CIRCLES & PUZZLING HOLES
A hostile environment for cereal artists, plus mystery marks on the ocean floor
COUNTING THE COST OF CROP CIRCLES
As the 2022 crop circle season draws to a close, it is clear that there was only a fraction of the number that used to appear at the phenomenon’s height in the 1990s, with the majority found in Wiltshire and adjacent counties. What was different this year was that the circle season coincided with a food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has caused a major surge in grain and oil prices. Apparently, the wheat price per tonne on the London futures market is up 30 per cent since 2021 and barley 40 per cent. As a result, the Guardian newspaper decided to mark the end of the circle season with an analysis of the economic impact of crop circles on the farming community.
Their survey looked at the cost to farmers of land affected by crop circles since 2018 and took the view, as most of the farmers do, that all crop circles were made by humans. In that period, they estimated that 92 formations had been made, with a total area equivalent to more than 40 football pitches, resulting in a total financial loss to farmers of £30,000 in income, spread over the five years. This amounts to £6,000 a year across farms in several counties and an average of £320 a circle. The paper also calculated that wheat and barley destroyed over the period could have made 300,000 loaves of bread, and that the flattened rapeseed could have produced 600 litres of oil. While circle makers say they do not damage the crop, farmers maintain that their actions make it almost impossible to harvest it, as combine harvesters cannot cut below 15cm (6in) above the soil without risk of wrecking the machine. However, this does not seem to stop many farmers eradicating formations almost as soon as they appear by harvesting the crop in the field. Farmers also maintain that they cannot claim for the damage on insurance as the excesses are too high for it to be worthwhile, and
they say reports to police are not taken seriously. North Dorset farmer George Hosford is quoted as saying that a 70m (230ft) formation on his land “wiped out all of the wheat, around three or four tonnes of it,” and he estimates he lost about £1,000 in income as a result, plus £200 he had spent on fertiliser, seeds and other operational costs growing the crop (which would normally come out of the income). Farmers also claimed further damage was caused by sightseers after images were posted on crop circle websites, although these usually make it clear whether farmers are permitting access or not.
At the peak of the crop circle phenomenon many farmers welcomed the formations as profit margins were not as tight, food prices were lower, and a more relaxed insurance regime meant they could claim for damage while at the same time charging the large number of sightseers for entry to their fields. A few enterprising landowners even arranged paid-for sightseeing flights over their circles, and some allegedly colluded with circle makers to ensure spectacular and profitable formations appeared regularly on their land. Now, with the financial metrics stacking up rather differently in the farmers’ eyes and sightseeing numbers falling to a trickle, circles are no longer seen as potential financial windfalls, and the result is a hostile environment for circle makers, whoever they might be. theguardian.com, 24 Sept 2022.
MARINE MYSTERY HOLES
Researchers from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) carrying out exploration and mapping of the submerged Mid-Atlantic Ridge mountain range in the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone and on the Azores Plateau discovered several sets of identical, slit-shaped holes punched in straight lines across an otherwise flat and sandy ocean floor, with no clue as to their origin. NOAA admit to being baffled, saying: “We observed several of these sublinear sets of holes in the sediment. These holes have been previously reported from the region, but their origin remains a mystery.” The holes were found on a dive that reached a depth of 1.7 miles (2.7km) and were recorded by a remotely operated camera. A NOAA spokesperson said: “While they look almost human-made, the little piles of sediment around the holes make them seem like they were excavated by... something.” Scientists have suggested that they could have been made by an unknown expedition taking core samples, or might be burrows of marine creatures, the result of outgassing of methane from the sediment, or even water from underground springs, but no one has been able to come up with more than speculation as to their origin, and they remain mysterious. aol.com/news, 26 July 2022.