Prof. Levengood's 'Vigor Factor Test'

Professor Levengood called Director Moreno on 12/31/03 to inform him he would soon be receiving the completed Vigor Factor Test for R-1. This test is significant as it adds another element to the chain of scientific evidence that authenticates R-1. This test is particularly significant in the fact it has unprecedented results as compared to numerous previous tests, of a similar nature, ran on authentic formations over the years past. This was a surprise to us all as this additional piece of evidence was not anticipated or known by any of us until recently, when Professor Levengood contacted Steve Moreno to inform him of germination tests that had been done on seed samples collected from R-1 back in July. He took notice of the ensuing media debate resulting from our December 5th press conference and decided he should make contact to share the results and place a rush on the final report. These test were conducted under strict laboratory conditions through a process that's been previewed in peer reviewed journals.

December 9, 2003, Suisun, CA. In a clear corroboration of the recent 5-month crop circle investigation by Psi Applications, announced here last week, an independent seed germination study–called a “Vigor Factor Test”–has been conducted by biophysicist W. C. Levengood of Pinelandia Biophysical Laboratory (Grasslake, MI) on seeds taken from the June 28 Rockville crop formation, showing conclusively that the unusual formation could not have been hoaxed. The seed germination test compared the growth of wheat seeds taken from inside the crop formation to the growth of seeds taken outside the formation, in the same field. The study found as much as 50% to 59% increased growth rate in seeds taken from formation plants from inside three of the smallest circles. This exceeds by nearly a factor of four the 15% growth rate increase shown in past crop circle germination studies conducted by Levengood.

“Levengood told me over the phone that the results for R1–the main Rockville formation–are unprecedented for the percentage of increase in growth-rate they show for germinating crop circle seeds,” said Steve Moreno, president of Psi Applications. “59% is the highest rate of increase that Levengood has ever found. This clearly places the Rockville formation far beyond the capabilities of four boys. It supports our conclusion that the Rockville formation is genuine, not hoaxed, and that the possible source of energy may have included microwaves and what Levengood calls an 'ion electron avalanche'–two of the energies he hypothesizes are part of the plasma vortex phenomenon responsible for making crop circles.”

Pinelandia Biophysical Laboratory, the lab of biophysicist W. C. Levengood, has studied the biochemical and biophysical changes of hundreds of crop formation seeds and plants for over a decade. Levengood studied biophysics at the University of Michigan in the 1960s and holds several patents on inventions designed to increase the growth rate of plants–which were partly inspired by his study of crop formations. Levengood hypothesizes that the source for genuine crop formations is a spinning ion plasma vortex and that microwaves lay the crop down by rapidly heating the water in the plants. Side-effects on cereal crops from the complex energies in plasma vortexes include bent and elongated growth nodes, expulsion cavities in nodes, and marked effects on the growth rates of seeds taken from formation plants–suppressing growth in young plants and accelerating growth in mature ones. The seeds taken from the Rockville formation were from mature plants.

Asked recently by Linda Moulton Howe, an independent researcher, if teenagers could be responsible for hoaxing the formation, Levengood replied “Oh, that's ridiculous! There's no way anyone could produce these changes. Kids wouldn't be able to do this under any circumstance.” (For Levengood's full response, see Howe's December 5^th Earthfiles interview in the Environment section at www.earthfiles.com.) This conclusion, based on scientific data, is in marked contrast to recent false and inflammatory statements made by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), which has conducted no research on the Rockville formation. (See Bay City News Service, “Crop Circle Debate Going Around in Solano County,” December 5, 2003.) Calling Psi Applications' research “blatant mystery mongering” and a bid for “sensationalistic publicity,” CSICOP researcher Joe Nickell further accused Psi Applications of “employing faulty logic and pseudo-science.”

“CSICOP has a bad habit of making propagandistic and debunking statements in support of what might be called a 'positivist fundamentalism,'” said independent journalist Michael Miley, who has closely examined the Rockville data. “In plain language, if the phenomenon is unusual, they're against it, a priori. The scientific research that's been done favoring the reality of the crop circle phenomenon is solid and credible. It can't be reduced to hoaxing. It's CSICOP that's guilty of faulty logic and pseudo-science. Moreover, the validity of the Rockville data showing that it's not a hoax now stands on its own and it's up to CSICOP to prove otherwise.”

Psi Applications conducts scientific and investigative research into unusual phenomenon and adopts the research principle of “following the data” where it leads. Psi Applications plans to conduct further scientific tests on the two other formations discovered this summer in Solano County. The full details of Levengood's “Vigor Factor Test” on the Rockville formation are expected to be released from Pinelandia Biophysical Laboratory within the next few weeks. All data will be posted as it is received at http://solanocircles.com.

Indepndent “Vigor Factor Test” conducted by Pinelandia Biophysical Laboratory shows June 28 Rockville crop circle could not have been hoaxed.