MUTUAL UFO NETWORK UFO JOURNAL OCTORFR 100R J NIIMRFR^AA $1 TAB EXONTENIS MUFON UFO Journal October 1998 Number 366 (USPS 002-970) (ISSN 0270-6822) Editor's brief: 103 Oldtowne Rd It is my pleasure to welcome Dick Hall back to the Journal as a regu- Seguin, TX;78155^4099 lar contributer. His column will be similar to one which he did when I '-' Tel: (830)379-9216 edited Skylook, the forerunner of the Journal, many years ago. Dick, of course, also edited the Journal just prior to Bob Pratt. He will provide, FAX (830) 372-9439 experience, insight, and balance which will serve our readers well. Editor: ? The Cover: Top: Crop formation at Littlebury Green, Essex, UK, July Dwight Connelly 1996. (280 ft. across) Bottom: Crop circle in wheat field at Alton Priors, 14026 Ridgelawn Road Wiltshire on July 11. 1997. (500 ft. across) ©Steve Alexander. Martinsville, IL 62442 V Tel: (217} 382-4502 Physics of crop formations by John A. Burke 3 e-mail: [email protected] What about creatures being reported? by Cynthia Luce 7 Editor in Chief: Mexico City video analysis by Jeff Sainio 9 r Walter H:Andrusi Jr. Filer's UFO reports by George Filer. 11 103OldtowneRoad Lasers and the 'Phoenix lights' by David Rapp 12 Seguin, TX 78155 Book Review: The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident 16 :&•• 830-379-9216 MUFON Forum 17 Perspectives by Richard Hall 18 Columnists: Calendar of upcoming events 20 Walter N. Webb Readers'Classified ads 21 "':.' Richard HalP '.V •• The Night Sky by Walter N. Webb 22 Director's Message by Walter Andrus 24 Art Director: Vince" Johnson MUFON's mission is the systematic collection and analysis of UFO data, with the ultimate goal of learning the origin and MUFON UFO Hotline: nature of the UFO phenomenon. ;; 1-800-UFO-2166 Copyright 1998 by the Mutual UFO Network. 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Levengood, and Talbott, as well as possible links between crop circles, UFOs, and animal mutilation cases. This month Burke dis- cusses the force he feels may be involved in creat- ing the crop circles. In 1989 the appearance of two books on crop circles, combined with some media coverage, alerted most Americans for the first time to the appearance of This formation was discovered near Wiltshire, a previously unrecognized phenomena which had no England, in a wheat field in July of 1997. It fea- precedent: large, geometric-shaped areas of crop which tures a border of 126 small circles and a width of had been flattened overnight. 350 feet. (Photo by Steve Alexander © 1997.) Writing a letter to author Pat Delgado to ask for details on the biological studies, career biophysi- cist Dr. W. C. Levengood was shocked to find that no nificant" to "highly significant," in the language of sci- biological studies were being conducted. He asked for ence). Dr. Levengood has duplicated this effect using and received plant samples taken in line with his in- microwaves. structions in what was to become a steady stream of ©Stalks which are left with surface electric plants across the Atlantic. As formations were reported charge. We have measured this in two formations which in the U.S. and other countries, samples were obtained were only a few hours old. The degree to which the from them as well-always with control samples taken stalks were bent over was proportional to the degree from unaffected parts of the same field for compari- of electric charge on the stalk, strongly suggesting the son. Today, after meticulously analyzing tissue samples force which pushed it over was electrical. from five countries and more than 300 formations in- OThe thin bract tissue surrounding wheat seed volving many types of crops, some clear patterns have which has had its electrical conductivity increased, con- emerged. sistent with exposure to an electrical charge. Whatever the force which makes crop forma- Natural causes? tions, it physically alters the tissue of the flattened plants As scientists we had to next ask if there is any- in a number of ways. Over time an hypothesis has thing in nature which shares these characteristics. The emerged suggesting plasma as the active force. None answer is yes-plasma. Plasma here is simply electri- of the following effects has occurred when formations fied air. It carries electric charge, and when it travels have been made (by us and others) using all the tech- through a magnetic field (like the geomagnetic field niques claimed by those who have "confessed" to hoax- which exists everywhere on the planet) it does two ing the crop formations: things: OStalks which are very often bent up to ninety 1.) It moves in a spiral, the most common pat- degrees without being broken, particularly at the nodes, tern in which crop is flattened. which are like the joints of wheat stems. Something 2.) When it spirals thus it emits microwaves. softened the plant tissue at the moment of flattening. This is the same principle used in your micro- This is particularly dramatic in canola (rapeseed), which wave oven, where electrons are spun around a magnet otherwise is as stiff as celery at this stage of develop- in the roof and emit the microwaves which penetrate ment. the tissue and heat from the inside by interacting with ©Stalks which are usually enlarged, stretched the water in the food. The nodes, the most affected from the inside out by something which seems to heat part of crop formation samples, are the site with most the nodes from the inside. Sometimes this effect is so of the plant's water. powerful, the node literally explodes from the inside Plasma was first hypothesized as the cause of out, blowing holes in the node walls and spewing sap crop formations by English meteorologist Terence outside the stalk. This has been measured in thousands Meaden. He suggested the plasma was in the form of of samples to a degree of 95% to 99% probability ("sig- a vortex produced meteorologically. Unfortunately crop Page 4 October 1998 MUFON UFO Journal formations did not seem overly dependent on any set roughly paralleled sunspot numbers. The huge out- of weather conditions, and the model did not explain breaks of 1988-1989 coincided with the most power- non-circular formations. ful sunspot maximum in their 170 years of recorded We asked ourselves, was there any other pos- history, and have declined accordingly since. This sible source for plasma? Lightning is an example of a roughly eleven-year cycle should peak again near the very powerful, very high energy plasma. It is caused millennium. by plasma (electrically charged air) far above ground The meteoritic connection in thunderheads up to eight miles high being attracted The strongest evidence for the ionosphere as to opposite charges in the ground. But lightning is a the origin of crop formation plasma comes from mi- much higher energy plasma than that which makes crop croscopic particles of meteoritic dust found in 2/3 of circles (where no charring occurs). the 32 formations where we have been able to obtain Low energy plasma soil samples. The heaviest concentration ever was The ionosphere, on the other hand, is a region found in 1993 in an English formation which appeared of low energy plasma 40-80 miles up in our atmosphere, on the night of the largest meteor shower to hit Europe where most of the air is electrified by solar wind and in 30 years. This example became the basis of the sec- cosmic rays. The only time that some of this plasma ond paper we have have managed to publish on crop gets energetic enough to glow is when we see the North- circles in a peer-reviewed paper (Journal of Scientific ern Lights.