Canada Reaps Bumper Harvest of Crop Circles Source: Ottawa Citizen Judy Arndt, Circles Phenomenon Research Canada / This is a portion of an impressive 11-circle formation discovered near Neilburg, Sask.
They inspired aboriginal celebrations, prompted reports of bizarre electrical malfunctions and may have even made people nauseous.
It was a bumper year for Canadian crop circles in 1999, those strange patterns that seem to magically appear in farmers' fields each summer.
A new report says 20 circular and geometric figures were discovered in six provinces last year, a 33-per-cent increase from 1998.
Some of the largest and most impressive formations ever seen in Canada showed up in Prairie fields, says the annual report of Circles Phenomenon Research Canada, compiled by group director Paul Anderson.
"In short, 1999 was a banner year for crop circles in Canada, and may indicate that we need to be keeping a closer eye on what is going on in the fields of our farmlands."
CPR-Canada relies on members, farmers, the media and other contributors for information about circles.
Some have dismissed the circles as elaborate hoaxes, particularly following recent admissions from British pranksters who used wooden planks to craft patterns in grain fields.
However, Mr. Anderson's organization notes some patterns show evidence of altered plant and soil composition. Some circles have turned up in remote locations during stormy or moonless nights. And there are eyewitness accounts of shapes being formed.
Circles appeared last year across North America as well as in Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands and Israel.
In Canada, 10 circles were discovered in Saskatchewan, the country's primary locale of crop oddities since the 1970s, when the phenomenon was first documented. Four turned up in Alberta, three in Ontario and one apiece in
British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
The longest crop formation to date in Canada -- almost 100 metres -- was one of two patterns to appear in wheat fields on the New Credit Reserve near Hagersville, Ont., last July. Members of the native community held ceremonies in the fields to mark their appearance.
CPR-Canada investigators reported malfunctioning camera equipment in and around the formations, a common phenomenon at circle sites sometimes attributed to high electromagnetic frequency emissions. Some people also
experienced headaches or nausea.
A complex, swirling pattern was discovered in early September near Neilburg, Sask.
Researcher Judy Arndt visited the site with her husband, taking several measurements and photographs.
"We can't judge the authenticity of this formation, but we can say this: it was consistently neat," she later reported. "There were no signs of breakage of the stems."
Two "perfectly circular" patterns in a blueberry field were discovered in August by a farmer near Tignish, P.E.I.
The RCMP investigated a formation consisting of a teardrop and diamond shapes in a corn field near Lowville, Ont., and reportedly collected samples for lab testing.
An amateur researcher heard an unusual humming sound around the formation, recorded odd compass movements and found a white cobweb-like material under flattened stalks.
In most cases, says the report, there was no direct evidence of a hoax, such as footprints in the circles or tracks leading in or out of the patterns.
The report acknowledges the percentage of phoney circles is "a source of heated debate" among researchers, but contends that pranks are usually obvious upon close examination.
The Canadian group says laboratory studies have repeatedly found unexplained physical anomalies in samples taken from many crop circles, including swollen, stretched or split nodes on plant stems, dehydrated or shrunken seeds, and significant changes in growth rate.
Jim Bronskill
Southam News
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