From: "William Sawyers" <wsawers@ihug.co.nz>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 09:50:01 +1300
Fwd Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 00:33:00 -0500
Subject: Crop Circles: Hoaxes? 3/3

[Part 3 of 3]

The authors claim that "In this guide we will give you all the
information you will need to work with these plants, and
eventually, with a little practice, produce genuine, dowsable,
scientifically proven un-hoaxable circle patterns". There are
drawings of known formations (mainly the more complicated
patterns) as well as ones which have yet to appear. This reviewer
was pleased to read that the authors make it quite clear that
circlemaking is a criminal activity and that (somewhat
paradoxically) circlemakers should "not move through a field
without using a tram-line"). The authors seem a little guilty
about this aspect of their booklet as on page 9 they launch into
a lengthy justification for their activities, something which
some farmers may not find particularly amusing. In another
paragraph it is suggested that circlemakers leave "nasty things"
inside their creations, eg "hospital waste, dangerous
radio-isotopes, blood" etc. With sentiments like this it seems
that the crop circle mythology is far from dead and that this
battle royale between the True Believers and the circle makers
will continue unabated for years to come. PF.=20

A Letter from Shuttleworth

In CW22 we featured the first response to a circular letter to
Meaden's peer group - those scientists who were publicly
associated with the 1990 Circles Effect Conferences held in
Oxford. In our previous issue Dr Tokio Kikuchi of Kochi
University, Japan, made clear that despite his concern at the
extent of hoaxing he was still prepared to consider an
atmospheric solution to some crop circles. Having circulated Dr
Kikuchi's response Dr John Graham, the Director of Studies at
Shuttleworth College, Cranfield University, also responded
(letter dated 30th August 1994). This is what he has to say :-=20

"Dear Paul, Many thanks for your letter of 19 August. In response
to your request perhaps I can make a few (personal) points :=20

(1) The majority of circles/formations are probably man-made. A
few, simple, circles are very possibly not. However, until
hoaxers stop hoaxing or we catch a real one "in the act" as it is
being formed, we cannot be fully certain. I am wary of the
Skeptics (as I am of many other groups) because, like so many,
they are trying to get the facts to fit their theory.=20

(2) Terence Meaden is one of the few to be doing it properly,
i.e. vice versa. Accordingly, as time goes by and we accumulate
more evidence, so he will revise his hypothesis until it is
thoroughly tested. Normal, proper scientific procedure. Hence we
should expect what he is saying in 1996 for example to have moved
on from what he was saying in 1993. =20

(3) I have read Tokio Kikuchi's letter in the Crop Watcher with
interest. I too am uneasy about the word 'plasma'. Perhaps this
is just because I have a biological background where plasma is
found in blood, and I don't know so very much about physicists'
plasma ! However, the key factor is that some sort of vortex is
involved - from my own observations of crop damage, both in
circles and in non-geometric configurations, I feel certain that
this is the most likely culprit.=20

I hope these few remarks are of help to you. If you wish me to
comment further on any specific points do please let me know.
Best Wishes, Yours Sincerely, Dr John Graham."=20

The Crop Watcher has circulated copies of this letter and Dr
Tokio Kikuchi's letter in CW22 to all six members of Terence
Meaden's peer group as detailed in CW22 page 16 and we await
further replies with interest. =20

Letters to the Editor

Writing tosh=20

Dear Crop Watcher, Let no one - bar the odd author, perhaps -
again accuse Andrew Collins of plagiary. He's just too good at
making up the stories himself. 'Alien Energy' is the latest
example.=20

For the record: On page 44 Andy talks of me being, 'suddenly
stunned by a burst of light that emanated from a position
directly beside (me)'. Actually it came from above, and I didn't
feel particularly stunned - a little surprised maybe. On the same
page he writes that my partner saw nothing. This is untrue; if
he'd asked her, she would have told him that she witnessed the
same thing I did. On the following page, Andy reports that I told
him that I, along with three others, 'witnessed a ball of light
at close quarters'. This is untrue, and the first I've heard of
such a story. There was a report, relayed to him by a third
party, concerning an event I'd supposedly witnessed. I promised
to give him details, but he never got back to me. Instead, he
simply made the story up.=20

On page 148 there is an account of a visit to the edge of the
East Field, Alton Barnes, in which Andy, his partner Debbie, Pam
Price & I, 'all clearly heard a peculiar noise emanate from a
position just metres away from where we stood'. Andy goes on to
describe the noise as, alternately, 'a fishing reel being cast
.... over the crop ... appearing to curve around in an arc ... and
heard one final time in the field on the opposite side of the
deserted Pewsey Road'. 'No-one could offer any simple explanation
for this unusual event', he says. Well, I could, and I remember
doing so. I also remember full agreement from Pam & Andy at the
time. It was clearly road noise from an approaching, then
arriving, and then departing vehicle. I even remember waiting for
another vehicle to pass so we could verify the effect. I do not
recall, however, seeing any 'huge aerial flash' above Knapp Hill,
apart from the usual head-light play. To anyone familiar with the
area, this is quite usual.=20

In the reference section to Chapter 8 (pages 235-236) he takes
issue with the conclusions Jim Schnabel & I reached in our 1992
'Rolling Their Own' piece for The Independent Magazine. Without
going into depth, it is obvious that Andy has not recently
re-read the article, did not appreciate the points raised, nor
has he responded to the numerous offers made to him (at the
proof-reading stage of his book) to listen to tapes which clearly
illustrate that UBI possessed a greater, 'flair and enthusiasm'
for crop circles than Andy describes. Neither has he recently=20
spoken to Jim or myself at any length on the subject. It
shouldn't be necessary to mention that firm evidence would be a
pre-requisite of acceptance by The Independent. In the real
world, it's not quite so easy to get away with writing tosh. =20

A curious aside; researchers not suffering from a short-term
memory disfunction will remember it was Andy who informed us that
John Martineau had claimed authorship to Jim's 'Dharmic Wheel'
formation of 1992, suggesting that it might have been,
"automatically rolled". Does he still believe this ? I am
confused. However, should Andy agree to a detailed debate on this
topic - in any sensible forum - I would be more than happy to
oblige. =20

On the subject of our infamous balloon 'experiments' in the
Pewsey Vale in 1992 (ref Chapter 10 p237); Andy awards great
significance to their dates - he even suggests, ridiculously,
that they may have been as late as November that year. Again, he
made no effort to check. If he had, he would have found the real
facts entirely inconsistent to the ones he portrays.=20

There is much true mystery in the world, possibly encompassing
Alton Barnes - it's formulation is unnecessary. That aside, I'm
sure Andy's book is highly entertaining. Robert Irving. London.=20
PF notes:- Andy Collins will be responding to Irving's letter in
our next issue, when a full review of "Alien Energy" will appear.
I can confirm that in late September - two years after The
Independent Magazine article appeared - I was contacted by Paul
Randall, one of the members of the UBI, following Andy Collins'
intervention. Randall alleged that the UBI had never made more
than two circles and were not Kronig's mythical "A team". I
readily agreed to attend an open meeting to discuss this claim
but I have yet to hear from the UBI as to details of this
meeting. In the meantime I have received a tape recording from
Irving of various interviews and telephone conversations he held
with members of UBI during 1991 and 1992. These tapes will form
the basis of several articles which will appear in future issues.=20

Other Crop Circle News

IRISH CROP CIRCLES

The Irish UFO and Paranormal Research Association (IUFOPRA) have
informed us that two grass circles appeared on a freshly mowed
lawn at a house in the Mourne area of County Down, Northern
Ireland, on June 25th. The circles appeared within 48 hours of
cutting and changed shape over the following 72 hours. The
smallest was 14 feet in diameter whilst the largest, which
appeared to have a spur attached, was 16 feet in diameter. We
await further news with interest. =20
CALENDAR CATASTROPHE

Colin Andrews' colour poster of the "best" 1993 formations has
caused one or two people to sit up and take notice ! Colin has
promoted the two "Bohemian" formations made by the Wessex
Skeptics (recently admitted to in Volume 8, No 1 of The Skeptic)
as well as Erik Beckjord's wheelchair symbol !=20

FRENCH UGMs

Robert Fischer of Saint Max, France, has sent me a copy of issue
36 of Lumieres dans la Nuit. This issue features photographs of
three unexplained ground markings, at Col de Vence, (1985 and
1993), Saint-Geniez (Sept 1993) and at d'Aumont (Sept 1993). The
first traces involved a sunken circle and a grass circle, both of
which may be unusual fungal growths (??). The middle case looks
like a classic crop circle. The last case is composed of three
sets of dark rings on a light sandy soil. The rings almost touch
eachother and allegedly nothing grows inside them. Joel Mesnard
undertook an investigation and concluded that they were probably
hoaxes as the rings were made up of what might be ground tree
bark which was largely superficial to the soil. =20

APBO Hoaxers Evade Detection

Readers will recall the appearance two years running of the
"APBO" hoax near Cherry Burton on Humberside. It occurred to me
that if these letters were not created by any of the known
circlemakers (eg Jonathon Richardson, or the Cambridge-based
Mandelbrot-makers) then perhaps these were the initials of the
hoaxers responsible. Whilst doing an interview with BBC Radio
Humberside on August 30th I learnt from the presenter Russell
Merryman that this hoax appeared on land owned or leased by
Bishop Burton agricultural college. On September 8th I wrote to
the college enquiring whether or not this hoax did indeed appear
on their land and whether or not their students (or perhaps, as
with the Southwell hoax discussed in CW6 page 28, rival students
from another college) were responsible. On October 19th Howard
Petch, the college Principal, kindly responded with the following
:-=20

 "I have little information to assist your enquiries. However,
there has been evidence of one small, poorly constructed and
obviously man-made (with footprints etc) corn circle at Mill Hill
in 1994. Quite a number of other incidents have occurred over the
previous few years but we have no idea whether students (our or
others) were responsible." =20

Strange but True? ditch Crop Circles

Also, having assisted the "Strange But True?" team at London
Weekend Television in their research into crop circles, I
contacted David Alpin, the producer (who I met at the Fortean
Times Unconvention in June). In a letter dated 25 October David
states "I decided not to include crop circles in this series of
STRANGE BUT TRUE? because we did not have an appropriate story. A
great many subjects have been investigated and rejected in the
making of our programmes, so that we could present viewers with
the very best and most fascinating of mysteries to watch and
decide on". A book, based on the series and written by Peter
Hough and Jenny Randles, is currently on sale, price not yet
known !=20

PLASMA VORTEX ??

Did anyone see the alleged photographs of the Virgin Mary in the
Sunday Express magazine on November 13th ? "Its a Miracle"
featured photographs of several locations said to have produced
miraculous events. According to the text "The Virgin Mary
supposedly appeared here [at Conyers, Atlanta, USA] in the sky,
right, to a young woman in 1988. Since then, many other claims
have perpetuated these sensational scenes of pilgrimage and
evangelism. Preachers address the vast congregations by
loudspeaker, and the crowds scan the sky with cameras, hoping to
capture a divine image, below. A foundation called Our Loving
Mother's Network has been set up here, partly to keep believers
updated on the latest sightings". The attached photographs appear
to show a huge glowing cloud formation with spiralling arms. Does
this indicate rotation ? If so, is this some kind of plasma
vortex phenomenon ? =20
r.p.v. ??

Also, did anyone see the article in New Scientist, 20 August
1994, describing advanced military technology ? The diagram
included an "unmanned aerial vehicle" (a kind of remotely-piloted
vehicle) which seems strikingly similar to the drawing of the
"daylight dumbbell" case reported from Novato, California, on
April 15th, 1989 (see IUR, Vol 14, No 5, pages 12-13).=20

Also ...

Did anyone tape Pat Delgado's appearance on TV's "What's My Line"
in November ? If so I would like a copy please !=20

One of our "deep throat" sources has informed us that he has
submitted four sealed envelopes to ITN's "Schofield's Quest"
which contains predictions of crop formations to appear in 1995.
It is expected that Schofield - if he can find the time - will
open these envelopes "live" on TV late next summer. =20

The Amersham group's hoaxed giant penis near Chequers (which
featured in many national newspapers this summer) finally made it
to BBC TV's "Have I Got News For You" on November 18th, when crop
circle guru David Icke was one of the guests. Curiously Reg
Pressley was promoted by presenter Angus Dayton as the leading
member of the Circles Phenomenon Research Group. No doubt Colin
Andrews will have something to say about this! =20

Paul Vigay and the Portsmouth News=20

Paul Vigay of Portsmouth is currently under threat of legal
action from Circlevision following comments attributed to him by
the Portsmouth News on July 30th. In a highly contentious
interview Vigay alleged that he had recently attended a public
lecture in London when he had a "run in with a pair of  hoaxers,
or 'circle debunkers'" who "showed a sequence of time lapse
pictures that appeared to show a crop circle being hoaxed".
According to the Portsmouth News "Paul stood up and said he could
produce the same sort of pictures with computer manipulation in a
few minutes". The article continues by alleging that these
un-named "hoaxers" "backed down" once they had seen Paul Vigay's
computer-produced images. =20

According to correspondence in my possession on January 12th 1994
Paul Vigay wrote to Circlevision to clarify similar claims he
made at the December 4th BUFORA lecture. Vigay states that "under
no circumstances have I, either at the BUFORA lecture or
subsequently, accused you, your husband or his company of lying.
Also, under no circumstances would I make any statement to damage
your reputation or inhibit your business. However, it remains a
matter of fact that photographic and video evidence is less
effective in today's technological environment, with the latest
developments in computer technology, both hardware and software
allowing one to manipulate images in any way one desires. This
does not imply or suggest that you or Circlevision have used such
methods, but it should be pointed out to researchers that such
techniques exist." Of course this is not what Vigay claimed at
the BUFORA lecture, when he appeared to imply that Circlevision
was presenting computer-enhanced images of circle-makers at work
at night rather than real-world images. =20

With this letter Vigay supplied Circlevision with laser copies of
a computer-generated image of the Barbury Castle formation as
viewed from high above the formation. Apparently this image is
not the same as that shown by Circlevision at the BUFORA lecture.=20
=20
In correspondence with me Paul Vigay maintains that the comments
in the Portsmouth News article did not refer to Circlevision or
the BUFORA lecture. However, he has refused to name the people
discussed in the Portsmouth News article or the location of the
lecture discussed. Readers may find it difficult to believe that
the MacNishes are not the only video makers who recently
presented a public lecture in London about crop circles. It seems
even more unbelievable that whilst Vigay accepts that
Circlevision did not fabricate their nocturnal photographs of
circlemakers at work this other un-named company did !=20

Following these developments Circlevision have placed this
disturbing matter in the hands of their solicitor and asked the
Portsmouth News and Paul Vigay for an apology. In the meantime
Vigay has accused Doug Bower of lying about the number of crop
circles he and Dave Chorley made, and now your Editor has also
been accused of being a liar (on the public area of the E-mail
system) following the lawsuit threat bought against me in 1989 by
Colin Andrews, Pat Delgado and Gordon Creighton ! All this
material will form the basis of a full article which will appear
in our next issue. =20

Rumours & Rumours of Rumours

Colin Andrews has been collared by the CIA in Alresford High
Street, a secret message was passed on ... perhaps it will appear
in his third book "The Signs of Change" ... Reg Pressley is
planning a new crop circle video ...  A well known questing
UFOlogist appeared in court on November 23rd in the East Midlands
charged with obtaining services by deception.... Rupert and
Ishtar are on good terms ... John Alexander's wife Victoria is
trying to obtain a copy of The Informer as Erik Beckjord alleged
to her that Jim Schnabel is the Editor ... Robert Irving's
admiralty office is located near Bath ... George Vernon tried to
appear on Schofield's quest, but Doug Bower and Reg Pressley had
already beaten him to it ...Chad Deetken refused to accept a
drink from Adrian Dexter ... =20

Book Reviews

Time Travel, Fact, Fiction & Possibility
Jenny Randles
Blandford, 176 pages, 33 b&w photos, =A3 14.99 hb,=20
=A3 8.99 pb. Read and reviewed on Weymouth beach.

Time travel is a subject that has always caught the imagination
of the public - well at least since H.G. Wells' classic The Time
Machine was published in 1895 - and now Jenny Randles has
compiled a very thorough examination of the subject with this
well illustrated, thought-provoking book. There is an excellent
review of the fictional literature on the subject plus a close
examination of cases where time travel has been claimed as a
possible explanation for anomaly events. Some of the scientific
experiments that have been conducted are a bit mind boggling but
otherwise this is fair speculation backed up by good solid
research. Buy it !=20

UFO Quest
In Search of Mystery Machines
Alan Watts
Blandford, 192 pages, 12 b/w photos, 65 line drawings, price =A3
7.99=20

This really is the most thoroughly dishonest UFO book that I've
seen for a long, long time. Touted as a "detailed and
scientifically based survey" this must be the only book in UFO
history which promotes Alex Birches' faked UFO photographs (page
92), David Langford's hoaxed "An Account of a Meeting with
Denizens of Another World" (page 126), Dave Harris' faked account
of how a UFO created a crop circle at Butleigh Wootten in 1991
(page 150) and which also promotes Billy Meier's highly dubious
claims to have met visitors from the Pleiadies (his photographs
of the spaceships were shown to be fakes years ago). Add to this
the promotion of George Adamski's ridiculous claims of meeting
with Venusians in the Californian desert and the promotion of
Stephen Pratt's dubious UFO photographs and we get a book which
this reviewer is quite sure that the Skeptics will use to
discredit UFOlogy for many years to come !=20

In my opinion Alan Watts deserves some kind of UFOlogical award
for having been stuck in a time warp for the past thirty years
and for doing not one single piece of proper research before
producing this wicked book.  It is bad enough to see UFOlogists
still promoting the likes of Billy Meier and George Adamski, but
this book goes so much further that it makes me wonder whether
there's any point at all in continuing with research into anomaly
events, given the level of distortion and cover-up perpetrated in
this book. To give an example of Alan Watts' "scientific"
approach to UFO investigation, this is what he has to say about
the famous Mandelbrot formation :- =20

"The chances of this being a hoax are absolutely nil and it is,
in my opinion, a waste of time to dwell upon the matter " (page
142). =20

With bigoted, ill-informed sentiments like this it is not
surprising to see that Jo-Anne Wilder's eye witness account of
hoaxers making the Firs Farm formation (promoted on page 174) on
1 August 1991 is also missing. Like Pat Delgado Watts is also
under the misapprehension that the Cheesefoot Head circles in
1981 were the first circles to appear. I suppose the continued
perpetuation of this ridiculous error neatly does away with any
need at all to discuss the Doug and Dave claim. Why bother
challenging your assumptions when your belief that alien visitors
are making the formations is elevated to the platform of an
unquestionable faith.=20

Like many a True Believer it is revealing to see the way in which
Watts misrepresents case after case to support his religion, eg
for some inexplicable reason he omits to discuss the widely
accepted Skyhook Balloon solution for Captain Thomas Mantell's
tragic death in 1947 (page 125). In another example the Wildman
car stop case (page 50) is promoted as an encounter with a
spaceship rather than an encounter with a light. The Eric Payne
case (page 103) is presented as an encounter with an invisible
UFO without the slightest consideration that sensations of heat
and air pressure are entirely consistent with a natural
atmospheric interpretation. I could go on and on but what point
is there ?=20

Now if you've been foolish enough to buy this disgraceful book I
recommend that you demand your money back because you've been had
! BUFORA should hold its collective corporate head in shame at
allowing a member of the Association to produce such a dishonest,
fraudulent book to represent "scientific" UFOlogy. PF.=20

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A former army officer and college lecturer, Gordon is an
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The NEW UFOlogist

Issue 2 of The New UFOlogist is now out ! See your Editor make a
complete burke of himself discussing the "GAO" Roswell Report in
glossy print ! =20

Magazine Round-Up

International UFO Reporter, November/December 1993 issue (Vol 19,
No 3) contains a fascinating UFO case study from Alberta, Canada.
>From the description offered by David Thacker it is difficult to
tell what was really seen, and for once even a clever dick like
me has to reserve his opinion ! The UFO resembled the triangles
seen over Belgium, the Hudson Valley, New York, and, more
recently, in northern England. Multiple independent witnesses
reported seeing a dark triangular-shaped object with red circles
at each apex. Christopher Allan takes the Roswell UFO crash to
task, Randle and Schmitt of CUFOS respond. =20

The Journal of UFO Studies, New Series, Vol 5 (1994) contains two
articles of interest to crop circle researchers. In "An
Assessment of the Crop Circle Phenomenon" Joachim P. Kuettner of
the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research dismisses a
meteorological explanation for all but the simplest of crop
circles, because (allegedly) all known vortices create inwardly
flowing spiral traces rather than the divergent traces found in
crop circles (so what about expanding ring vortices then ?).
Amazingly Kuettner claims that nocturnal descending vortices have
"not yet been observed in the atmospheric sciences". Despite this
he is happy to leave the door open slightly for a previously
unrecognised vortex, largely because of Arnt Eliassen's 1991
letter to Weather. Kuettner suggests that the plasma vortex is
"scientifically improbable" whilst asserting that historical crop
rings have a much closer association with UFOs than the
modern-day crop circles. Jenny Randles and myself hope to submit
a response to JUFOS challenging some of these statements. It is
astonishing that Kuettner's article should contain an excellent
photograph of a crop circle with slanting edges discovered near
Dellroy, Ohio, on June 28, 1965. There is also a photograph of a
smouldering circular patch of grass found near Killaly,
Saskatchewan, discovered on November 14, 1979 after a white light
had been seen the previous night (not the most persuasive UFO
association I've ever read). In both photos there is evidence of
a ring vortex effect - at Dellroy the crop radiates outwards in
all directions whilst at Killaly the central zone is untouched.
If these are hoaxes, how did the hoaxers know how to mimic ring
vortex effects ! There is also an amusing review of the crop
circle literature by UFO historian Michael Swords. Available from
the same address as IUR, CUFOS, 2457 West Peterson Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois 60659.=20

Annals of the Enquiring, Vol 4 No 3 (July/Sept 1993) contains
numerous Fortean events and some valuable case material. I was
particularly impressed to learn that the March 31st 1993
sightings over Britain, Ireland and the continent had positively
been identified by the a Dr T S Kelso of the USAF as a rocket
fragment of COSMOS 2238. Other articles include UFOs and star
maps, Weeping Madonas, BVMs, psychometry. Issue 19 contains
photos of the two crop circles at Seaforde, Northern Ireland,
which were found last August. This issue contains a statistical
analysis of UFO waves, case studies of frogs falling from the sky
(complete with whirlwind association) and news of the video of
the Exmoor Beast.  =A3 6 for 4 issues. Write to 8 St John Street,
Wells, Somerset, BA5  1SW. =20

MUFON UFO Journal, Feb 1994 issue contains a statistical analysis
of the content of abduction reports by Dan Wright. Psycho-social
UFOlogists will take great comfort from the finding that 95 % of
abductions occur in the witnesses' own home (often the bedroom),
as this seems to support the theory that abductions are altered
states of consciousness akin to lucid dreams rather than
objectively real events. A second article examines an important
radar visual case involving a reddish light that paced two
aircraft in successive incidents over Paraguay. No, I can't make
out what it was ! Glenn Campbell perceptively reviews Bob
Lazaar's claim to have seen captured alien technology on a top
secret US base. March issue continues with Dan Wright's
statistical analysis of abduction cases. Wright's conclusion -
that "numerous entity types have been visiting our planet with
some regularity" - must be the most ridiculous statistical
inference made throughout recorded history ! Kevin Randle and
Donald Schmitt present a chapter by chapter precis of their
latest update on the controversial Roswell case. Fred Whiting
describes his part in the current US Government Accounting
Office's investigation into the Roswell affair. The April issue
again concentrates on the pro Roswell debate, with Kent Jeffrey
appealing for UFOlogists world-wide to sign the "Roswell
Declaration" (no, your Editor didn't). Write to 103 Oldtowne
Road, Seguin, Texas 78155-4099.=20

Enigmas, the Journal of Strange Phenomena Investigations, issue
24 Vol 4 contains many fascinating in-depth research articles on
subjects as diverse as poltergeists, man-beasts in Australia,
alien abductions and another Nessie sighting. The highlight of
this issue, for me, is an update on the Bonnybridge UFO wave,
detailing Malcolm Robinson's concerted attempts to solve an
intriguing UFO video case.  Issue 37 Vol 5 Keith Basterfield
summarises the state of abduction research in Australia, the UFO
conference at Falkirk, hauntings and stigmata, UFO cases. 44
pages A5. =A3 10 for 5 issues per year. Write to 41 The Braes,
Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10  2TT, Scotland. =20

Phenomena, published by SOS OVNI, the leading French group.
Available from SOS OVNI, Boite postale 324, 13611 Aix-en-Provence
Cedex 1, France. A small English supplement is provided if, like
me, you can't read French. Jan/Feb 1994 issue contains important
revelations about the origin of the famous UMMO hoax and the
controversy surrounding Jose Pena's confession. There is a
summary of the proposal to set up a UFO reporting centre for the
EEC. Details are supplied of a classic CE3 at
Tronville-en-Barrois in the east of France. A family of five
witnessed a luminous dome-shaped object, two bright lights,
ground traces and even entities. A sixth independent witness to
the scene claims to have seen a car with its headlights on and
the driver walking around with a powerful torch. It transpired
that the driver was on the run from the gendarmerie and had
stopped at the precise spot where the alien craft was reported.
The full case report will be published in a later issue of
Phenomena but it is clear that this case illustrates how complex
social processes within the family contributed to the group
misperception involved. Issue 20 (March/April) contains a dubious
ground trace case involving a bright light and a circular ground
trace. There are also reprints of articles on the Williamette
Pass photo (from IUR) and a mass outbreak of mystery helicopters,
unidentified helicopters, UFOs and animal mutilations in the San
Luis Valley, Colorado. Issue 22 contains a major article on the
Face on Mars and a photographic case from Normandie. =20

The Ley Hunter, 121, =A3 1.75 per issue. This excellent issue
contains many constructive articles examining earth mysteries,
ley-alignments and sacred sites as well as links with natural
light phenomena and other anomalous phenomena. This excellent
issue contains two well researched articles on ghost routes and=20
corpse roads as well as an annotated map showing the location of
11 fairy mounds in County Sligo. Coincidentally the fairy mounds
are all located within 6 kms of a steep escarpment. Is this
because the ancients witnessed illuminated plasma vortices
forming in the lee of these hills and rationalised them in terms
of the prevailing fairylore motif ? Ray Cox has a letter pleading
for clemency over the crop circle phenomenon. There is an
important summary of Devereux's latest work with the
International Consciousness Research Laboratories following his
field trips to Hessdalen and Marfa (where Devereux and Ohtsuki
agree that "at least 90 per cent" of the Marfa Lights were
believed to be mirage-type refraction effects of car headlights).
Devereux makes some important comments on his latest thinking
about the postulated plasma vortex. At Hessdalen Devereux met
four Russian scientists who described their laboratory-produced
plasmas. A paper was presented on behalf of an absent Chinese
delegate describing observed vortex behaviour in
experimentally-produced plasmas and in photos of the Hessdalen
lights. Devereux met with our own Prof. Ohtsuki and had some
enlightening discussions with him. Devereux concludes "Out of all
these conversations, ..., a number of subtle factors relating to
light phenomena came more clearly in focus for me. One of these
was the possibility of light phenomena leaving ground traces on
suitable surfaces. I have held (albeit with increasing doubts) to
such a possibility all through the crop circle hoo-ha, and had
all but relinquished it. But enough data came together for me
during the conference, ..., to convince me that there may well be
something in the matter, and will be proceeding to explore it
further." Available from PO Box 92, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18=20
2BX. Three issues per year for =A3 5.25. =20

Erik Beckjord

Regular readers will already know of John Erik Beckjord, the
intrepid Bigfoot hunter and "Director" of the "UFO, Bigfoot and
Nessie Museum" of Marina del Rey, California. Beckjord first shot
to crop circle fame with his ancient "TIFFINAG" interpretation of
crop circles appearing in Wiltshire in 1991. Beckjord responded
to what he believed were messages from alien beings by creating
the "TALK TO US" message in a field near Avebury. According to
MUFON UFO JOURNAL, issue 301, Beckjord claims to have received "8
responses" to this message. In the Washington Post (3rd July
1991) Beckjord has even tried to flog photographs of Senator
Edward Kennedy's Face on Mars in an attempt to attract publicity.
Some animated letters from Beckjord have appeared in MUFON UFO
JOURNAL,  numbers 279 and 281. =20

At 10:30 pm on August 19th Beckjord rang me from the Barge public
house to allege that I am the Editor of The Informer and that I
have libelled him by accusing him of fabricating his photographs
of the Loch Ness Monster ! Beckjord claimed that he had exposed
me at a public meeting attended by 50 people !! He subsequently
repeated these false claims in writing where he states "Now what
is this crap you write [in The Informer] ... Total nonsense and
irrational. You write garbage, in an attempt to insult, yet avoid
libel, at same time. You can't do this and be clear you dumb yob.
Your writing is convoluted, turgid and idiotic. Not university
level. State your insults clearly. Eschew obfuscation. P.S.
Informer #7 Not up to level of #6 (Schnabel). J.S. edits better
than you do. This issue was weak. Your Vigay & Macnish article is
bullshit clouded in mindless drivel. Not clear as is C.W.". =20
So, if I read these allegations correctly, in between having a
full time job, editing The Crop Watcher and co-editing The New
UFOlogist, it seems that I am producing The Informer in my sleep
!=20
In another scribbled messages Beckjord writes "Too bad you piss
off so many people - you could otherwise socialise at The Barge
and at conventions - but instead you must sit at the fringe -
outside, outcast - pity." A third note states "Everyone now knows
about you-know-what, and that you refuse to reveal where you got
your B.A. degree (if at all) - pity." So, as you can see,
Beckjord appears to be alleging that I have lied about having a
university degree. If you want a copy of my degree certificate
(Sheffield 1982) or my postgraduate diploma (Kent 1983) please
let me know and I'll send you copies !=20

I have since discovered that Beckjord made a similar drunken
phone call to Jayne Macnish at Circlevision on the same night as
he made his threatening phone call to me. According to Jenny
Randles Beckjord pestered her repeatedly in an attempt to obtain
my telephone number, even though it is freely available in the
telephone directory. =20

In a press release dated August 15th Erik Beckjord alleged that
all the crop circle researchers are "major rat(s)" who are
victims of an alien experiment to evaluate our psychology and
social systems. Apparently we humans are "experimental animals"
who are "destroying our cages" . With sentiments like these it is
not surprising that Mr Beckjord currently has extensive legal
problems. =20

The Crop Watcher has learnt that Associated Press have paid Peter
Hough damages for breach of copyright following their widespread
publication of the Ilkley Moor entity photograph, which was given
to them by Erik Beckjord following one of last year's crop circle
conferences. Presumably Associated Press will attempt to recover
their damages from Beckjord when he returns to Britain this
summer. In the meantime Beckjord is alleging that a team of
lawyers are working flat out on his behalf, without pay, to deny
that Hough owns the copyright to the Ilkley Moor entity
photograph. =20

Finally I have learnt from one of my subscribers that when
Beckjord rang me from the Barge he boasted that I had accused him
of being a liar ! If anyone has a tape recording of Beckjord's
allegations against me I would be very grateful for a copy. In
the meantime I am still awaiting a written apology from Beckjord.

NEXT ISSUE

CW24 will be out by February 1st. Highlights will include the
historical crop circle photographs discussed on page 2, a review
of Alien Energy, a reply from Andy Collins to Robert Irving's
letter in this issue, the result of my investigations into the
astonishing event involving Colin Andrews and two army
helicopters at Alton Barnes on July 21st, plus a possible
literary reference to more historical crop circles. Oh yes, we
will also be examining Levengood's article in Physiologia
Plantarum 92 !=20

THE CROP WATCHER

The Crop Watcher is an independent non-profit-making magazine
devoted to the scientific study of crop circles and the social
mythology that accompanies them. Articles appearing in The Crop
Watcher are copyright to the named author and should not be
reproduced with first obtaining written permission. Articles
appearing in The Crop Watcher do not necessarily reflect the
views of the Editor or other contributors. Readers are welcome to
submit articles for publication. Offers of exchange magazines are
always welcome.=20

SUBSCRIPTIONS

The Crop Watcher is published four times a year. Each issue costs
=A3 1.50 (UK subscribers) or =A3 2.50 (overseas subscribers). A full
year's subscription costs =A3 6 (UK subscribers) or =A3 10 (overseas
subscribers). Please make cheques payable to "Paul Fuller", NOT
"The Crop Watcher". Overseas subscribers should send cash in
pounds sterling. All correspondence should be sent to Paul
Fuller, 3 Selborne Court, Tavistock Close, ROMSEY, Hampshire,
SO51  7TY. Articles appearing in The Crop Watcher are copyright
to the named author and should not be reproduced without first
obtaining written permission. =20

RECOMMENDED PUBLICATIONS

"Crop Circles, A Mystery Solved" by Jenny Randles and Paul
Fuller, Robert Hale Ltd (2nd edition), ISBN 0-7090-5267-7, price
=A3 6.99.=20
--=20
Chris Rutkowski - rutkows@cc.umanitoba.ca
University of Manitoba - Winnipeg, Canada
=0C