the story as commonly toldHide the story
Unverified: this is the traditional telling of the case. Its details have not been checked against sources and may be inaccurate.
A formation appeared adjacent to the Chilbolton radio telescope appearing to encode a modification of the 1974 Arecibo message sent into space — including a different atomic structure, different form of the sender, and population figure.
Disputed or contrary evidence
The design required no more than people with planning and the means to flatten crops; there is no evidence it was made any other way.[1]
2001Milk Hill, UKLater retelling
Milk Hill galaxy
A very large spiral formation of hundreds of circles that appeared at Milk Hill, Wiltshire, in August 2001. Enthusiasts say it appeared in a single night; we have not yet found a reliable source for its details.
Read the story as commonly toldHide the story
Unverified: this is the traditional telling of the case. Its details have not been checked against sources and may be inaccurate.
The most complex formation ever recorded: 409 circles arranged in a 6-armed spiral covering 900 feet. Appeared in a single night. Aerial photography confirmed it encoded the golden ratio (φ) throughout its structure.
Disputed or contrary evidence
Large, complex formations have repeatedly been made by teams of people, and all crop circles are consistent with human causation.[1]
Images
Photos often cited in connection with this subject. Inclusion doesn't mean they are authentic; many are disputed.
The Milk Hill formation, Wiltshire, August 2001. 409 circles across 900 feet, appearing in a single night.
Not reproduced here because we haven’t been able to confirm its licence (credited to Lucy Pringle).
Read about it at the sourceExplanations
InterpretationGrouped by the kind of explanation, not ranked by likelihood.
Conventional explanations
Known animals, natural processes, perception, memory, or hoaxes. These rely on things that are well established; whether one fits a particular case depends on the case.
- Human artists using advanced planning and technology
Unconfirmed natural or human explanations
Would require an undiscovered species, an unrecognised natural effect, or secret human activity. Possible in principle, but not demonstrated.
- Plasma vortex phenomenon — naturally occurring spinning atmospheric plasma
- Unknown electromagnetic phenomenon producing geometric patterns in organic material
Paranormal and speculative ideas
Depend on entities, forces or physics that no evidence has established.
- Created by extraterrestrial craft using focused energy beams
- Interdimensional communication using the landscape as a medium
References
Numbered as cited in the text; sources not cited inline are listed afterwards as background reading.
- 1.Crop circleWikipedia
Known gaps
- Earlier versions of this entry presented claims about "authenticated" formations — stalks bent at the node, magnetic soil particles, and W. C. Levengood’s plant studies — as unexplained anomalies. Our sources do not support these claims, so they have been removed from the overview.
Know something we missed?
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Suggest an editCommunity reports
Top-voted reports from Project Strange members in the UFOs & UAPs category. These are first-hand accounts, not verified events.
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