Crop+Circles+Workshop+-+Session+5

Crop Circles 5
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At the end of the session the students revisited their original theories and talked about how our discussions over the past weeks have impacted on their thinking.

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Extraterrestrials?
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Natural Causes?
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Hoaxes?
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Magic?
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The main arguments in support of extraterrestrial communication or activity as the cause of crop circles were thought to be:

 * ====the number of eyewitness accounts involving ‘balls of light’ and similar phenomena====
 * ====the speed with which some formations have appeared, based on eyewitness accounts====
 * ====the likelihood that there is other life in the universe====
 * ====the ‘reply’ in the Arecibo crop formation====
 * ====the nature of the changes to the cellular structure of plants within crop formations====
 * ====the ‘perfection’ of the formations====
 * ====a sense of ‘strangeness’ about the formations, and the fact that they give an impression of being an attempt at communication====
 * ====the frequency with which they appear, and the long time period over which they have been appearing====
 * ====frequent appearances at ‘sacred sites’ perhaps suggesting that sites significant to human beings are selected====
 * ====government interest in crop formations.====

The main arguments in support of crop formations resulting from natural causes were:

 * ====links between Earth’s magnetic and electrical fields and the sites of formations====
 * ====links between underground water/geology and sites of formations====
 * ====patterns in crop circles suggesting a connection with light/sound/magnetic fields====
 * ====malfunctioning equipment within crop circles====
 * ====physiological effects on humans====
 * ====changes to plants and soil within formations====
 * ====eyewitness accounts of ‘balls of light’====

The main arguments in support of hoaxers creating crop formations were:

 * ====a large number of crop formations have been proven to be hoaxes====
 * ====the frequency, complexity and geographic spread of crop circles have increased following media and public interest====
 * ====the formations primarily occur in southern England====
 * ====formations tend to appear when there are not witnesses around====
 * ====this is the simplest explanation====

These are the ‘final’ positions reached:

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