Editing Crop circle (section)

=== 20th century ===
In 1932, archaeologist E. C. Curwen observed four dark rings in a field at Stoughton Down near Chichester, but could examine only one: "a circle in which the barley was [[Lodging (agriculture)|'lodged']] or beaten down, while the interior area was very slightly mounded up."<ref>Sussex Notes and Queries, 1937 Eliot Cecil Curwen pp. 139–40</ref>

In ''[[Fortean Times]],'' David Wood reported that in 1940 he made crop circles near [[Gloucestershire]] using ropes.<ref>{{harvnb|Eddie|2004}} citing: {{cite journal |author=D. Wood |year=2000 |title=Pioneer pranksters? |journal=[[Fortean Times]] |volume=131 |issue=52}}</ref> 

In 1963, [[Patrick Moore]] described a crater in a potato field in Wiltshire that he considered was probably caused by an unknown meteoric body. In nearby wheat fields, there were several circular and elliptical areas where the wheat had been flattened. There was evidence of "spiral flattening". He thought they could be caused by air currents from the impact, since they led towards the crater.<ref>Moore P. 'That Wiltshire Crater' Letter to the editor ''New Scientist'' 8 August 1963
{{blockquote|1=In the adjoining wheatfields were other features, taking the form of circular or elliptical areas in which the wheat had been flattened. I saw these myself; they had not been much visited, and were certainly peculiar One, very well-defined, was an oval 15 yards long by 41 broad. There was evidence of "spiral flattening", and in one case there was a circular area in the centre in which the wheat had not been flattened. In no case was there any evidence of an actual depression in the ground.

(...) [The crater] could have been caused by natural subsidence, but it did not give that impression, and in any case there are the areas of flattened wheat to be taken into account; it would be remarkable coincidence if these areas were not associated with the crater. Since the areas of flattened wheat "led" to the crater, it looks very much as though they, and the crater, were caused by something which came from the sky. In this case, the wheat would have been flattened by violent air-currents produced by the falling body.}}
</ref> Astronomer [[Hugh Ernest Butler]] observed similar craters and said they were likely caused by lightning strikes.<ref>Hugh Ernest Butler 'That Wiltshire Crater', ''New Scientist'' issue 352, 15 August 1963 Letters to the editor</ref>

During the 1960s, there were many reports of UFO sightings and circular formations in swamp reeds and sugarcane fields in [[Tully, Queensland]], Australia, and in Canada.<ref name=skepticssa/> For example, on 8 August 1967, three circles were found in a field in [[Duhamel, Alberta]], Canada; [[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]] investigators concluded that it was artificial but couldn't say who made them or how.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ufo/002029-1200-e.html |title= Canada's Unidentified Flying Objects: The Search for the Unknown: Duhamel, Alberta: August 1967 |date= 14 December 2007 |orig-year= 2005}} At Library and Archives Canada. ([http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ovni/002029-1200.01-f.html Original] in French).</ref> The most famous case is the 1966 Tully "saucer nest", when a farmer said he witnessed a saucer-shaped craft rise {{convert|30 or 40|ft|m|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} from a swamp and then fly away. On investigating he found a nearly circular area {{convert|32|ft|m|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} long by {{convert|25|ft|m|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} wide where the grass was flattened in clockwise curves to water level within the circle, and the reeds had been uprooted from the mud.<ref name=skepticssa>{{cite web |author= Laurie Eddie |date= 4 November 2004 |url= http://www.skepticssa.org.au/html/cropcircles.html |title= The Skeptics SA Guide to: Crop circles |work= Skepticssa.org.au. |publisher= Skeptics SA |access-date= 2012-01-01 |ref= {{harvid|Eddie|2004}} |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110823020100/http://www.skepticssa.org.au/html/cropcircles.html |archive-date= 23 August 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref> The local police officer, the [[Royal Australian Air Force]], and the [[University of Queensland]] concluded that it was most probably caused by natural causes, like a down draught, a [[willy-willy]] (dust devil), or a [[waterspout]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} In 1973, G.J. Odgers, Director of Public Relations, Department of Defence (Air Office), wrote to a journalist that the "saucer" was probably debris lifted by a willy-willy.

After the 1960s, there was a surge of UFOlogists in [[Wiltshire]], and there were rumours of "saucer nests" appearing in the area, but they were never photographed.<ref name="smithsonian" /> There are other pre-1970s reports of circular formations, especially in Australia and Canada, but they were always simple circles, which could have been caused by whirlwinds.<ref name="skepticssa" /> 

British pranksters Doug Bower and Dave Chorley reported they started creating crop circles in British cornfields in 1978, inspired by the Tully "saucer nest" case.<ref name="dutch" /><ref name="skepticssa" /><ref>{{cite book |title= The Demon-Haunted World |author= Carl Sagan |author-link= Carl Sagan |year= 1997 |pages= 72–76|isbn= 0747251568 |publisher= [[Headline Publishing Group]] |ref= {{harvid|Sagan|1997}}|title-link= The Demon-Haunted World }}</ref><ref name="NGEO" /><ref name="smithsonian">{{cite web |author1= Rob Irving |author2= Peter Brookesmith |url= http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Crop-Circles-The-Art-of-the-Hoax.html |title= Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax |work= Smithsonian.com |date= December 15, 2009 |access-date= 20 December 2012 |archive-date= 12 November 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131112171948/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Crop-Circles-The-Art-of-the-Hoax.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= The flattened crops society |work= [[The Scotsman]] |date= September 7, 2002 | author= Jim Gilchrist |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12991491.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140611120139/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12991491.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 11, 2014 }}</ref>

The first film to depict a geometric crop circle, in this case created by super-intelligent ants, was the 1974 science-fiction film ''[[Phase IV (1974 film)|Phase IV]]''. The film has been cited as a possible inspiration or influence on the pranksters who started this phenomenon.<ref>Pilkington, Mark (2010) "History, the Hive Mind, and Agrarian Art". In ''The Anomalist'', Vol. 14. http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/4106/</ref>

The majority of reports of crop circles have appeared and spread since the late 1970s<ref name=dutch>{{cite book |title= Reframing Dutch Culture: Between Otherness and Authenticity |series= Progress in European Ethnology |author1= Peter Jan Margry |author2= Herman Roodenburg |edition= illustrated |publisher= [[Ashgate Publishing]] |year= 2007 |pages= 150–151 |isbn= 978-0-7546-4705-8 |ref= {{harvid|Margry & Roodenburg|2007}}}}</ref> as many circles began appearing throughout the English countryside. This phenomenon became widely known in the late 1980s, after the media started to report crop circles in [[Hampshire]] and Wiltshire. After Bower and Chorley gave interviews in 1991 about how they had made crop circles, circles started appearing all over the world.<ref name="Taylor2011" /> By 2001, approximately 10,000 crop circles have been reported internationally, from locations such as the former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, the U.S., and Canada. Researchers have noted a correlation between crop circles, recent media coverage, and the absence of fencing and/or anti-trespassing legislation.<ref>{{cite news | title = Disease brings poor crop of circles | newspaper = BBC News | date = 2001-08-17 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1496296.stm | access-date = 2007-02-08}}</ref>

Although farmers expressed concern at the damage caused to their crops, local response to the appearance of crop circles was often enthusiastic, with locals taking advantage of the increase of tourism and visits from scientists, crop circle researchers, and individuals seeking spiritual experiences.<ref name="NGEO">{{cite news |author=Hillary Mayell |date=2 August 2002 |title=Crop circles: Artwork or alien signs |page=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051116211153/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0801_020801_cropcircles_2.html 2] |magazine=National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0801_020801_cropcircles.html |url-status=dead |access-date=28 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115211610/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0801_020801_cropcircles.html |archive-date=15 November 2011}}</ref> The market for crop circle interest consequently generated bus or helicopter tours of circle sites, walking tours, T-shirts, and book sales.