GROUND ZERO [9c]
Wiltshire, England. This sleepy countryside, just over 100 miles west of London, is considered ground zero for the crop circle phenomenon. It is also home to many mysterious ancient sites, including Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow.
|
“One could quite reasonably and easy make the connection that these crop circles are happening in these places because these places are markings of certain energetic corridors or crossover points or very special places that were used by people in the past for presumably metaphysical reasons – meditating, praying, ritual, whatever.” – Charles Mallett (Crop Circles Researcher) |
Today, Ancient Astronaut Theorist and explorer, Giorgio Tsoukalos is in Wiltshire to meet up with three men who have a unique perspective on crop formations. John Lundberg, Rob Irving and William Russell have over two decades of experience creating artistic designs in crops. Giorgio will challenge them to recreate a simple formation that many crop circle investigators suggest cannot be perfectly reproduced.
|
“In 2005, overnight, the Golden Ball formation was created. This is what it looks like right here. You might be familiar with this one. Got the different circles.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “How big is it?” – John Lundberg (Crop Circle Enthusiast) “96-feet in diameter. So, it’s not small, it’s fairly large, and, I was wondering if you could recreate this.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “We can certainly try, yeah.” – John Lundberg (Crop Circle Enthusiast) “Now, this was done overnight, so the most you’ll have is about five to seven hours. And you’ll be using these boards?” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “Yeah, this is called a stalk stomper, which is the tool that we use for flattening the crop.” – John Lundberg (Crop Circle Enthusiast) “All right, well, shall we get started? Let’s do it.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos |
John Lundberg and his team begin by measuring out the design using a tape measure. After determining where to place the edges, they use their wooden stalk stompers to shuffle their way across the upright stems to create the desired pattern. The team is able to complete the challenge within the allotted time.
|
“Well, that was quick. So, did you guys encounter any problems or any challenges?” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “I think the only problem is the crop is a bit kind of tangly. But I’m happy with it. I think it should look great from the air.” – John Lundberg (Crop Circle Enthusiast) |
In order to get a side-by-side comparison of the designs, Giorgio enlists the assistance of a local drone team. They send a camera up over the field.
|
“I mean, it’s a really nice recreation. There’s no question about it. They’re really impressive.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos |
While the recreation of the Golden Ball Hill formation looks very similar to the original from the air, crop circle researchers suggest that what made the formation truly unique was not how it appeared from above, but how it appeared on the ground. So to examine the recreation up close, Giorgio meets up with crop circle investigator Charles Mallet.
|
“Hi, Charles.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “Hey, Giorgio.” – Charles Mallett (Crop Circles Researcher) “Pleasure to meet you. Come to the center here.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos |
Mallet has been researching the crop circle phenomenon since the 1990s, and was one of the first investigators on the ground of the Golden Ball Hill pattern when it appeared in 2005.
|
“What are the telltale signs that leads you to believe that something is real or man-made, or real, whatever that means.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “I think we have to get over the notion that people can’t make shapes in fields. People can make really impressive shapes in fields. So, we have to get down there and look at the physical evidence before we start taking it further. When I stand in this formation, I look at the carpet of flowers across the top of these plants, and then I look on the ground. I see two separate situations undamaged and damaged, because they used a physical device, and it’s men stepping with planks of wood. So, it’s crush, crush, crush, crush. And it produces a really clear pattern of damage. So, there’s a lot of the flowers have just been wiped off. And then if we were able to maybe come and look right down into the detail. We need to just look at some stems here. Here’s a good example of what happens to oilseed rape plants when they’re physically pushed to the ground. Huge, ugly kink, very mechanical. Down here, there’s bruising and scraping down the stems.” – Charles Mallett (Crop Circles Researcher) “What you’re suggesting or what you’re telling me is that in a non-man-made scenario, the stalks would not be broken like this.” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “Absolutely.” – Charles Mallett (Crop Circles Researcher) “Can you show me some of those pictures that you brought to see the comparison?” – Giorgio A. Tsoukalos “Yeah, yeah, sure. These are from taken from the original. This is what I would expect to see in a real crop circle.” – Charles Mallett (Crop Circles Researcher) |
Incredibly, none of the flower heads on the original were damaged or destroyed. And the seamless lay of flowers suggests that it was not mechanically produced using boards and shuffling over the stalks.
|
“In the original 2005 formation, there’s nothing physical, nothing local, nothing mechanical made this circle. That really opens the door to so many possibilities. And the honest answer is: we do not know where these circles are coming from, the real ones.” – Charles Mallett (Crop Circles Researcher) |
If the Golden Ball Hill formation was not made with boards, then how was it created? And by whom? Perhaps further clues can be found by examining the intriguing evidence left behind at the scene.
Previous: History of… | Next: Physical Anomalies
References:
[1] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: Season 8. [DVD Back Cover]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™.
[2] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.1 – Aliens BC.[Episode Description]. Retrieved: July 24, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[3] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.2 – NASA’s Secret Agenda. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: July 31, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[4] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.3 – Aliens & Robots. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 7, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[5] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.4 – Dark Forces. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 14, 2014, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[6] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.5 – The Alien Evolution. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 21, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[7] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.6 – The Other Earth. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: August 28, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[8] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.7 – Creatures of the Deep. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: September 4, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
| [9] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: September 18, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[9a] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: Introduction]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9b] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: History Of]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9c] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: Ground Zero]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9d] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: Physical Anomalies]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9e] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: Orbs of Light]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9f] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: Binary Code]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9g] Prometheus Entertainment. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.8 – Circles From the Sky. [DVD Footage: Ghost Formations]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. |
[10] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.9 – The Alien Wars. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: September 25, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
[11] History™. (2015). Ancient Aliens: 8.10 – The Forbidden Zones. [Episode Description]. Retrieved: October 9, 2015, from http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-8.
ancientalienpedia 