Crop Circles on an Ice-Covered Lake?

Ole Johan Hansen, the 77-year-old man who saw the lights. Photo courtesy: Aud Karin Hansen

Ole Johan Hansen, from Arna in the west of Norway, saw a strange light over the lake one night. He grabbed his binoculars; but, could see no one that might be responsible for this light. It was unlike anything he had ever seen; and, was an unreal 6' wide. Since it was already dark and there was a significant risk of falling through the ice, Ole waited until the next day to investigate. He found the strange, symmetric pattern shown in the picture below covering the lake.

Photo courtesy: John Halvor Sæle

For years, the controversy has raged - are crop circles supernatural or are they the result of pranksters? True believers maintain that while pranksters may be responsible for some of the circles, there is no way they could be responsible for all them. There are just too many. Was the strange pattern on the lake a result of supernatural phenomena created by the mysterious white light Ole had watched the night before? Could this symmetrical pattern be the result of some naturally-occurring phenomena?

Photo courtesy: John Halvor Sæle

There are still a minority out there that believes a crop circle is an art form. They are always a sizable pattern created by the flattening of a crop such as wheat, barley, rye, or maize. The term "crop circle" entered the Oxford Dictionary in 1990. In 1991, self-described pranksters Doug Bower and Dave Chorley claimed that they started the crop circle phenomenon in 1978.

Via EpidemicFun