In 1991 two men by the name of Doug Bower
and Dave Chorley rocked the worlds of ufologists and paranormal experts alike when they claimed
to be the driving force behind the crop circle phenomenon of the late 1970s and beyond using
little more than a plank of wood and a length of rope. This was a claim self-professed experts on
the phenomenon dismissed as ludicrous, until the two men showed everyone how they did it. Flanked by members of the press from across
the world, in a small field in Warminster, the two men proceeded to methodically push
over wheat using wood planks. A few hours later, they stood in the middle
of a crop circle so perfect actual aliens armed with a Spirograph would have struggled
to make one that looked any better. The men then explained to the waiting cameras
that they’d been making crop circles this way for well over a decade, starting in 1976,
shortly before similar looking crop circles suddenly started cropping up in other areas
of the world. According to Chorley and Bower, the decision
to first start flattening wheat in 1976 was inspired by two things- a story Bower had
heard while living in Australia about mysterious circles appearing in sugarcane fields, and
a few too many pints of beer. In regards to the former, Bower was referring
to a series of large circular patterns that appeared in fields in Tully, Queensland in
the mid to late 1960s. Unlike modern crop circles which often feature
amazingly complex patterns and uniform pressing of crops, the Tully Saucer Nests were simple,
somewhat crude circles of destruction. Ufologists have long maintained that these
circles were caused by UFO's landing and subsequently taking off, hence the name “Tully Saucer
Nests”. The more accepted alternate theory is that
they were simply caused by whirlwinds touching down briefly. Whatever the case, after Bower moved back
to England, the two men became friends over a mutual appreciation of art and their favourite
hobby- watercolor painting. They eventually began a weekly tradition of
meeting for a few drinks on a Friday evening at the Percy Hobbs pub in nearby Winchester. One day in 1976, they decided to have their
usual drinks outside and noticed the acres of pristine wheat surrounding them, which
is when Bower recalled the story he’d once told Chorley of the mysterious circles that
had baffled experts in Australia. With a glint in his eye, Bower turned to his
friend and said, “How would you like a bit of a laugh?” crop-circle-creatorsThat night the men, using
nothing more than a five foot iron bar Bower used to secure the door to his picture-framing
store, created a huge circle in the middle of the wheat. Over the next two years, the men continued
to create large circles in wheat fields, mostly around the area of Warminster in Wiltshire,
because it was, according to Bower, a “well known centre for UFO sightings”, mostly
limited to mysterious lights in the sky. After two years of creating crop circles with
little to no interest from either the public or the press, Chorley expressed the desire
to throw in the towel (this activity being quite time consuming and physically intensive
for a pair of elderly gentlemen). After contemplating the problem, Bower theorised
"for people to really take note of our circles we needed a site with a viewpoint, so people
could sit having picnics and look down in wonder on our work.” In early 1978, Bower noticed that they were
planting a new wheat crop in an area known as Cheesefoot Head, which was located in a
well-known beauty spot popular with tourists. That summer, when the wheat was sufficiently
grown, the men came and made an 80 foot wide crop circle. 24 hours later, it was national news. Almost immediately after the circles came
to public attention, numerous “experts” began to come forward with varying explanations
about their cause, attributing them variously to aliens, ghosts, supernatural entities,
spirits angry with humanity about global warming, and even God. This amused Bower and Chorley to no end, with
Chorley later remarking, "They called us 'superior intelligence' and this was the biggest laugh
of all." To further their little joke, the pair approached
some of the self-professed experts saying that they were wildlife enthusiasts who often
trudged around the region and they'd be happy to keep an eye out for any more crop circles. Under this guise, the men would go make a
crop circle and then place a few phone calls the following day telling the experts that
they’d “found another one” in an effort to keep the hoax alive. Eventually, this became unnecessary as enthusiasts
flocked to the region. In addition to stringing along the host of
pseudo-scientists who became fascinated with the crop circle phenomenon, Bower and Chorley
also took note of what real scientists were saying about them and adjusted their designs
accordingly. For example, when meteorologists, who were
specifically trying to debunk the same ufologists and pseudo-scientists Bower and Chorley were
encouraging, suggested that because all the crop circles up to that point had been, well
circles, they were likely caused by “downward-spiralling winds”, they began creating crop circles
featuring a variety of geometric shapes. crop-circles2Though the designs of the crop
circles became ever more elaborate, the materials Bower and Chorley used didn't change much
over the years. It was noted that the most sophisticated piece
of equipment used by either man was a sighting device made from a loop of wire hung through
the visor of a baseball cap such that it dangled in front of the left eye, allowing them to
check if the lines they were making were straight. Other than this, their standard equipment
was a plank of wood with some rope threaded through each end so they didn't have to bend
over to pick it up. The designs for individual crop circles were
usually drafted by Bower in his workshop. In 1985, about a decade after the two men
first started creating crop circles, Bower’s wife became convinced that he was up to something
when she noticed that their car’s odometer was unusually high- far more so than could
have been explained by simply heading off to the pub with Chorley every Friday night. When Bower confessed that they'd been traipsing
around the countryside flattening wheat, she didn't believe him. To prove that he wasn’t lying, Bower asked
his wife to design her own crop circle, which he then dutifully went and created in a nearby
field for her. With his wife’s blessing, Bower and Chorley
continued making crop circles for six more years until they both decided it was time
to come clean. This brings us back to 1991. Despite the evidence, including among other
things detailed designs of every crop circle they'd created over the years (over 200 in
all), many didn't believe them. Those who’d made a career talking about
crop circles and in some cases playing up the phenomenon to tourists (still a staple
industry today in this region, which is largely why the farmers put up with it) flatly refused
to believe that the two were telling the truth. Cereologists (the name crop circle experts
refer to themselves as) cited the fact that other crop circles had appeared in other parts
of the world that neither Bower or Chorley could possibly take credit for. One cereologist, Pat Delgado, was quoted by
the New York Times as derisively saying: “Yesterday there were circles discovered on a prairie
in Canada. Have these guys been out there with their
board?” Of course, the less tinfoil-hat explanation
for the other crop circles is simply that Bower and Chorley’s crop circles inspired
other, like-minded pranksters, which is why they have appeared in places neither man visited
after the pair started their little prank; the circles are, after all, quite easy to
create. On the other hand, perhaps the extraterrestrials
or spirits simply have a sense of humor too, deciding to copy Chorley and Bower's crop
circle idea... When asked about why they decided to dedicate
such a significant portion of their lives to flattening wheat into visually pleasing
patterns, in a 1999 article, Bower waxed poetic about the time he’d spent with his friend
(who sadly died in 1997 after a battle with cancer): It was just pure enjoyment, on those beautiful
summer nights for two artistic people under the stars amid all those cornfields. We were both 19th Century people really. We were in another world.'I don't consider
being on a planet for 60 years is much use if you don't leave your mark. We didn't want to make publicity. We just wanted to make fools of the experts
who were springing up everywhere. My wife said Dave and I were like chalk and
cheese, but we were a team in tune with nature... Other people made money out of the corn circles
The experts, the farmers who charged entry, but all Dave and I got was a really big laugh. But its been a wonderful experience and I
wouldn't have missed it for the world. As to whether Bower believes in extraterrestrials,
he stated, "It's obvious that in all those millions of planets we saw out there in the
night sky, there must be people out there."
