Crop Circles

Post by **Sheol** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:08 am

Being as this is a place to talk of all things weird I have an addition. At my ranch there is one particular field where there are what I can onlyexplain as crop circles. There are seven of them scattered out in no pattern and some of them overlap. They are perfect circles about a few feet wide and range in size from about 20 feet to 80 feet across. It is not like the grass is pressed down but does not grow very well. Some years they are easy to see but if you stand on a nearby hill they are very visible. I would post a picture but we are haying right now and you cant really see them. There used to be an Indian camp literally a stones throw from where they are so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it. There is a medacine wheel on a hill not to far away so I dont think that is it. Does anybody have any idea what this might be?

Post by **Avatar** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:51 am

No idea. Is the soil in the area the same as elsewhere? (You say it's more like the grass is not growing properly than that it is crushed)...how long have they been there? What about subsidance?

Just tossing out ideas.

--A

Post by **The Laughing Man** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:57 am

www.google.com/maps?q=Sheridan,+WY,+USA ... &z=13&om=1

hmmm, due East of Sheridan there seem to be some rather strange "anomalies".....

Post by **Avatar** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:03 am

The round things? Agricultural stuff...looks like fields planted in circles for ease of watering...sprinkler system attached at central pivot.

(Total guess, just by looking at the map zoomed in as far as possible.)

--A

Post by **The Laughing Man** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:10 am

no clue...

it just seemed funny to pull up a map of his region and find a bunch of circles, heh

Post by **Loredoctor** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:14 am

I hope someone sees the Mothman.

Post by **SoulBiter** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:02 pm

Avatar wrote:The round things? Agricultural stuff...looks like fields planted in circles for ease of watering...sprinkler system attached at central pivot.

(Total guess, just by looking at the map zoomed in as far as possible.)

--A

This is exactly what it is. They have tons of these in GA. The lines are made by the wheels that hold up the irrigation line.

Post by **Sheol** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:42 am

I moved a while ago and never gotten around to changing my location. Those are not the cirlcles that I was talking about. I attempted to locate them on the Google map to post alink but they do not show up. And I do assure you that they are not made bysprinklers. I know this because we don't have any of those out here right now.

Post by **balon!** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:38 am

Wait....

where the hell did the X-Files forum go?

Wasnt that where all the weird stuff went? I've got some good additions to add, danggit!

Post by **Loredoctor** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:53 am

Balon wrote:Wait....

where the hell did the X-Files forum go?

Wasnt that where all the weird stuff went? I've got some good additions to add, danggit!

It was merged with this forum. I thought it was a good idea and suggested it to Jay.

Post by **balon!** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:54 am

Okay then.

Thought it might have.....dropped in the Bermuda Triangle?

(pun?

)

Post by **Prebe** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:59 am

Sheol: Fairie rings (caused by undeground fungal mycelia) would be a good guess, expecially if you are not tilling.

Post by **Sheol** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:29 am

It isnt fairy rings, we have those out here and you might mistake them for one of those. But I have never seen a fairy ring show up in March and turn the grass black. I am not trying to blow up this story, it is wierd enough on its own. The snow will not stick to them in the winter or it will melt out faster. I dont know how to explain it. My aunt talked to an agency specializing in this sort of thing and they cant even explain it.

Post by **Avatar** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:08 am

Still sounds like some property of the ground itself to me.

(We knew those weren't the circles btw. Was just a diversion.)

--A

Post by **Prebe** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:58 am

Sheol: It might still be of fungal origin. Even if you normally see the actual mushrooms of the fairie rings in late summer/fall, there are many kinds of fungi that grow in circular patterns without ever producing fruiting bodies. These may have both positive and negative effects on the growth of the grass. In fact march (the start of the quick growth season of lots of grasses) might be the period where the effects of the presence of a mycelium is most pronounced.

See image:
images.google.dk/imgres?imgurl=www.photo-gallery.dk/oversigt/naturen/s ... %26hl%3Dda

And

plante-doktor.dk/hekseringe2.jpg

Notice how the grass is brown right outside the fruting bodies. AND that no fruting bodies need to be present.

Is there a tendency for the grass to be slightly more lush on the outside of the circle perimeter?

Sheol wrote:The snow will not stick to them in the winter

Locally increased microbial activity in the ground will increase local surface temperature to quite a large extent, which might be the reason of this phenomenon.

Also check out this discussion:
turfgrass.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000041.html

Post by **Sheol** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:14 pm

It doesn't just turn the grass brown, it turns it black. This is in the winter when the ground if frozen and nothing is growing. The only reason I said march is that was the last time it was so noticeable.

Post by **Prebe** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:24 pm

Well, I did what I could

Post by **Sheol** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:49 pm

I was wondering if it might be some remnant of an Indian ritual. Are any of you familiar with any thing of that sort? I know it is a far cry and that it is hard to believe that there is some sort of supernatural occurance going on here. It might not mean that much to any of you but it creeps me out everytime that I see them and I am very superstitious.

Post by **Avatar** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:23 am

*shrug* My suggestion would be to get the soil from inside the circle tested and compared to that from some distance outside it.

--A

Post by **Prebe** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:29 am

Or to mark the inner and outer perimeter with poles (in a couple of point along the circumference). Check out next year if the circle shifts outwars. If it does, you can be sure it's a biological phenomenon. If it stays in the same location for a couple of years, you might want to look for abiotic factors.

I know it is a far cry and that it is hard to believe that there is some sort of supernatural occurance going on here.

And yet you seem determined

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Crop Circles

Crop Circles