July, 1998 Crop Circles (Last Update= 8/10/98)
July, 1998 Crop Circles
WISCONSIN CROP CIRCLE
Port Washington, Wisconsin Jackie Shanti reports that on July 10, 1998,
strange markings were found in a wheat field. Three large circles
approximately 90 feet across and connected by a slightly curved line were
discovered. There was no sign of an entrance or exit to the field.
SHANTIJB@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us.
Thanks to Jackie Shanti. (FILERS FILES)
MORE on Post Washington, WI crop circles:
Port Washington, WI Crop Circle Report
After deciding to take a look at the Port Washington, WI crop circle I
drove down to the area. I already learned that the wheat field had been
cut by July 19th and BLT Research thought good control samples would
not be possible. I was still curious though partly because I actually
drove right past that same field about 2 months earlier. I arrived at
the field on July 26th after staying at nearby relatives the night before.
Click here for map of location of Crop Circle.
When I approached the field I could not see the crop circle since the
wheat was cut and rows of straw blocked any view of what was left of
the formation. I noticed two people near the South end of the field
taking measurements. It turned out to be Chad Lewis and Jason from
Wisconsin MUFON who had just arrived that morning. They described the
formation as being moderately complex made of 6 circles, a partial ring
and 2 connecting bars.
3 medium sized circles about 40 to 75 feet across were in a line connected
by 2 bars each about 20 feet long by 6 feet wide aligned in an East to West
orientation. The largest circle was in the center with the smaller 2 on
each side. The West end circle was slightly larger than the circle at the
East end of this barbell configuration. About 70 feet South of the center
circle of the barbell was another larger circle about 100 feet across.
Connecting at each side of this larger circle was a curved pathway which
ran down to connect with the center circle to the North. This pathway was
about 5 feet wide and was much like a ring connecting the 2 parts of the
formation. Chad and Jason also found 2 small circles about 5 feet across
just inside the diameter of the ring with one on each side of the largest
circle. They were each about 12 feet from where the ring and large circle
intersected and roughly centered in the space between them like they were
in corners. The wheat stalks were rotated counterclockwise in all 6 circles
and the ring and it was bent outward away from the center circle in the 2
bars. The wheat was bent like it was just pushed over by a mechanical
process with no obvious sign of radiation or heating.
Click here for Crop Circle diagram.
Click here for Crop Circle diagram (filled in).
Click here for Crop Circle diagram showing crop rotation.
Click here for Crop Circle diagram (showing distortions).
Click here for Crop Circle image.
Click here for Crop Circle closeup.
Click here for Crop Circle closeup of crack in dirt.
Click here for Crop Circle Investigators.
Chad Lewis pointed out a large crack in the East end circle of the barbell.
The crack was about 12 to 15 inches long, 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide and perhaps
6 to 8 inches deep. It stood out as being unusually large as compared to
other smaller cracks in the dry soil near that area. Chad and Jason had
already taken detailed measurements by the time I had arrived and were just
finishing up. They helped me with a few compass measure-ments and stayed
for a few pictures. They then left early in the afternoon to start work on
another case. They planned to write a report of their findings and
measurements of the formation.
I stayed for a while to look for anything unusual and take some pictures.
Of particular interest was an overlapping of wheat stalks at the intersection
of the West end circle and its connecting bar. They appeared to be woven
together by a 4 step overlap process. The sequence was: Bar stalks were
laid first followed by circle stalks then more bar stalks laid over them
and also bent to follow the circle rotation. More wheat from the circle
was then laid over these. It was like these 2 parts could have been formed
simultaneously with the stalks intermingling as they were laid down at right
angles.
I measured the overall length as 233 feet and width at 210 feet. The
largest circle was situated only 31 feet from a gravel road along the South
end of the wheat field. It was nearly centered in the field from East to
West being 124 paces from the edge along the road to the East and 118
paces to the corn field to the West. Under one of the rows of straw was
another path of bent stalks about 1 foot wide. It formed a straight line
con-necting the largest circle at the South to the center barbell circle.
I assumed it to be a from a walking trail.
I drew some preliminary diagrams since then and the report from Chad Lewis
should give a good documentation of more exact dimensions. Whether this
formation was man-made or formed by unexplained methods is not yet known.
From Casey Holt - MUFON Field Investigator
Date: 18 Jan 99 17:47:08 CST
From: Thom Reed
Report from Thom Reed on Port Washington, WI Crop Circle
I first went up to the farm of Gene Large on Thursday, August
6, 1998, to view the crop circle. The weather was fine when I
left McHenry, IL but by the time I got to Port Washington there
was an incredible thunderstorm. I resolved to just interview Mr.
Large and visit the circle at a later date.
Gene Large is middle-aged, very down-to-earth, and very open
about the crop formation. He said it must have happened between
2100 hrs., Friday, July 10, 1998 and 800 hrs., Saturday, July 11.
Gene had gone to work at his other job as he does most nights but
his wife, Shirley, was at the house. She usually feels fine staying
at home alone but that night Shirley had the distinct feeling that
something or someone was outside the house. Shirley didn't see or
hear anything but she got a very uneasy feeling. She had to close
the drapes all around, even going so far as to use a broom handle
to close them so that nobody outside could see her.
The next day, Saturday, after Gene got home he saw the "damage"
to his field so he called the Ozaukee County Sheriff. (See
Incident Report) Gene said that he noticed right off that he couldn't
see any foot tracks or tire tracks into the formation which certainly
puts to shame the sheriff department's conclusion that a "4 wheel
ATV" was used for the "damage". That day, July 11, Officer Richard
Helm and Sheriff Straub came out to the Large farm to inspect the
"damage". Officer Helm did the ground inspection and Sheriff Straub
went up in a plane with pilot, Peter Didier, and Mrs. Didier who
took the pictures. (See pictures) Gene also said that one of the
officers mentioned that a UFO report had been made that previous
night, July 10, but I wasn't able to get any other info about that.
I didn't discover the officer's names or receive the Incident
Report until much later so I called the County Sheriff's Department
approximately 5 times between August and October trying to get some
information about the formation. I talked to a secretary (possibly
a different one) each time and asked her to ask the officers around
her about the "crop circle", or "crop formation", or just the
"damage" to Gene Large's field which happened around July 10.
Each time neither the secretary nor any of the officers she talked
to knew anything about Gene Large's farm.
Sometime in October I was able to talk to Gene again and he told
me that Sheriff Straub had been up in the plane when the pictures
were taken. So I made a couple more calls and was finally able to
talk to Sheriff Straub on Friday, November 6, 1998. He seemed very
tight-lipped about the formation and wouldn't even refer to it as a
"crop circle". I asked Sheriff Straub if any government superiors
had told him to not call it a "crop circle" and he said no. I also
asked him if when he was up in the plane looking down at the
formation, did it look like a "circle". He answered yes. Sheriff
Straub seemed like he was in a hurry to finish the conversation and
said that he would send me a copy of the Incident Report which he
did. (See report)
To return to my on-site investigation of the formation I visited
it on Sunday, August 9, 1998 with Christine Nye. I must admit that
I was just thrilled and somewhat overwhelmed to be visiting my
first(!) crop circle and so didn't do any real scientific
investigation. It was a beautiful, sunny day with only a few
clouds in the sky. Christine took a whole roll of film but when
we developed it, it was blank. We had used the camera before going
to the crop circle and it was fine and we had it checked at a
camera store after and it has worked fine ever since. I had an
instant camera and took only two pictures which both turned out.
Thom Reed
Here's the current North American list of crop formations from Paul
Anderson. If anyone has further info, please e-mail it to me.
Chad
*****
July 20 (?) - College Ward,(50 miles north of Logan) Utah. "Circles,
rings and pathways". 316 feet diameter. Barley.
July 22 - Cove, (also 50 miles north of Logan) Utah. "Circles, rings
and pathways". Wheat.
Preliminaries: Both formations large (College Ward is 316 ' long) and
reportedly beautifully made. Exploded nodes with brown discolouration
reported in at least the College Ward formation.
Reports from Linda Howe. Being investigated by local researchers; more
details, photos, etc. soon.
May 9 - Unionville, North Carolina. Unconfirmed.
May 15 - Charlottesville, Virginia. "Triad" formation on grounds of
University of Virginia.
May 26 - Coupeville, Washington. Small "triangular" pictogram. Near
wind damaged areas previously reported.
June 10 - Washington Township, New Jersey. Large "swastika" symbol.
Called vandalism (?).
June 19 - Eltopia, Washington. 9 circles with connecting pathways.
June 24 - Waverly, Nebraska. Dumbell.
July (?) - Nebraska. "Triad". Unconfirmed.
July 6 - Latty Township, Ohio. Large 92' circle.
July 10 - Port Washington, Wisconsin. Three large circles connected
by curved pathway.
July 20 - College Ward, Utah. "Circles, rings and pathways". 316'.
July 22 - Cove, Utah. "Circles, rings and pathways".
*****
Paul Anderson
Director
CIRCLES PHENOMENON RESEARCH CANADA
Affiliate of Circles Phenomenon Research International
Suite 202 - 2086 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J 1J4
Tel / Fax: 604.731.8522
Website
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