Hoaxed Hoax?

Miniature 'practice' circles as claimed by the 'boys' were shown to reporter Catherine Moy in a plowed field. I went to inspect these circles myself, which measured not over 30' a piece, overlapped in a very sloppy fashion, containing no geometric basis, appearing like they were done in the field after it was plowed!

This is like a joke played upon a gullible public so they will have 'proof' of how they acquired their 'expertise' to create a complicated series of 13 geometric circles from 140' to 13' in diameter, all combined together to create a 300'+ length formation, which just so happens to also demonstrate theorems beyond Euclidean Geometry. Theorems that involve diatonic ratios related to the music scale.

The late mathematician and astronomer Gerald Hawkins made this discovery back in the early 90's after looking into the complex designs that were beginning to come out in crop circles. What he discovered were 4 new theorems that existed beyond Euclidean Geometry!

His discoveries are published in a great June 28th article on Science News Online.

As the following Chronicle article points out, I'm not the only one who could clearly see there were many faults, which existed with their story..........

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Saying they were inspired by a late-night TV documentary, four teenage boys from Fairfield claim they created the crop circles that have been drawing the curious and the kooky to a wheat field in Solano County.

The mother of one boy told The Chronicle on Friday that the boys admitted their deed to her just hours after they used boards.

"I think their story is as big a hoax as the crop circles," said Solano County District Attorney David Paulson, who, like hundreds of other people, has been to the Balestra farm to check out the wheat field designs. "The law enforcement community has been waiting for somebody to take responsibility."

Paulson said there are elements of the teenagers' story that "are inconsistent with reality and fact."

For instance, the teens told Catherine Moy, the freelance journalist who wrote the Reporter story, that the moon was bright as they dragged the different-size circles. But there was a new moon on June 29, meaning there would have been no moonlight the night before.

Paulson said he has no plans to prosecute anyone because the property owner hasn't pressed for an investigation.

But Moy said she is "99 percent sure" the teens made the dozen circles which measure as wide as 50 yards. She said they took her to some practice circles they had created near the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield.

Three of the teens have had trouble with the law and are on probation, Moy said, which is one reason they wanted to remain anonymous.

The teens had visited the crop circles more than a dozen times and had told some people that they had created them, but they weren't taken seriously, Moy said.

..............................<snip> ....................story like the Operation Blackbird hoax or the Doug 'N Dave scenario both of which got worldwide attention just as people's awareness of crop circles was raised on a large scale. We have to take it on FAITH that the story reported to us now is true. Not one of the people who knew have gone on the record.

2. Let's suppose..................<snip>....................................- we supposedly have 3 of the 4 admittedly criminal, on-probation teenagers who get the fourth member and go out into two fields and make two formations with nothing more than a couple of boards and a 30' tow rope. Contrary to what this story reported, the largest circle in the Rockville formation is far larger than 60' in diameter (2x the tow rope length - the method the teens claimed they used to create a larger than 30' circle ) - The largest in Rockville was over 140' in diameter! First of all, we should be able to check their 'practice formation' and compare it to the Rockville one and see if the wheat went down at nearly the same time or compare construction methods. I find it hard to believe *again* that with all the air traffic flying over the area to look at these formations, that NO ONE spotted this 'practice' formation until the 4 teens took the reporter to see it - heck, it is next to a set of railroad tracks, and no one riding by on any of the trains for the past two weeks reported seeing it there! Second, they also claim that their parents were 'in the know' that they made the formations - and celebrated it. The teens also claim they called many friends while out in the fields to invite them out there but they got no takers. Neither any of the sets of parents who were supposedly told, nor any of the friends who were supposedly called while making the formation, came forward or notified anyone to spill the beans? Is this reasonable? Some of those people could be contacted and the allegations should be checked.

3. "Larry's wife, Lisa Balestra, confirmed late Thursday that pieces of blue tape were found in the circles - a fact never publicized." This detail certainly raises questions about the authenticity of the formation, but doesn't necessarily confirm the teens claims. Although blue tape had not been mentioned in any of the news stories, that doesn't mean that detail did not get mentioned word-of-mouth and picked up by the reporter to add an authentic feel to the story (she tried using the detail as independent corroboration), or the boys heard about the blue tape and added to their own story. We don't know how much tape was found, or where in the field it was found. It may or may not be relevant. More details are needed.

4. One of the teens supposedly produced a diagram of the Rockville formation. Why didn't the paper run a scan of the diagram? Of course, the diagram could have been made after the formations already appeared, but seeing the diagram could have revealed important details. Of course, conveniently, a second diagram was destroyed 'in the wash'.

5. There are two separate witnesses who claim to have seen a light in the field the night before the formation was found. One witness described it as a "ball of light" hovering above the field. Another witness claims it looked like a 'beam' of light similar to a large flashlight beam. The teens claim they used no flashlights, and that the "lights" people reported seeing were their cell phones. This claim is patently ridiculous. Whether it was a hovering ball of light or a beam of some kind, both witnesses described the light as being above the field in the air. Both witnesses were quite some distance away from the field and the formation, it is highly doubtful that the illumination from a cell phone hundreds of yards away could be miss-reported as a light in the air over the field - either a ball or a beam. Neither of the witnesses' descriptions fit the teens' story.

6. We have scans of plant samples from the Rockville formation that appear to have elongated and severely bent nodes as compared to control samples. If confirmed though the L-NEAT process this would be THE confirming evidence for authenticity regardless of the teens claims, which would then be proven false.

7. The day the formation was found, TV news copters flew to the area to get video of the formation. The first video aired from a FOX affiliate showed TWO formations less than a mile apart, separated by only a couple of fields. The teens claimed to make only the large 14-circle formation, not the smaller single circle with a straight pathway. Both appeared the same day. We have three choices: (a) one is fake and one is authentic, (b) both are fake, or (C) both are authentic. If we believe the teens' story we have only choices (a) or (b).

If we choose (a), we have to believe that on the same night separated by only a couple of fields, an authentic formation appears AND a group of teens hoax a very large formation. If we believe (b), we have to believe that a group of teens hoax a very large formation AND another hoaxing group, coincidentally, just a couple of fields away, also hoaxes another formation. I find both of these scenarios very hard to swallow. Neither appears very likely. We subsequently have a claim that the teens made a 'practice' formation nearby - that no one spots while they are flying around the area? Two formations are found the same day, then another in corn - but no one comes across this other one which would have been the first? Again, I find this too unlikely to believe.

My earlier commentary on this Rockville formation has been nothing but open-minded, including allowing for the possibility of a hoax. But this story just seems SO bogus. I don't underestimate the ability of teenagers' resourcefulness in doing things of this nature, and I don't dismiss the possibility that teenagers could have created such a large formation. But this story is so full of holes. Remember my commentary earlier this year about the Arkansas formation that was first discussed on CropCircleNews.com, then published on Jeff Rense? I speculated about the authenticity of that formation because of the similarity in design to previously known hoaxes, BUT also because how much media attention the formation started to receive. What was very strange about that, was just like this formation, many media outlets began to report on the formation very quickly - almost every hour a new story came out. I cautioned that the crop circle community had seen this same scenario before: formation reported and generates huge buzz of interest; hoax claimed and sets crop circle investigative field back years. Then I had my speculation published and immediately all the media stories stopped. Not a single story after that. This time we saw far more media stories, and it generated such a buzz of enthusiasm. Why? No explanation for the formation. There was no evidence to confirm hoaxing was the cause, nor anything else at the time. Now we have multiple formations in the area, and still no explanation. International awareness and interest was growing. This hoax story is now going to punch a huge hole in that - heck, the hoax story was even reported on The Drudge Report which get millions of hits (notwithstanding the fact that Matt Drudge did not report on the formation UNTIL the hoax story came out). We have seen this all happen so many times before, and it happened to us again . . .

I am not sure how long it will take to turn this situation around *again*, but the one thing I am sure of is that there are genuine, authentic crop circles and formations, and there are people in this world who know that fact and will continue researching, investigating, studying, and learning from crop circles no matter what media or government manipulations happen, no matter how many hoaxes are attempted, no matter how many people are fooled. Thousands of people went to that Rockville formation, and I'll bet that the experience changed many of those lives. There will be even more people who are now interested in crop circles who won't go away, no matter what the hoax story. It's not about 'true believers', it is about understanding our own reality. This is a real, tangible phenomenon that the more we study, the more we understand about our own reality. Those learnings, those breakthroughs, those understandings cannot be taken away - like what is trying to be taken away by publishing bogus hoax claims (again, the Rockville formation(s) might be a hoax, but I don't have confidence in this story).

The following excerpt is taken from Micahel Miley's article Crop Circles Appear In Norther California. It summarizes what we all went through after I made special arrangements for Larry to set a part of his field aside to allow the boys to demonstrate their talents as they stated they would. Though they stood us up after we waited all weekend when all was set to go, I was willing to overlook this and settle for a simple phone call interview with them called 'equal access'. This would guarantee their desire to remain in anonymity allowing us to ask them some important questions regarding the numerous holes in their story. Needless to say, we were denied this equal access 'request' by Catherin Moy, as continues to be the case through today. So I suppose I'll just leave it at that, except to say....I fully believe this claimed hoax to be just that - A HOAX!

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Such subtleties, however, seemed superfluous after Catherine Moy, a correspondent for The Reporter (Vacaville, CA), reported on July 11 in the article "It's a hoax!" that four boys had come forward and claimed they'd made it. "We just did it for fun-to see if we could do it," said one of the boys in Moy's article. The teens-three 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old-came forward anonymously, ostensibly to protect themselves from charges of vandalism, (though Balestra said he wouldn't press charges). According to Moy, three of the boys are on probation for crimes related to theft-an unfortunate pedigree when you want people to believe what you say. Nonetheless, Moy writes that "to prove their role, the teens took a reporter to a set of circles that they say they created in a wheat field off Cordelia Road." They also showed The Reporter the drawings, ropes, boards, and blue tape they say they used to hoax the crop circle. In support of their claims-again according to Moy-Lisa Balestra, Larry's wife, said she indeed found pieces of blue tape in the circle.

Not everyone believed the boys' story, however. In the July 12 article in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled "Bored teens try to claim crop circles. They say they're behind hoax, but some have doubts," authors Steve Rubenstein and Erin Hallissy wrote that District Attorney David Paulson said "I think their story is as big a hoax as the crop circles. The law enforcement community has been waiting for someone to take responsibility." Others noted discrepancies in the boys' claims, as reported in Moy's original and follow-up stories:

4. According to video testimony given to Psi Applications president Steve Moreno and independent journalist Leslie Kean, a light was seen around 11:30pm that Friday night (June 27), stationed a few inches above the wheat in the field, by Charles William Moreno and his girlfriend (no relation to Steve Moreno). C. Moreno lives across the street from Balestra's field and says he heard nothing in the field, even as late as 2am. He described the light as being "about the size of a volley ball" or slightly bigger, "the size of a Harley Davidson headlight," though not as bright. Moreover, it did not shine laterally like a projecting beam. However, also according to Moy's story, the boys claim that any lights seen in the circle that night came from their cell phones as they tried to phone their friends to come and see what they'd done. In other words, in their "confession," the boys did not state they used a volleyball-sized light.

5. According to Tim Fields, writing in his July 5 article in the Daily Republic entitled "Copycats or aliens return: New crop circle found," unusual airborne objects were also seen that night. "On Saturday morning at 4 a.m., Lacilia Langlais, 18, and three of her friends stood in a driveway on East Tennessee Court in Fairfield. They saw three oval shapes in the direction of Rockville Road and when the red and orange shapes descended toward the road, they ran inside, a bit freaked out, she said."

Steve Moreno, Founder and President of Psi Applications, as well as Ruben Uriarte, State MUFON Director - Northern California, have conducted a field investigation into the main Rockville formation, as well as into a smaller circle mentioned that was found in a field off Suisun Valley Road, behind Solano Community College's rear parking area. This circle is 28 feet in diameter, with a 58-foot tail, and was not part of the boys hoaxing claim. (See Figure 5: The Smaller Circle.) Moreno and Uriarte gathered extensive samples from both formations, adding to my own more meager samples. Initial analyses of my sampled stalks have been done by MUFON's Charles Lietzau, indicating a possible real event; as well as by Nancy Talbott of BLT Research Team, which she describes as inconclusive. Analysis of Moreno and Uriarte's samples is forthcoming.

As of this writing, Balestra, Moreno, Uriarte, and myself have issued a challenge to the boys to reproduce the circle under similar moonlit conditions. Balestra has reserved a space in his field for this purpose. According to Moy (the only access we have to the boys), they've agreed to do it. However, as I write these words, our first deadline of July 28-August 4 has passed. The next time there's no moon is at the end of August, giving several weeks practice time for the boys, should they take up the challenge. However, it remains to be seen if the challenge will be met.