Crop Circles: Signs of Contact

Colin Andrews calls himself the world's leading authority when it comes to crop circles and I wouldn't contest that -simply because i wouldn't know how- but the lingering question after reading his immensely interesting book is this: -if the top authority on this phenomenon has no definite answer about what causes it after 20 long years of intense research we might start developing some cautious "pessimism" that we're a long way from the answer. That having been said, this is a very good book on the subject albeit certain points that deserve critique. Collins tries to condense all the information he has in a rather short book. The several theories about the causes are all listed and somwehat summarily explored, as are Collins's own speculations about it all. The book has numerous crop circle photographs as well (many of them spectacular). Collins tries to put to rest the aging matter of whether crop circles are man made or not by sayign that his reserach has led him to believe that a whooping 80% of them are indeed man-made. This leaves of course 20% of them unexplained and this in turn is a huge number considering that there have been 1000s of crop circles reported and/or recorded around the world. If one considers that crop circles have been reported from time immemorial then the mystery deepens. The crop circle phenomenon is in certain respects even more intriguing than the UFO one itself. One has the eerie feeling that a certain intelligence is trying to tell us something. If that would be true the implications are are of course of paramount importance. But even if that is not the case, still, any explanation holds tremendous interest. If one looks at certain crop circles, especially ones that have not been explained away as man-made, he will find it extremely difficult to explain them as geophysical phenomena exactly because of their sheer geometrical complication. Collins does emphasize (i had the feeling) the gaia theory, a theory that professes that the earth is a living organism in itself and it has the ability to provide messages or "signs" when it is in danger. Very interesting indeed but even more difficult to support than that of the extraterrestrial interference. There's various books out there about this subject and this one here is no bad place to start by any means. My notion is that one would serve himself well if he went on reading what other researchers have to say aboiut this all. What is certain is that no researcher -so far- has definite evidence about what he speculates as being the explanation. But that being the case it makes it all the more "obligatory" to entertain all available theories.

After two decades of research, Colin Andrews, the world's foremost authority on crop circles, has written what may be the most comprehensive book on the subject. Starting with his early years of research Andrews recounts some of his first crop circle encounters. Readers will learn about the characteristics of the phenomenon before complex patterns began to appear in the late 80's. This is one of the few crop circle books to adequately explore the connection of crop circles with nature and global environmental conditions. Andrews continuously reminds us how crop circles serve to raise our awareness of the planet. Throughout the book, Andrews clearly wrestles with the reality of human circlemaking activity. Coming from someone who previously disregarded the significance of this aspect of crop circles, he still refers to it as "hoaxing," implying a certain degree of recklessness and irresponsiblity on the part of the human circlemakers. He also tacitly recognizes their role in the evolution of the patterns. Personally, I think it is unfair to call these human-made patterns "counterfeits" given their beauty and genuinely weird effects on our cameras and other equipment. As far as I know, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the complex patterns made since the late 80's in England are created by anyone or anything else than human circlemakers. Nonetheless, Andrew's book bridges many different points of view and leaves us with a mystery rather than a closed case. As a bonus, the book contains a catalogue of every circle to appear in England since the 1980's. It is quite a sight to see all these patterns together. There are also detailed discussions of Project Blackbird and the Oliver's Castle video. This book is recommended for anyone with a passing or strong interest in crop circles. You may not agree with Andrews on every point but you are certain to come away with a greater appreciation of the phenomenon and the mysteries that surround it. (Dr. Simeon Hein is the author of Opening Minds: A Journey of Extraordinary Encounters, Crop Circles, and Resonance (2002, Mount Baldy Press, Inc.)

I knew that Colin Andrews was the technical advisor for the movie Signs and had seen him in a variety of Crop Circle documentaries, I think on the Discovery Channel (it seems he's in every doc. every made on crop circles)! Now I know why he's always on them -- This is an excellent book, even (especially) for non-"woo woo" people who really want to know about crop circles. Are they real? Where do they come from? How do we know? Colin Anderes has done a fantastic job. And the four color photo insert is spectacular.