Flattened Fields and Alien Myths: The Real Story Behind Crop Circles
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Crop circles attributed to UFOs are created by humans.
True
Transcript
ALEX
Hey everyone, welcome back to Truth or Total BS? Episode 12, April 28th, 2026. I'm Alex, that's Maya, and today we're asking — crop circles. You know, those gorgeous geometric patterns that show up in fields overnight. Are they alien calling cards or just... people with planks and too much free time? Maya, you're skeptical of the human explanation.
MAYA
I'm not saying little green men are out there with protractors, but I do think the blanket claim that every single UFO-attributed crop circle is human-made is an overreach. There are competing explanations still floating around in the literature.
ALEX
Okay but here's the thing — this isn't even a mystery anymore. In 1991, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley literally walked up to reporters and said 'yeah, we've been doing this since 1978.' Over 200 crop circles. Wooden planks, rope, a baseball cap with some wire on it. That's it.
MAYA
Right, and that covers some famous English cases. But the claim says crop circles attributed to UFOs — all of them — are human-made. Bower and Chorley don't account for formations in Arkansas, or Australia, or—
ALEX
Hold on — they don't have to. Their confession cracked it wide open. After 1991, independent teams all over the world started replicating intricate designs. Modern circle-makers use GPS, drones, lasers. Live Science reported this pretty definitively — crop circles are landscape art made by people. Full stop.
MAYA
But the Psi Encyclopedia catalogs multiple competing hypotheses — unusual weather, earth energies, other non-human agencies. And Colin Andrews, a prominent researcher, estimated maybe 20% of formations could be natural forces.
ALEX
Wait, think about what you just said. Even that estimate concedes 80% are human-made! And 'natural forces' isn't UFOs either. That actually undermines the alien attribution, not supports it.
MAYA
Hmm… fair point. But what about those Arkansas cases from Ancient Origins? They reported abnormally high magnetic iron oxides in the soil, biological anomalies—
ALEX
Yeah, Ancient Origins — that's a pseudoscience-adjacent outlet reporting unverified anecdotal claims about 'human DNA hybrid growths.' Come on, Maya. You can't stack that against multiple corroborated confessions and documented replications from credible sources.
MAYA
I mean… the sourcing is rough, I'll give you that.
ALEX
And the Psi Encyclopedia thing — it catalogs fringe hypotheses. That's not the same as providing evidence for them. Listing an idea doesn't make it credible. Meanwhile, Historic Mysteries, Live Science, and NAU's academic page all independently confirm the Bower and Chorley story.
MAYA
Okay okay, I was also going to bring up the NASA center-pivot irrigation thing, where circular patterns form from farming equipment, which complicates—
ALEX
Oh — but those aren't attributed to UFOs! Nobody looks at an irrigation circle and thinks aliens. That's completely outside the scope of what we're talking about.
MAYA
Ha! Yeah, you're right, that was a stretch. I think... honestly, the more I sit with it, the confession plus the independent replications plus the fact that even the counter-arguments don't actually support UFO origins — it's pretty overwhelming.
ALEX
That's the key part. Not a single credible source links any crop circle to extraterrestrial origin. Every alternative explanation either confirms humans did it or proposes natural atmospheric stuff — which still isn't aliens.
MAYA
Yeah, I genuinely concede this one. The evidence is just stacked. Bower and Chorley started it, modern teams perfected it, and the fringe stuff doesn't hold up under any scrutiny.
ALEX
So our verdict today — crop circles attributed to UFOs being created by humans — that is True. Solidly, decisively true. Thanks for listening, folks. Catch you next week on Truth or Total BS!