Blog #2: Scouting the Territory

The topic that I had initially decided to focus on was the Bermuda Triangle and the mysteries regarding the triangle. But as I researched more about the secrets associated with the Bermuda Triangle, I realized that there is nothing more to them. Many scientists have said there is no mystery tied to it, and the reason behind many of the disappearances that have occurred are due to the terrible weather and the science behind ocean waves. After realizing that I wanted to switch topics, I decided to go with the 2nd choice that also fascinated me. I decided to go with Crop Circles because the different theories drew my attention. I always wondered how did they show up and who had made them. Was it aliens, or was it, people? Along with how crop circles came to be, I also wondered what the meaning behind them is. What are the implications that people put behind crop circles?

Looking on Google, I typed in keywords such as "crop circles hoax," "crop circles connected to aliens?" and "crop circles theories," which opened up countless possibilities to explore. The statement "crop circles" displayed many documentaries from the History Channel to National Geographic defining what crop circles are. Using "crop circles theories," I came across many different links that would result in how crop circles have evolved and portray the thoughts people have behind them. But there are still a few crop circles that have no explanation to them. Most of the information on Wikipedia includes how the crop circles came to be and the alternative explanations. Wikipedia also focuses on many different aspects of crop circles, each with its value to the entirety of the topic.  

While researching, I came across this article titled "The crop circle evolves" from nature.com that talks about how the crop circles had evolved from when they first became known to the public. The article mentions how the phenomenon has spread across the globe and how two men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, had been behind many crop circle creations in the 1970s and how that had influenced many individuals to start making crop circles too. I found this article interesting because it shows how crop circles have grown in popularity over the years and created a new image. I also came across this video by The History Channel that connected crop circles and aliens. The video talks about the Roswell rock found in 2004 in Rosell, New Mexico, which has a symbol on it and possesses magnetic properties. The rock's symbol is the same design of a crop circle discovered in England about two decades ago. When I watched this video, I was very shocked because it indicates that there may be a connection between aliens and crop circles. Aliens being behind crop circles is one of the few theories known. From this search, some ideas that I have gotten are how crop circles have many different views and how people perceive them. 

I found many different books on Google Scholar and Google books, but a book that I found interesting was found on Amazon titled "Messages from the gods: A scientific exposition on the extraterrestrial origin of crop circles" written by Jerry Kroth. This book had been recommended to me by Professor Goeller, and I found it very intriguing when I looked into it. In the book, Professor Kroth analyzes crop circles and the messages that are behind them. This book will be an excellent resource for me because it examines the portrayal behind crop circles, which I want to incorporate into my paper. A controversy regarding my topic on crop circles is the aspect of people's beliefs. Many people believe that the crop circles were man-made, whereas many believe that there had been a supernatural explanation behind this, such as UFOs. There will always be skepticism when it comes to making connections to extraterrestrials since there is not that much evidence that supports the claim.

Link to Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9WNFqo2zQI&t=129s

https://www.nature.com/articles/465693a

https://www.amazon.com/Messages-gods-scientific-exposition-extraterrestrial-ebook/dp/B07RF9TQLL/