Please NOTE that the content and photos on this page were contributed by Janet Ossebaard.
The scientific information has been amended by Nancy Talbott, based on the research conducted and
published by the BLT Research Team.
Copyright © 2005 by Janet Ossebaard and BLT Research Team. All rights reserved.
Licensed under a Creative Commons License.

What is the scientific opinion about crop circles?

During the 1990s clear scientific evidence emerged indicating the circle phenomenon could not be attributed to "pranks with planks." Based on the examination of thousands of crop circle plants and their controls by an American biophysicist, William C. Levengood, and the BLT Research Team 3 peer-reviewed papers have been published in scientific journal (www.bltresearch.com/published.html ) presenting this evidence.

By 1989, based on UK crop circle plant samples sent to Levengood's Michigan laboratory by Pat Delgado, Levengood had already discovered that the seed-heads in some crop circle plants were totally devoid of seeds. Intrigued by this finding he and the BLT Research Team (Burke, Levengood & Talbott) began systematically examining crop circle plants and their controls from formations in many countries, following a strict field-sampling protocol. Over the next 10-12 years a whole range of plant abnormalities (www.bltresearch.com/plantab.html ) as well as soil changes (www.bltresearch.com/magnetic.html ) were carefully documented.

An early proof that electromagnetic energies must be involved was discovered by Levengood et al. in plant samples from a formation in the mid-1990s in Oregon (USA). In that case (and subsequently in others) the degree of apical (top node beneath the seed-head) node elongation was found to agree with a mathematical principle regularly used in physics (the Beer-Lambert Principle) which predicts the degree of change which can be caused by an electromagnetic source (www.bltresearch.com/plantab.html , item 6). In the Oregon case and subsequently in others the apical node-length change was found to decrease as a function of distance away from the energy source--and this effect was found both in the flattened plants inside some formations and, in some cases, in the standing "control" plants outside the formation. There is no possibility that mechanical flattening of the plants (with a plank, or human feet, or a cement roller, etc.) could produce this effect in the downed plants, and obviously not in standing plants in the rest of the field.

Since 2001 the BLT Research Team has expanded and now includes consulting scientists from various disciplines, including analytical chemists, geologists and material scientists (www.bltresearch.com/proffcons.html ). A study begun in 1998, funded by Laurance Rockefeller, examined specific clay minerals in crop circle soils in the hopes of finding further evidence of a heating agency being involved in the creation of crop circles. A thorough x-ray diffraction study (www.bltresearch.com/xrd.html ) of soils in a Canadian crop formation near Edmonton, B.C. produced a stunning result--the crystalline structure of the clay minerals in the surface soil inside this crop formation had been altered. �They had become more "ordered" than the clay minerals in the control soils. This sort of change had never been found before in surface soils, since in Nature it occurs in sedimentary rock and takes hundreds, or thousands, of years.

In October 2000, Dr. Eltjo Haselhoff's wrote a letter to the editor of the scientific journal, Physiologia Plantarum, the journal in which Levengood (1994) and Levengood & Talbott (1999) had published 2 of their crop circle research papers (www.bltresearch.com/published.html ) In this letter (which the journal editor published in the "Letters to the Editor" section) Haselhoff discussed some of his ideas regarding the BLT findings and also presented his own analysis of node-length change found in plants taken from a crop circle in Holland.

Haselhoff argued that his data indicated that the apical (top) node elongation he documented in this Holland circle unequivocally indicated an electromagnetic point-source which had been positioned directly above the center of this particular crop formation.  In this particular instance, a local witness (www.bltresearch.com/robbert.html ) had observed a disc-like light source directly above the field just prior to the crop circle occurring.

Haselhoff had been asked to take samples of this particular crop circle for the BLT Research Team. Prior to mailing the plants to the U.S. Haselhoff decided to examine them himself and, using a software program he developed for measuring the nodes, he carried out hundreds of measurements. His results clearly showed that the node length increases were greatest in the samples taken from the center of the circle, with node-length dropping off as the samples continued out toward the edges of the circle.

The BLT protocol (which Haselhoff was following) required him to sample 3 separate diameters and it was this protocol which produced the stunning results subsequently reported.  In Haselhoff's graphs, below, the node-length changes in each of the three diameters are shown (below each of the graphs are the sampling diagrams indicating the 3 different diameters along with the samples had been taken).

The red bars indicate the degree of normal plant node-length variation found in the controls.  The yellow bars represent the degree of node length increase in the circle plant samples.  As is clear from these graphs, the node length increase was greatest in the center samples taken along each diameter, and then drops off as the samples approach the edges of the circle.  What is of greatest interest, though, is the clear demonstration here that the node-length increases along each of the 3 diameters (of the same circle) are different...indicating not only an energy source directly over the center of the circle, but one which is delivering different degrees of energy along different radii.

Dr. Haselhoff then compared the distribution of node lengthening (strongest in the crop circle center, less and less in the samples taken toward the perimeter) with all possible energy distribution patterns known in physics.  He found what he considered to be a 100% match with the energy distribution of an electromagnetic point-source.  For example, if a light bulb is suspended at a particular distance above the ground you will see that the light distribution is strongest directly below the bulb, becoming fainter and fainter as the light spreads out over the surface of the ground.

A 100% match is very rare in science, and Dr. Haselhoff's interpretation of this data is debated. But re-examination of these same plants was later carried out in the U.S., and very similar node-length changes were reported by W.C. Levengood. According to Haselhoff his data indicated an EM point-source (a ball of light) hovering over the ground at a height of 4.1 meters at the time the crop went down, an interpretation which does match the eye-witness's report of this event.

Haselhoff's research adds further support to the contention by Levengood et al. that not all crop circles are mechanically flattened by people, but instead--at least in some cases--are directly related to EM energies of unknown origin.

How can we tell the difference between genuine and fake?

There are only 2 visible scientifically-determined plant changes to look for (www.bltresearch.com/plantab.html ) in crop circles. The most common is apical node (top node beneath the seed-head) elongation or stretching. If some control plants are taken from a distance outside the formation, the apical nodes of the controls can be visually compared with the flattened plant stem nodes inside the formation. Some variation in node length is normal, but consistently longer apical nodes inside the formation (as compared to the controls) is a very good indicator the circle is not man-made. The only other visible plant change which has been scientifically established is the presence of expulsion cavities (holes blown out at the nodes), usually found in the lower nodes of the plant stems. However it must be noted that apical node elongation can be fairly subtle (which is why hundreds or thousands of plant samples are taken from inside, and outside, when a scientific determination is required) and expulsion cavities do not occur in all genuine circles. It appears that variations in the moisture content inside the plant stems in conjunction with variations in the energy components of the causative agency sometimes produce these holes, but sometimes do not.

If Levengood's hypothesis (www.bltresearch.com/published.html ) that a rotating plasma vortex energy system (which includes heat, possible microwaves) creates crop circles, then the steam created inside the plant stems when impacted by the heat source would vary--depending on the type of crop, it's growth stage and moisture content, as well as the balance of the heating energy in each particular vortex system.

According to Janet Ossebaard, there are many other things to look at when entering a formation.  On my web site under Anomalies I have given an overview of a variety of unusual things I have found in crop circles.  This can vary from elongated and/or exploded nodes to strange substances, twisted plants, and other possible indicators of heat having been present.

exploded nodes	strange substances	twisted plants

According to Janet Ossebaard, there are many other things to look at when entering a formation.  On my web site under Anomalies I have given an overview of a variety of unusual things I have found in crop circles.  This can vary from elongated and/or exploded nodes to strange substances, twisted plants, and other possible indicators of heat having been present.

Janet speaking again:
If you are the first to enter a genuine oil seed rape formation, you will find bent stems instead of broken ones. The majority of the yellow flowers will still be on the plants, whereas in a hoax, they will be lying all over the ground.

genuine	hoax

Unfortunately it is not all that easy to say with absolute certainty whether a formation is genuine or not. Like I said, you can only draw a conclusion about mud traces and broken oil seed rape plants if you are absolutely sure you are the first person in the formation. If you find exploded nodes ('expulsion cavities') you can be certain you're standing in a genuine formation. However, if you do not find any, it doesn't necessarily mean you're standing in a hoax. If the energy with which the formation was formed, was very intense and if the crop was already ripe, then you will quite likely find exploded nodes all over the place. But if the crop was not ripe yet, or if the energy wasn't that intense, you might not find any...

Sometimes there are seed heads without any seeds, sometimes there are large amounts of magnetite, sometimes there are numerous dead flies stucks to the crop circle plants, sometimes the stems have been cut off under an angle, sometimes there are unusual substances. But many times, genuine formations will contain none of the above...

magnetite	dead flies	cut off stems

It is a myth that in genuine crop circles the plants aren't broken but bent, just above the ground. This does occur (especially in the 'old' formations of the eighties, and also in oil seed rape formations), but I have seen dozens of genuine formations (as was shown by scientific research), with nothing but broken stems.

Some people think that only the simple formations are genuine, and that the complex ons are hoaxes. This however was proven incorrect a long time ago. A good example was the Juliaset at Stonehenge (UK) in 1996; biophysic research showed that the Juliaset was covered with anomalies which can only be found in genuine formations.

Juliaset

There are also people who think that only the complex formations are genuine, and that the simple ones are hoaxes. This too is a myth. Many simple patterns were examined scientifically and turned out to be genuine.

And of course it is very tempting to think that a squiggly formation is a hoax, but this too has turned out not always to be true. And, also tempting but incorrect: many formations that looked 'human' (like the ones on the photographs below) also turned out to be genuine. For instance the formation at Stadskanaal (NL) in 2002 (middle photo) was covered with exloded nodes and other anomalies...

1999	2002	2002

In other words: one has to be careful when judging a formation. There is nothing about this phenomenon that is simple or obvious. And although it may sound woolly, the best advice I can give you is this: follow your intuition...

Does the formation in which you stand 'feel good'? Do you feel good? Does it make you happy? Does something deep down happen to you when you look at the aerial? Does your heart make a leap, so to speak? If so, the formation is likely to be genuine. I do realise that this may sound rather vague, but over the last ten years that I have been studying this extraordinary phenomenon, this turned out to be the best guideline...

How are crop circles formed?

According to the BLT Research Team crop circles are formed due to a plasma vortex that originates in the higher atmosphere (ionosphere). You can think of a plasma vortex as a swirling column of ionized (electrically charged) air. In physics and meteorology plasma vortices are a common phenomenon. They cannot be seen with the naked eye, yet they can be measured (because of the electrical charge in the air). The plasma vortex comes rushing towards the earth like a twister, highly electrical and magnetic in nature and radiating a kind of energy very similar to microwave energy. The moment the plasma vortex hits the earth, a crop formation is formed.

Naturally this theory evokes many questions. How do we know the vortex originates in the ionosphere? How do we know it is electrically charged and magnetic and emits microwave-like energy? And why does all this create such complex patterns? We don't know all the answers, but I'll try and explain the ones we do know.

Tiny magnetite spheres

We know that the vortex originates in the ionosphere, because on many occassions unusually high concentrations of magnetite were found in the soil of crop circles. Magnetite is magnetic iron; the form in which it is found in crop cirles is identical to meteorite dust. This is our first indication towards the ionosphere. The second indication is the electrical charge of the vortex; the air in the ionosphere is electrically charged. This electrical charge leaves traces in the soil.

Then there is the next question: how do we know the plasma vortex is electrically charged and magnetic in nature, and that it emits microwave-like energy? We know this due to the traces of electricity, magnetism and some sort of microwaves that we find in crop circle plants.

Let's start with the electricity. By means of a Redox test one can measure the amount of free radicals in the cells of crop circle plants. The more free radicals, the more stress the plants have suffered. The cells of crop circle plants contain huge amounts of free radicals; so many, the plants should actually have died! Therefore one can deduct that the crop is exposed to intense electrical pulses the moment the vortex hits the earth.

But the free radicals are not the only ones who give the electricity away. There are also unusual germination and growth patterns of crop circle plants that point in the direction of electrical pulses. (More about this in Anomalies ).

plants from inside the formation	plants from outside the formation

And there is yet another indication for the presence of electricity. As explained earlier, physicist Dr. Eltjo Haselhoff proved that the crop circles he examined had been made by electromagnetic point sources. He discovered this due to the anomalies he found in the nodes of crop circle plants. The energy distribution he found in crop circles matched 100% with the energy distribution of an electromagnetic point source (like a light bulb).

Then there is the magnetic nature of the vortex; what kind of traces does this leave behind? Once again: see Dr. Haselhoff's findings about the electromagnetic point sources. And once again: the unusually high magnetite concentrations. The only explanation for the high concentrations of magnetite is that the plasma vortex is extremely magnetic in nature, that it sucks in all the magnetite from its surroundings, after which it drags it towards the earth's surface.

And finally the microwave-like energy: what indications do we have here? The exploded and elongated nodes of crop circle plants. Scientists have only been able to reproduce this effect by putting crop plants in a microwave oven. What happened can be compared with an egg in a microwave oven. The moisture in the egg is heated by the microwaves. It changes into steam through which it expands. The egg cannot hold the pressure and explodes. The same thing happens with crop circle plants: their most flexible parts explode: their nodes. (More about this in Anomalies ).

exploded nodes	elongated and bent nodes

But... recent geological research carried out by the BLT Research Team has shown an increase in degree of crystallization (greater ordering of the atoms) in clay minerals in crop circle soil. The results of this XRD-research (X-Ray Diffraction) have recently been published scientifically and can be seen at www.bltresearch.com . But if the temperatures involved are so extremely high, how come the crop isn't set on fire? Could it be that the crop circle energy hits violently yet briefly? Just long enough to create the formations but short enough not to set the field on fire? But this would mean that crop circles are created within a split second, whereas this contradicts the eyewitness accounts. They all state that it took several seconds. This is confirmed by the video footage that we have of the forming of a complex crop formation.

So... the researchers could only come to the conclusion that we are dealing with an energy unknown to us. It may seem like microwave energy, yet it is of unknown origin...

This theory of the BLT Research Team is the most plausible at this moment. However, is does evoke a crucial question. After all, this theory can be interpreted as a (unknown) natural phenomenon. But if that is the case, how can this account for the complex patterns? Mandalas, and even humanlike figures like a heart or a minora? In my opinion, there is only one answer possible: the plasma vortex is used/guided by an intelligence.

To continue please go to page 1 and/or 2.

Janet Ossebaard is a professional crop circle scientist and researcher that co-produced three video documentaries with Bert Jansess. In 1996 "Crop Circles, What On Earth Is Going On?" appeared. In 1998 "Crop Circles, The Research" (with an update in 2000), and in 2001 "Contact" was launched, which won an EBE-Award as best ufo-related video documentary during the conference and film festival at Laughlin, Nevada (USA).

She also participated in the production of "The Silbury Hole Enigma" (2001), another video documentary of Bert Janssen. In the summer of 2002, she participated in a research project set up by the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands), examining newly formed crop formations by means of infra-red thermografy. In the same year, she won the Frontier Award - together with fellow researcher Bert Janssen - for her work in the frontier sciences in the Netherlands. In 2004 she was nominated once again for this award. Furthermore she is an active member of the DCCCS (Dutch Centre for Crop Circle Studies).

For more information about Janet Ossebaard and her work, please visit her homepage www.circularsite.com or by clicking the banner below.