Nancy Talbott,
BLT Research Team, USA [Spring, 1997]
Since late 1989, when biophysicist Wm. C. Levengood in Grass Lake, Michigan (USA) was first asked to examine wheat and brley plants sampled from two British "crop circles", intriguing alterations in the plants tissues have been observerd. The plants, collected and shipped to Dr Levengood's laboratory by Pat Delgado in the hope that analysis might reveal measureable differences between the affected plants inside the formations and their controls taken from elsewhere in the fields, did in fact reveal several anomalies.
Levengood immediately noticed that, although the seed heads and glumes in the formation plants looked normal on the outside, inside they were absolutely devoid of seeds -- a highly unusual finding in a crop planted for commercial harvest. The control plants, taken at varying distances outside the formations, where also normal in appearance, but these did not contain seeds, as would normally be expected.
Additionally, Levengood noted what seemed to be alterations in the growth node on the plant stems, as well as cell wall pit prominence in parenchyma cells of thes nodes in plants taken from inside the formations (it was later learned that examination of the cell wall pits in parenchyma was less productive than the same test in bract tissue.) [red: explanation of these words is later in this document ] The number of aberrations noted, and the lack of a ready eplanation for them, and in particular the fact that the energy effect on the formation plants was altering the normal development of embryos, seemed to clearly indicate the involvement of an energy system more subtle ad complex than could be explained by the presence of people stomping about in the fields with planks and rollers. In order to provide a more reasonable explanation, more laboratory and field-work was needed.
By 1991, after examining many plants from British formations in various grain crops shipped to the laboratory by both British and American field investigators, data clearly documenting a number of abnormal alterations in the embryonic tissues of affected samples had been collected. Dr. Levengood had also been able to confirm through microscopic investigation the previously noted enlargement of cell wall pits in bract tissue and the consistent elargement and elongation of the growth nodes in the stems of crop formation plants. It was obvious that something unusual was affecting these plants. The question, of course, was what?
Scientists in varying disciplines have long recognized that alterations in embryonic tissues, the reproductive capacity in all living things, often offer the very first physical evidence that some new, or as yet unknown, situation exists. The inability of fish to reproduce in the polluted lakes of the Adirondack Mountains in the U.S. was one of the first indicators that "acid rain" should be taken seriously, and the discovery that alligator, turtle and other acquatic mammals, as well as bird populations, were declining in the Florida Everglades, was among the warning signs of an unrecognized cause-and-effect relationship between the use of pesticides and hormone production in mammals. The current epidemic of deformities in frog populations around the world is most likely another significant indicator of an as yet unrecognized interrelationship of environmental factors which will eventually impact us all. Any situation which affects the reproductive capability of living organisms needs to be clearly understood, and evaluated.
The BLT (Burke, Levengood, Talbott) Research Team was organised in 1992. By that time word of Dr. Levengood's preliminary findings had reached many people interested in the crop formation phenomena around the world and Nancy Talbot and John Burke, two interested Americans offering financial and research assistance, joined Dr. Levengood's ongoing investigation. By now crop formations were being reported in countries around the world, and it was obvious that an organized reporting network and field sampling efford was needed.
BLT's first effords were directed toward the development of a concise fieldsampling protocol and the establishment of field teams in various countries; a systematic searh of the available scientific literature was also instigated, and various new field experiments intended to evaluate possible electromagnetic components of the phenomenon were begun. Given the substantial data-base already developed on physioligcal alterations to crop fromation plants, and the questions emerging from this data, BLT concentrated its efforts in this area.
Over the next several years a significant number of corp formations (200+) were sampled in great detail, from several countries -- the US, Canada, England, Australia and Israel. Events in other countries where field teams were emerging were also being sampled, with new countries joining our efford every year. Thousands of hours of field, library and laboratory work have now been expended and the many physical alterations in crop formation plants around the world have been meticulously documented. The anomalities noted so far are as follows:
This is the thin membrane which surrounds the seed-head and which supplies nutrients to
the developing embrio.
Grossly enlarged (both laterally and longitudinally) plant
stem nodes
These are the fibrous "knuckle-like" proturberances technically known as
pulvini, found on the outside of the plant stems. Marked bending of the plant stem
nodes from as little as 10 degrees to an extreme of 90 degrees
(occasionally even more), occuring at the apical, penultimate or all of the nodes of a
stem. The presence of "expulsion" caveties.
(holes blown from the inside-out) in the parenchyma tissue around the nodes. A pertinent
characteristic of these expulsion cavities is the release of exudate from the internal
plant stem through the hole, upon which mold quickly froms causing blackening on the
outside. These expulsion cavities have never been found in control samples examined in the
lab. Stunted, malformed see-heads
in which the seeds are, variously, either missing altogether or are severely stunted with
lower seed-weight and reduced size. When the seeds are present they are usually
significantly smaller, and weight less than control seeds taken from plants outside the
formation. Markedly significant alterations in seed germination trials.
Here, seeds taken from formation plants are germinated and followed in the laboratory for
up to 14 days, with regular measurements obtained on growth rates and vigor, and this data
compared to the germination and growth rates of control seelings. Depending upon the age
of the plants at the time a crop formation has occurred, as well as several other
variables including the apparent intensity of complexity in the causative energy system
involved, the seeds:
It should be noted that the above decribed findings are, in every instance, obtained using controls from each formation field.
These findings thoroughly documented physical changes to crop formation plants are all statistically significant at the 95% level of significance or better -- a level of confidence accepted by the scientific community around the world and in all scientific journals.
Several control studies have also been conducted , including "blind" studies (in which the BLT Team was unaware that the samples being submitted from events of man-made origin) and, again, the formation plants were compared to control plants gathered from the same field but varying distances away from the downed crop. In these control studies crop was downed using planks, rollers and human feet, and sampld at various times after being downed througout the growing season, then shipped to the lab in the normal manner. In a few instances very slight node length alterations have been observed in manually flattened crop, however, these changes were not found in conjunction with the other criteria and were not discovered to be statistically significant. [red: underline added] Although human production of these events (at least using planks, rollers and feet) can cause slight alterations to the affected plants, it does not produce cell wall pit enlargement, expulsion caveties, stunted or seedless seed-heads, significantly elongated stem nodes, or gross alteration in germination results.
It should be noted that phototropism (the natural tendency of plants to bend toward or away from a lightsource) does occur in plants downed by any force, causing the plants to bend at the node. This bending will be more pronounced in young crop, occuring within a few days after being downed, but is not cuncurrent with elongation of the node or the presence of expulsion cavities in the same plants. Many factors must be taken into consideration when trying to determine causation in this situation, rather than reliance upon one single finding -- the age of the plants at the time they were downed, the amount of time elapsed since the event, the overall prevalence of the bending, the presence of node elongation and expulsion cavities, as well as the results of microscopic examination and germination and growth trials. Judgement based on a single field observation or finding can be misleading. The work of science is not only to explore and document previously unknown aspects of reality, but also to attempt to estabilsh causative models or theories which can eventually be tested in the laboratory. In the case of the crop formation phenomena this is a tall order. It is easy for modern man to forget the decades of pure research which eventually resulted in modern medicine, agriculture and technology, benifits which many of us now take for granted -- but a thorough grasp of any new area of investigation takes time, and work, and the effords of many researchers.
Dr. Levengood has, in a 1994 paper published in a peer-reviewed sientific journal ("Anatomical anomalies in crop formation plants", Physiologia Plantarum 92: 356-363), presented one possible causative meganism for the crop formation process, and the continuing field and laboratory data obtained since that time continue to support this theory. The affected plants reveal evidence of exposure to rapid air movement, unusual electrical fields, very brief exposure to extreme heat, and ionization in a thermodynamically unstable system; one naturally occurring atmospheric force which includes each of these features is a ion plasma vortex -- one very "high energy" example of which is a lightning discharge.
Ion plasma vortices probably form in unstapble regions of the upper atmosphere, due to an energy exchange between the ionosphere and electrical storms. Once formed, these highly charged plasmas form into vortrices-- rotating, whirlwinding-like systems-- which are then drawn to earth and shaped by variations in the Earth's magnetic field [red: or by conscious?]. And although it is difficult for most people to easily imagine, it is entirely possible for such vortices to produce an enormous array of complex symmetrical patterns upon impact at the Earth's surface. It should be noted that our research indicates that non -geometric "random downed" areas of crop, sometimes associated with the more symmetrical designs and sometimes found by themselves, exhibit the same alterations to plant tissues as those observed in the more dramatic patterns, suggesting the same causative agency at work. Much what the farmers have called "lodging" in the past, attributing this downed crop to a combination of over-fertilization and subsequent weather damage, is instead an additional aspect of the crop circle phenomenon which is generally unrecognized.
It should also be pointed out that intricate and varied designs are abundant in Nature. They are so common that most of us don't even notice them; they are also most often observed by people on a relatively small scale. Think for example, of snowflakes [red: stonehenge formation '97 ?] -- their amazing variety and delicacy of patten. If snowflakes were considerably larger than they are we would surely be as astounded by them as we often are by the crop formations.
Given the accummulated scientific data which currently exists regarding the cropcircle phenomenon we feel that the most logical causative mechanism -- the explanation that most closely fits the know "hard" data collected so far -- is the theory that highly charged, thermodynamically unstable ion plasma vortices are responsible. Microwave radiation is known to be associated with ionized plasmas and microwaves, of course, emit very intense busrts of heat; and many of the documented physical changes to the formation plants are consistent with this fact. Add tot the presence of microwave radisation the effect of an electro-radiation the effects of an electro-phoretic component functioning within the framework of a kinetic, oscillating system which is also thermodynamically unstable and you have a solidly based description of an energetic system which can account for the documented alterations to crop formation plants, the various design and random patterns, as well as the changes observed in soil samples to data (see Levengood, Wm. C. And Berke, J. , "Semi-molten Meteoric Iron Associated with a Crop Formation," J.Sci. Exploration (9:2), pp. 191-199 (1995)).
Why and how these turbulent, energetic plasma systems form -- what possible modifications, alterations or changes in Earth's upper atmosphere, or perhaps some triggering mechanism -- remains unknown. Perhaps recent loss of ozone, or alterations in the atmosphere caused by air pollution, or even modifications in the environment related to increased technological development and application may eventually be found to be responsible. [red: we ourselves maybe?]
Whatever the originating factor or factors is eventually determined to be, the fact remains that more than 90% of the formations meticulously investigated by the group of researchers reveal anomalies in the affected plants and soil which are consistent with these materials having been exposed to an energetic system as described above. Fewer than 10% of the events studied do not show these changes, and are suspected to be the result of direct human intervention. [red: in noremal speach: 10% are hoaxed]
Readers interested in obtaining copies of the pertinent published scientific material, color photo-sheets of laboratory findings, and other information on this researc should contact:
Two more papers are in progress of publication in 1997 and they will also be available through this office once published.
Individuals interested in participating in field-sampling should also contact Nancy Talbott, at the above address. Our spotting and field-sampling network increases each season as the phenomenon continues to expand, and we're grateful for assistance.