The first recorded cerealogical events of the year have been discovered down-under…


Australia appears to have received the first crop circles of the year! Writing in ‘The Sunday Mail’ newspaper, Australian journalist Lou Robson reports the following:

*

“Large crop circles with unbroken stems have mysteriously appeared in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Residents of the small town of Conondale, west of Maleny, say they are baffled by the large areas of flattened grass.

Crop circle enthusiast Chris White gave the complex designs an eight out of 10. "You can't imagine anyone faking these because the seed heads would be broken and it doesn't look like it's been trampled or crushed. There were people in England who set out to do a hoax… but even they couldn't fake it. This definitely looks like the real thing."

Retired teacher Kate Dash visited the circles on Ahern Rd and said she doesn't believe the patterns are man-made. "I've been to England to study crop circles for the last five years. This looks authentic to me," Ms Dash said. "The way the grass has been flattened is amazing and would be almost impossible to do as the circles are beautifully symmetrical."

Both crop circle enthusiasts said they had nothing to do with making the circles, which are generally associated with UFOs.

But the property's owner, who does not want to be named, said there was a much simpler explanation for the crop circles: "It's the wind creating a whirly-whirly. It spins around in the long grass and that creates the circle," he said.”

*

In a circulated e-mail, local researcher Richard Giles writes:

*

“With the appearance of a four circle set crop circle pattern near Conondale just off the main Maleny-Conondale road, and 15 minutes by road from Maleny on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, this article is very timely reading.

The Conondale circle/s is the first detailed configuration ever to appear here in this area... It consisted of four circles spread over a distance of 24 metres. The first circle was 3.8 mtrs, the second 7.9 mtrs, the third 1.5 and the last 0.85 mtrs. Local people are working on what the pattern in the sizes may mean. They were on a close North-South axis with small variations in the centres, each circle being slightly off-centre from the next.

Each circle had classic centres, with the grass formed into a small cone in the middle, again slightly off-centre. The grass was local pasture grasses mixed. The smoothness of the layered lines of grass within the circles were beautifully laid and made it clear these were no hoaxes. Nothing in the circles showed broken or battered stems as you would find when the grass was crushed down by human intervention.”

*

So, congratulations to Australia for providing the first report of the season. Meanwhile, the first English event is expected at any minute…