By Tim Binnall
Authorities in Alabama managed to pull off what paranormal researchers have been trying to do for decades: capture some crop circle makers. According to a local media report, cops in Etowah County arrested five individuals who were responsible for crafting a rudimentary design in a cornfield located in the community of Ballplay. However, unlike those who fashion the formations using planks of wood and careful planning, this particular cadre of crop circle makers had a decidedly less nuanced technique.
The Etowah County Sheriff’s Office says that the group apparently plowed into the field using a pickup truck and then seemingly created the circles in a manner akin to 'doing doughnuts' in a parking lot. "I think they may have actually made the pattern, came out of the field, and then re-entered the field, and made a second trip," Sheriff Jonathon Horton said, observing that "it was a little bit of an adventure for them, it wasn't just a quick thing."
It would seem that was where the ne'er-do-wells slipped up as a security camera from a nearby home caught sight of the group's vehicle which ultimately led to their arrest. In a testament to the often unspoken cost that farmers are forced to absorb when crop circles appear in their fields, police say that the stunt caused a whopping $7,500 worth of damage, which led to the suspects being charged with criminal mischief.
Considering the haphazard manner in which the 'formation' was made, it's hard to believe that the group had a specific design in mind aside from perhaps 'large circles.' That said, the ill-conceived creation does kind of resemble a mermaid, although that is just our own Rorschachian take of the unsightly blotch left in the field. To that end, feel free to share your own interpretation of the shape, such as it is, at the Coast to Coast AM Facebook page.