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energy.
The results came at a time when the hoax theory was widely seen as the most likely explanation. Not
only did they appear to show a real, measurable, effect but the control samples, from standing crop in
the same field, did not demonstrate abnormalities, neither did a sample from a circle subsequently
confirmed as a hoax. It appeared, finally, that some sort of test might emerge, allowing 'real' circles to
be distinguished from hoaxes.
Further tests carried out by Marshall Dudley, an independent expert in the design of radiation
detection equipment, were also reported by Chorost. Soil samples taken from a number of formations
in England, including the Barbury Castle pictogram, were tested. Unexpected results were obtained,
with different samples from the same formation showing both greater and less than average
measurements of alpha and beta particles. Another sample from one of the 'fish' formations showed
massive readings, compared to a control, of 198 per cent and 48 per cent higher for alpha and beta
particles respectively.
Samples from this formation were tested at the internationally renowned Oak Ridge laboratory and
showed the presence of 13 radioactive isotopes, most of which had short half lives, indicating that
they were not of natural origin. Dudley speculated that these isotopes could have been created by a
bombardment of deuterium nuclei.
These results prompted a further project in 1992. Project Argus, as it was known, aimed to collect
crop and soil samples and subject them to a battery of tests, from seed germination tests to DNA
analysis. Volunteers also tested formations for magnetic anomalies, prompted by reports of compasses
being affected by residual energies. Magnetometer readings suggested that the soil within several
Wiltshire formations had been magnetized and it was theorized that this was caused by the circle-
making agency.
Another study, published in 1992, was carried out by Robert Irving and Pam Price and based on the
idea that, if the hypothesis that circles were created by a burst of microwave radiation was correct, the
populations of bacteria on the plants would be affected, either by a reduction in numbers or in
mutation. No significant difference was detected between the circle samples and controls.
Levengood published further results, including a paper in the scientific journal Physiologia
Plantaurum, which showed that sample plants had alterations to their cell structure. 1993 again saw
American attempts to find scientific evidence for the circles when Peter Sorrenson, together with
veteran circles researcher Busty Taylor, collected samples of crops which showed signs of 'glazing'
with a coating later analysed as iron and oxygen. Further tests showed significant differences between
the samples and controls in the growth rate of seeds and electrical conductivity of the tissue around
the seed head.
This research which was carried out by Levengood and a physicist, John Burke, led to the hypothesis
that particles from the annual perseids meteor shower had been drawn to the Earth by a plasma vortex
and converted to a molten state during entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Two years later an engineer, Jim Lyons, advanced the interesting theory that the circles could be
forming where powerful vertical electrostatic fields interact with points of low impedance on the
Earth - the intersections on the Earth's proposed energy grid. Such interactions might cause the
formation of nitrogen gases in the atmosphere and nitrates in the soil, therefore testing soil from circle
formations might reveal these compounds.
With support from the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS), tests were done to
measure nitrate levels inside and outside formations. The results of these tests showed some
suggestions of anomaly but, overall, provided no conclusive evidence to support the theory.
Testing Human Capabilities
Two prominent scientific figures, Lord Zuckerman (formerly the British government's chief scientific
adviser) and Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist famous for his concept of 'morphic resonance', had
(independently) suggested that the truly scientific approach to the question of whether or not human
beings were capable of making circles was to determine experimentally exactly what humans could
accomplish.
At Sheldrake's prompting The Cerealogist, with sponsorship from the UK newspaper the Guardian
and the German magazine PM, organized a circle-making competition on Edward Dashwood's land in
Buckinghamshire in the summer of 1992. The rules of the competition required competitors to work at
night, while scrutineers monitored for noises or lights, deducting marks accordingly. The rationale
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