Crop circles are a fascinating phenomenon that has been occurring since at least the 19th century. The theories trying to explain them range from pranks to aliens to sound waves. Even Hollywood is getting in on the game with the new movie "signs". Although I would prefer to believe that all crop circles are the work of human beings, I can't help but think that there might be more to it.

First of all, most crop circles are highly intricate and almost flawless. Where did the pranksters learn to make them? It seems unlikely that someone could scheme up the idea one day and then create a flawless image of the Mandelbrot Set the next day. If they had to learn how to make them first there should be examples of poorly constructed crop circles demonstrating the learning process.

The scientific process is based on the idea that a hypothesis is created and then tested and the results should then be reproducible. Egyptologists are regularly testing theories of pyramid building by attempting to move or cut stones using the same methods that they theorize the Ancient Egyptians might have used. If crop circles are the work of ambitious pranksters, then the pranks should be reproducible as well. Has anyone documented the construction of an intricate crop circle? If an intricate crop circle can't be reproduced, then the idea that these constructions are man-made needs to be discarded.

I think the jury is still out on the possible human origins of crop circles. However, I don't think it is out of the question that some natural phenomena could be responsible for them. Stephen Wolfram has shown that simple systems can be responsible for arbitrarily complex output. Given this, it is not unreasonable to surmise that some simple phenomenon could be responsible for highly complex crop circles.

I think much further study is in order. One important next step will be to make a reasonable effort to try and publicly demonstrate the process that a human might use to create a crop circle. If it can be easily demonstrated then that should essentially end the debate. If not, then I think we can all start to give more credence to some of the other theories out there. Any takers?
5:39:40 PM