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has yet been prosecuted for circle-making, quite a number of hoaxers have put their 'confessions' on
record. As a result of this, a great deal is now known about the techniques and motivations of the
hoaxer. At a very conservative estimate there are a dozen teams or individuals who are known to have
made circles in England.
Jim Schnabel's book describes his basic techniques; lightweight plastic garden roller, for flattening
large areas quickly, and ideal for rings and avenues. The stalk-stomper for producing the spiral effect
in the lay. Plain old hands and feet for the smaller details. For some design components a central pole
(or accomplice) is used to fix a length of line to define perimeters. While working to a plan, the
circlemaker is also open to inspiration, improvisation and error, all depending on the circumstances.
From 1994 onwards, the circles in the United Kingdom began to show new heights of artistry. There
was a return to more predominantly circular forms, used in large combinations to make designs
described as 'thought bubbles' and scorpions. While deliberately cultivating a certain air of mystery,
some circlemakers have become more open about their work.
Two London-based artists, John Lundberg and Rod Dickinson, emerged as leading circlemakers and
their controversial activities can be monitored from the Circlemakers website. Among these pages one
can read other confessions of circlemakers and find a beginner's guide to circlemaking, detailing the
tools and methods necessary to make 'genuine circles'. They and others have undertaken commissions.
Lundberg's team were flown to New Zealand to perform for NEC and Adrian Dexter, winner of the
circles competition, swirled the Soil Association symbol, to promote this organic farming organization
(still only 1 per cent of UK agriculture).
Interestingly, the circlemakers themselves often profess a belief in the 'real' phenomenon, and also
report some of the same experiences of unexplained lights and sounds as described in Chapter 6. On
Lundberg's website, he writes 'our crop forms are intended to function as temporary sacred sites in this
(Avebury) landscape', and says that their activity attracts anomalies and is the 'subject of attention of
paranormal forces'. The motivation of hoaxers and the interaction of humans and the circles is the
subject of the next chapter.
Scorpion formation
A kind of symbiosis now exists between the hoaxers and the croppies, who sometimes allow a
grudging respect for the undoubted artistry of the hoaxers. In turn, the hoaxers depend on the croppies
for the 'oxygen of publicity', without which their creations would remain obscure and witnessed only
by the combine harvester driver.
References
The 'tabloid hoaxes' are revealed in Randles and Fuller. Meaden and Taylor fooled is from my own
notes and Schnabel's account. The Doug and Dave story is told best in Macnish, particularly his own
association with them. Wingfield and Kronig's articles on hoaxing appear in The Cerealogist Nos 7-9
and No. 13.
Practice
How do you evaluate the claims of Doug and Dave? Try examining pictures of formations and work
out in detail how and if they could have been constructed using the techniques described in this
chapter. How easy would this be at night? Take into account the circle-making competition.
Brown supplemented his fieldwork with careful inspection of pictures and methods, such as counting
the rings that were visible and applying some basic mathematical analysis, to arrive at figures for the
plank width and average step length used.
If you get the chance to examine a circle at first hand, look critically at its construction and such
features as underlying pathways, post holes and its relationship to the tramlines. Check out the
circlemakers' website. This will give you a flavour of the way the circlemaker thinks and operates.
8. Paranoia and conspiracy
We began with the point that the history of the crop circles resembles that of UFO research and it may
be observed pessimistically that little or nothing has been learned from the latter. We have seen in the
preceding chapter that circle-making has its roots in UFO hoaxes and the sensitivity of some
researchers to this led them to adopt a more guarded approach to the circles. Others have been less
cautious. Like ufology, circles research has become prone to paranoia and conspiracy theory and the
themes of this chapter constitute some of the strangest episodes in cerealogy.
Government Involvement? Following the hoax at Bratton Castle, during the highly publicized
Operation Blackbird, a story began doing the rounds, to the effect that the hoaxers were a special
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