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Crop Circles: A Mystery Solved
This is a study of the phenomenon of crop circles, discussing whether they might be caused by UFOs. Jenny Randles is Britain's only professional ufologist and the author of several books, including Beyond Explanation? and Abduction. Paul Fuller is a member of the British UFO Research Association.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
15 people want to read
About the author
Jenny Randles
66 books31 followersBritish author and former director of investigations with the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA), serving in that role from 1982 through to 1994.
Randles specializes in writing books on UFOs and paranormal phenomena. To date 50 of these have been published, ranging from her first UFOs: A British Viewpoint (1979) to Breaking the Time Barrier: The race to build the first time machine (2005). Subjects covered include crop circles, ESP, life after death, time anomalies and spontaneous human combustion.
Randles specializes in writing books on UFOs and paranormal phenomena. To date 50 of these have been published, ranging from her first UFOs: A British Viewpoint (1979) to Breaking the Time Barrier: The race to build the first time machine (2005). Subjects covered include crop circles, ESP, life after death, time anomalies and spontaneous human combustion.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 10, 2022
Jenny Randles is one of the few ufologists with both a thorough academic training in the "hard" natural sciences and a willingness to consider the more exotic theories about UFO phenomena. Quite a few of her books got negative reviews back in the 1980's, but many of the most interesting breakthroughs in the field of ufology within the last 2-3 decades can be traced back to her work.
A good example is this book, where Randles makes a convincing case that those crop circles that aren't ambitious hoaxes can be adequately explained as the products of a hitherto unknown weather phenomenon. For instance, she points out that the elaborate symmetrical geometrical patterns of many crop circles look like nothing so much as snow flakes.
Another interesting point made here is that man-made and natural crop circles are very easy to distinguish by taking a look at the damage to the corn, which is much more profound in the case of the artificial crop circles.
The "plasma vortex" theory Randles defends here sounds weird at first, but it has a surprising amount of evidence for it. She makes a point-by-point blow-by-blow case for her theory with a level of scientific methodological rigour I rarely encounter in UFO books. Some of the later chapters go into detail about how this discovery has changed her views on the UFO phenomenon in general, as she argues that many UFO sightings can be explained by plasma vortices as well even when they do not leave crop circles as physical trace. She hinges this argument on the fact that the photographs taken of UFOs do often not match the witness reports very closely, hence her concluding that the individual witnesses' cultural prejudices about UFOs shape their memories much more than they are aware of.
Be sure to also check out "Time Storms" which is even more of a mind-bender.
A good example is this book, where Randles makes a convincing case that those crop circles that aren't ambitious hoaxes can be adequately explained as the products of a hitherto unknown weather phenomenon. For instance, she points out that the elaborate symmetrical geometrical patterns of many crop circles look like nothing so much as snow flakes.
Another interesting point made here is that man-made and natural crop circles are very easy to distinguish by taking a look at the damage to the corn, which is much more profound in the case of the artificial crop circles.
The "plasma vortex" theory Randles defends here sounds weird at first, but it has a surprising amount of evidence for it. She makes a point-by-point blow-by-blow case for her theory with a level of scientific methodological rigour I rarely encounter in UFO books. Some of the later chapters go into detail about how this discovery has changed her views on the UFO phenomenon in general, as she argues that many UFO sightings can be explained by plasma vortices as well even when they do not leave crop circles as physical trace. She hinges this argument on the fact that the photographs taken of UFOs do often not match the witness reports very closely, hence her concluding that the individual witnesses' cultural prejudices about UFOs shape their memories much more than they are aware of.
Be sure to also check out "Time Storms" which is even more of a mind-bender.
April 17, 2025
TWO UFOLOGISTS ENDORSE THE ‘VORTEX’ THEORY OF CROP CIRCLE ORIGINS
UFOlogists Jenny Randles and Paul Fuller wrote in the Introduction to this 1990 book (new edition published in 1993), “Just what makes our society so certain that ‘ET’ is real and not a Steven Spielberg fairy tale? Why do we seem to have an almost desperate need for the intergalactic fairy cavalry to ride to the rescue of a stricken earth? And why should some peculiar crop marks in English fields be seized upon as ‘proof’ that we are facing alien invasion? These are some of the questions which this book will address as we face up to an intriguing scientific challenge. In the process we will learn a great deal about the myths and realities behind the crop circle subject.” (Pg. 7)
They add, “Perhaps just as importantly, by cutting out the hype and fantasy to present the full story of the crop circle mystery, we hope you may discover a lot more about a truly ‘alien’ entity that would appear to be involved. It seems to be the only strange intelligence definitely responsible for some of these marks; and we even know its name---Homo sapiens.” (Pg. 10)
They begin Chapter 1 with the statement, “UFOs have been a popular issue for many years, but strange circular marks in fields are apparently nothing new. That is why they provoke such interest. According to most sources, they arrived in the summer of 1980. Since then they have rapidly become something of an epidemic, with fields in southern England regularly coming out in ‘extraterrestrial’ rashes every year between May and September.” (Pg. 11)
They note that in 1983, “Jenny commented on a very interesting consequence of all this media attention, which did produce more reports of circles than ever before and further new sites of manifestation. She pointed out that, ‘A media hype of the most extreme kind did not create masses of spurious [UFO] sightings… nobody has seen a UFO anywhere near [the circles], either before or since their appearance.’ Hardly proof of a UFO link…
“Another result of the summer’s massive publicity was the arrival of the first PROVEN hoax: a ‘discovery’ of the most complex type of circle yet seen (the quintuplet formation). That it was seen, reported and apparently only discovered to be a hoax weeks later by diligent work from Ian Mrzyglod argues against the claims of some circle researchers that hoaxing is never capable of fooling anybody with a knowledge of the phenomenon. Needless to say, some ufologists were far from happy with Jenny Randles’ public support for Ian Mrzyglod and Terence Meaden’s natural solution. The reaction from some quarters might fairly be termed hostile.” (Pg.18)
They report, “By the start of the summer 1989 the subject of crop circles was occasionally featured in the tabloid media… However, all that changed in July with the release of Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado’s book ‘Circular Evidence.’… A brilliant public relations launch quickly turned the circle mystery into international news. Because it played up the theme that the circles were unsolved and stressed their mysterious, probably paranormal, nature is cleverly fed upon public desire to puzzle out this very visible riddle.” (Pg. 21-22)
They recount, “In the early days of September 1991, [Pat Delgado] was approached by Today, who revealed the truth. They claim that he reported to his co-author Colin Andrews that he had ‘100 percent bad news’ and both researchers were stunned by the astonishing claims of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley. These two men are retired artists who had made the Kent formation and actually stood in hiding watching as Delgado inspected their handiwork with enthusiasm. But worse still, the two men were alleging that this was merely their final circle. Previously they had made hundreds of them all over… and across more than ten years, including all the original pictograms…. Doug and Dave…. For a couple of days [they] were huge celebrities… they did make one small circle … in front of dozens of reporters and TV crews. This was frankly a terrible mess that was so poor that on its own it could have convinced nobody…” (Pg. 34-35)
They summarize, “there is no longer any reasonable doubt what is going on. We cannot accept that the Rosedale ‘UFO close encounter’ represents anything other than a fine eyewitness account of someone accidentally coming into close proximity with a strange natural atmospheric phenomenon. This force caused physical effects and left a ringed circle behind… it seems totally at odds with traces left by a visiting ‘spaceship’; requires absolutely no need to invent hypothetical intelligences to explain it away and is, in our view, a hundred percent consistent with the idea of a [Terrence] Meaden Vortex.’
“We are satisfied that this case is like countless others which presently sit within the data files of UFO groups throughout the world. They are ignored by science as mumbo jumbo. They are hailed by ufology as prime examples of the alien delusion. But they are neither. What we have here is a scientific phenomenon which diligent research has successfully uncovered, and it deserves recognition and immediate absorption within our physical textbooks, meteorological lore, and children’s encyclopedias.
“The longer we continue to deify what is purely natural and to dismiss a phenomenon right there in front of our noses, the more we choose the path of self-deception in preference to the one that leads to knowledge and enlightenment, the further we descend into this alien delusion, the more time it will take to learn the inner workings of what is surely---beyond any question---just a fascinating natural phenomenon.
“We believe that cases such as this, when analyzed through the new dawn brought by Dr. Meaden’s research, MUST sound the death-knell for those extraterrestrial spaceships and the quaint (but now completely unnecessary) ‘alien intelligences.’ Instead they can be seen to herald a new understanding of the wonderful and dramatic forces that flow around each one of us all the time---forces that are not in outer space but right here within our own environment.” (Pg. 220)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the crop circle issue.
UFOlogists Jenny Randles and Paul Fuller wrote in the Introduction to this 1990 book (new edition published in 1993), “Just what makes our society so certain that ‘ET’ is real and not a Steven Spielberg fairy tale? Why do we seem to have an almost desperate need for the intergalactic fairy cavalry to ride to the rescue of a stricken earth? And why should some peculiar crop marks in English fields be seized upon as ‘proof’ that we are facing alien invasion? These are some of the questions which this book will address as we face up to an intriguing scientific challenge. In the process we will learn a great deal about the myths and realities behind the crop circle subject.” (Pg. 7)
They add, “Perhaps just as importantly, by cutting out the hype and fantasy to present the full story of the crop circle mystery, we hope you may discover a lot more about a truly ‘alien’ entity that would appear to be involved. It seems to be the only strange intelligence definitely responsible for some of these marks; and we even know its name---Homo sapiens.” (Pg. 10)
They begin Chapter 1 with the statement, “UFOs have been a popular issue for many years, but strange circular marks in fields are apparently nothing new. That is why they provoke such interest. According to most sources, they arrived in the summer of 1980. Since then they have rapidly become something of an epidemic, with fields in southern England regularly coming out in ‘extraterrestrial’ rashes every year between May and September.” (Pg. 11)
They note that in 1983, “Jenny commented on a very interesting consequence of all this media attention, which did produce more reports of circles than ever before and further new sites of manifestation. She pointed out that, ‘A media hype of the most extreme kind did not create masses of spurious [UFO] sightings… nobody has seen a UFO anywhere near [the circles], either before or since their appearance.’ Hardly proof of a UFO link…
“Another result of the summer’s massive publicity was the arrival of the first PROVEN hoax: a ‘discovery’ of the most complex type of circle yet seen (the quintuplet formation). That it was seen, reported and apparently only discovered to be a hoax weeks later by diligent work from Ian Mrzyglod argues against the claims of some circle researchers that hoaxing is never capable of fooling anybody with a knowledge of the phenomenon. Needless to say, some ufologists were far from happy with Jenny Randles’ public support for Ian Mrzyglod and Terence Meaden’s natural solution. The reaction from some quarters might fairly be termed hostile.” (Pg.18)
They report, “By the start of the summer 1989 the subject of crop circles was occasionally featured in the tabloid media… However, all that changed in July with the release of Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado’s book ‘Circular Evidence.’… A brilliant public relations launch quickly turned the circle mystery into international news. Because it played up the theme that the circles were unsolved and stressed their mysterious, probably paranormal, nature is cleverly fed upon public desire to puzzle out this very visible riddle.” (Pg. 21-22)
They recount, “In the early days of September 1991, [Pat Delgado] was approached by Today, who revealed the truth. They claim that he reported to his co-author Colin Andrews that he had ‘100 percent bad news’ and both researchers were stunned by the astonishing claims of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley. These two men are retired artists who had made the Kent formation and actually stood in hiding watching as Delgado inspected their handiwork with enthusiasm. But worse still, the two men were alleging that this was merely their final circle. Previously they had made hundreds of them all over… and across more than ten years, including all the original pictograms…. Doug and Dave…. For a couple of days [they] were huge celebrities… they did make one small circle … in front of dozens of reporters and TV crews. This was frankly a terrible mess that was so poor that on its own it could have convinced nobody…” (Pg. 34-35)
They summarize, “there is no longer any reasonable doubt what is going on. We cannot accept that the Rosedale ‘UFO close encounter’ represents anything other than a fine eyewitness account of someone accidentally coming into close proximity with a strange natural atmospheric phenomenon. This force caused physical effects and left a ringed circle behind… it seems totally at odds with traces left by a visiting ‘spaceship’; requires absolutely no need to invent hypothetical intelligences to explain it away and is, in our view, a hundred percent consistent with the idea of a [Terrence] Meaden Vortex.’
“We are satisfied that this case is like countless others which presently sit within the data files of UFO groups throughout the world. They are ignored by science as mumbo jumbo. They are hailed by ufology as prime examples of the alien delusion. But they are neither. What we have here is a scientific phenomenon which diligent research has successfully uncovered, and it deserves recognition and immediate absorption within our physical textbooks, meteorological lore, and children’s encyclopedias.
“The longer we continue to deify what is purely natural and to dismiss a phenomenon right there in front of our noses, the more we choose the path of self-deception in preference to the one that leads to knowledge and enlightenment, the further we descend into this alien delusion, the more time it will take to learn the inner workings of what is surely---beyond any question---just a fascinating natural phenomenon.
“We believe that cases such as this, when analyzed through the new dawn brought by Dr. Meaden’s research, MUST sound the death-knell for those extraterrestrial spaceships and the quaint (but now completely unnecessary) ‘alien intelligences.’ Instead they can be seen to herald a new understanding of the wonderful and dramatic forces that flow around each one of us all the time---forces that are not in outer space but right here within our own environment.” (Pg. 220)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the crop circle issue.
February 17, 2024
The whole premise of this book is completely flawed, it states that it is a natural phenomenon made by some randomic vortex plasma formed in our atmosphere, turns out that the phenomena cannot be such, because it has a pattern and it is clearly artificial and not natural. So either it ETI or it is a hoax, very unlikely to be a hoax. Problem with this author is that she wants to be seen as "serious" so she tries to be "rational", and forgets to take into consideration that other beings may act in a way much more advanced, and that the ancients would consider "magic".
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews