While crop circles are often celebrated by paranormal enthusiasts, a recent formation found on a farm in England serves as an example of the phenomenon forgotten victims.
Rachel McMaster and her boyfriend discovered a massive alien head design carved into their farm's wheat field in Reigate, England last Thursday.
However, rather than rejoice at the remarkable phenomenon on their property, their reaction was one of sorrow over the toll it would take on their farm.
"We are all so devastated about it," McMaster told the Surrey Mirror, "we spend months sowing and tending to the fields and it was all gone in a moment."
She noted that this year's formation is not the first crop circle for the unlucky farm as last year also saw the property become an unwanted recipient of the phenomenon, causing hundreds of dollars worth of damage.
Additionally, the mere presence of a crop circle on the property invites onlookers who will continue causing damage to their crops.
"Now everyone and their dogs will be coming to our field to see the crop circle. It is going to make things worse - this is criminal damage," she lamented to the newspaper.
McMasters explained that the loss of the premium wheat which served as the canvas for the crop circle was particularly troubling for the farm since their dairy production has been down this year and they were relying on the crop to help make ends meet.
Adding insult to injury, the formation found on the Reigate farm is most likely of human origin rather than a message from extraterrestrials, since its doubtful that ETs would feel compelled to carve a self portrait into the crops.
Nonetheless, the crop circle makers, whether they be aliens or artists, will probably not be caught nor punished for their vandalism, leaving the farmers to pick up the pieces and salvage what is left of their yield.
And for the crop circle fans, they'll just move on to the next fantastic formation to be found on an unfortunate farm sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Coast Insiders looking to learn more about the crop circle phenomenon can dig into our vast archive of programs which cover the topic, including interviews with researcher Nancy Talbott and investigator Patty Greer.
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Source: Surrey Mirror