User:Mg7520/cropcircles

Crop circles are geometric patterns of flattened or knocked-over crops. Crop circles were made famous by David Chorley and Doug Bower in the late 1970's when the two self-professed pranksters decided to take their pranking to another level, and this phenomenon gained momentum as tabloids got wind of the seemingly unexplainable designs running throughout crop fields. Crop circles are one phenomenon that defy Occam's Razor. That is, the simplest explanation is not the one that is most widely perceived. Crop circles are largely associated with alien activity and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). It is widely misconceived that the often intricate patterns portrayed in the crops are the result of alien lifeforms attempting to communicate with us on Earth. The reason this defies Occam's Razor is because the simplest, most rational explanation is, in fact, the correct one. Crop circles were made famous by pranksters in the UK who have spoken out about their harmless intent behind the phenomenon on numerous occasions. It is the work of copycat pranksters who keep the supernatural origin of crop circles alive today as well as in the past. Crop circles can be explained by critically analyzing the phenomenon, and concluding that it could easily have been one or more individuals with planks and highly developed night vision who were wandering around after dark and searching for a goof. What seems a more complex explanation involves the work of alien life - which, first, one would have to assume such life exists. Then, of all the galaxies, this alien life chose the one with Earth and zeroed in on our planet and devoted extraordinarily advanced alien technology and resources to make some geometric designs in random crop fields. With its tie to the supernatural, crop circles has garnered its own realm of pseudoscience known as Cereology. In addition to the paranormal explanations related to the origin of crop circles, there exist many who believe in more natural explanations. While these prove more far-fetched than the simple prankster explanation, they are still easier to believe than aliens. Such explanations include isolated tornados or ball lightning. More recent crop circles have been quite complex geometric patterns and shapes and are becoming more and more difficult to discern away as naturalistic phenomena. With that being said, it does not mean that it is more likely that aliens have developed more complex technology; it simply means that the pranksters have graduated with their crop-circling skills and resources. To help consolidate my reasoning, in 1992, a crop-circle making competition was held in the UK. The winning team consisted of a group of engineers who created their crop circles using a plank, stepladders, a telescope, rope, and PVC pipe. Based on the designs made in the competition, it was clear that humans could indeed make the intricate patterns as portrayed in the authentic crop circles even back in 1992.