Crop circles are a very straightforward phenomenon: They are a type of landscape art made by humans. Despite evidence to the contrary, some people remain convinced that crop circles were made by aliens brought by UFOs.
But how did unidentified flying objects come to be linked with flattened expanses of cereal grains? And why have these designs historically been associated with southern England?
The answer to all of these questions is simple: Doug Bower and Dave Chorley. Bower and Chorley were a pair of friends who lived near Winchester, England. In 1978, the two were sitting in a pub, “wondering what we could do for a bit of a laugh,” Chorley told TIME magazine in 1991. Inspired by earlier reports of UFO landings — the UFO craze was well underway in the late 1970s, having gathered steam after a retired Air Force officer gave an interview about the Roswell incident, claiming that something extraterrestrial had crashed in the New Mexico desert in 1947 — Bower and Chorley decided to create their own faux UFO landing site.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
