Paranormal Investigator Magazine Issue I | Page 14

Paranormal Investigator Magazine Out in the Fields: By Sarah Harmon aka Paranormal Sarah As a counselor for alternative occurrences, stories of aliens and lights in the sky abduct my daily research quite often. Many of those who believe they’ve been abducted show similar symptoms, but rarely is that symptom the presence of a crop circle in their yard. Though many could argue that those abductees do not have yards or property and therefore the possibility isn’t feasible but without much mention of these geometric oddities and the growing decline of farmland, are crop circles still a ‘paranormal phenomenon’ or where they a dying product of the horror and sci-fi genre? The truth is crop circles still make their appearance across the globe and statistics of those reported shows crop circles appear on average about 110 times through a calendar year. From Norway to England and yes, even the United States, a strange phenomenon is still leaving its mark that a presence still exists. It is no surprise that many theories exist about the possible explanation of these unique geometric shapes left on our planet’s surface, but what has come of them and where do you stand on the phenomenon of crop circles? From copulating hedgehogs to parasitic crop fungus (Marasmus ordeades or Clitocybe gigantean), people have stated the cause of these haunting monuments left pressed into the land could be as simple as teenagers gallivanting in the dark with planks on strings. Regardless of your theory, the fact remains that they are to this day still considered an unexplained phenomenon. Firstly, to come to your own conclusion, it is important to have a somewhat firm grasp on what a crop circle really is. Common sense would tell you that clearly A Look at Crop Circles it is a tampering of crops, but crop circles by definition are geometric patterns, often very intricate and complex, appearing in a field. Now, the psychologist in me wants to make it clear that a crop circle absolutely does exist and you can even visit them as most have become tourist attractions across the planet. Crop circles associated with extraterrestrials however is a completely separate rabbit hole that links the geometric shapes to the dark corners of the paranormal realm. As early as the 17th Century, farmers were documenting the ‘mowing Devil’ as he left their crops in disarray in the night. Documentation of the crop circle phenomenon is quite old, dating far beyond the entrance of modern technology, that which now lets us be aware of their presence and the statistics about them. Perhaps the reason so many people associate them to extraterrestrials is the mindset that from a standing eye-level, the ground simply looks flattened, burned or tampered with. It is not until the viewer gazes down on the masterpiece from the sky that they see just how amazing the crop circles can be. Though some researchers account the crop circles to being vortices of energy, magnetic fields or other natural phenomenon we don’t quite understand, it is the parallel to local sightings of lights in the sky and the ‘other’ characteristics of these patterns that make them alien to the everyday farmer. One unique complication that bends the theory that these — 10 —