Andy Thomas, a prolific speaker according to his website, came to Rye Castle Museum, East Street, to talk about the phenomenon of crop circles, on May 12. His talk, entitled “The Crop Circle Mystery”, was given to an interested audience on the hottest night of the year so far.
Andy is a researcher of unexplained mysteries and alternative issues. In his talk, he explained that in his view, the crop circle cannot be simply interpreted as a pattern made by humans wielding garden rollers, ropes and boards, as so often suggested in the press. He went on to show how unlikely this was by explaining the structure of such circles, illustrated by a large number of beautiful pictures. Many of the circles shown were very complex in shape and form, seen from the air. Apparently, they can appear in a lot of crops, like flax, rapeseed, bracken and barley, as well as corn and are seen all over the world, not just in Great Britain. They also have a very long history, the first illustration appearing in the 17th century.
He was able to demonstrate the mathematical and geometric principles underlying the patterns and the layering of the crop itself. In his view and that of others he worked with, this could not have been carried out through crushing the stems to flatten them into the shapes shown. Some other force must be at work. In fact, geology may play a part, with groups of circles following aquifer lines.The internal patterns of the circles seem to be of as much interest to researchers as the overall design.
Andy went on to say how very strongly he felt that the public were not told the whole story of such mysteries and in particular questioned why recent sightings were no longer publicised. He believed that such circles may be portents for change. The research community exploring this and other unexplained events, like the sightings of UFOs, have watched, observed and used methods such as infrared to look into them. They have also tried to replicate the designs and patterns on the ground as crop circles appear very rapidly and in forms that have been proved to take days to make by man. The more closely they are researched, the more questions arise.
The next event at Rye Castle Museum on East Street is Children’s Day on Thursday June 2 2016, 2.00pm to 4pm, see website for further details
Photo: East Street Museum