Crop Circles near Beulich (1996)

(Rhineland-Palatine / Germany)

by Klaus Dieter Hempel (transl. by Markus Schröder)

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Two formations appeared near Beulich. One pictogram had the basic structure of a dumb-bell with two grape-shots, connected with the basis through small paths. The other formation consisted of a central circle, surrounded by a ring. Waldemar and I visited at first the older formation which must have had appeared in the first days of July because the Rheinzeitung published an article about it on July 8. Many interested people showed up afterwards, so that when we arrived the formation was all mixed up and completely plucked to pieces.

Photo: Waldemar Czarnetzki

Waldemar got his measuring instrument out of his pocket and checked if he could find any anormal magnetic fields in the formation. We heard a whistling from the instrument which was also to be heard outside of the formation so that we think it was caused by sunbeams or electric smog. The formation consisted of a classical dumb-bell and two "minor circles" which were connected through simple paths. The large circle had a diameter of 8.4 m (27.6 ft) and the crop was bent clockwise. The path was 12.7 m (41.7 ft) long and led to a smalller circle of 4.3 m (14.1 ft) diameter. Next to this dumb-bell were two other circles of 3.5 m (11.5 ft) and 6.3 m (20.7 ft) diameter. The axis of the path had an angle of 15° west to the north-south axis. The gamekeeper who was responsible for that area believed that the formation was a kind of reaction to the circles from 1995, which were manmade. In our opinion, the formation looked like a hoax, due to the bad general impression.

Photo: Waldemar Czarnetzki

In the afternoon, we drove to the forester and his wife, who had invited us for a coffee. They told us that a Roman aqueduct was passing near the field and many ancient villages and gravesites were in the area. From their point of view, the ancient sites might be the reason that the formations appeared. Then the forester showed us two original aqueducts and we drove to the second formation he told us about while we had our coffee. The forester led us to the field with the circle/ring-formation. The circle laid in a hollow near the road between Morshausen and Beulich and was easy to detect from the street. The condition of the formation was excellent and it seemed that only a very few people had entered the formation because it was in no way destroyed or harmed. The stalks laid smooth and unbroken and besides the hole of a root vole and some cigarette butts we didn't find anything that disturbed the aesthetics of the formation. The inner circle had a diameter of 7.9 m ( 24 ft) and was surrounded by a ring of 40 cm (15.7 inch) which was 20.5 m (67.3 ft) away from the center. The radius of the ring was not constant and varied between 20.3 (66.6 ft) and 20.6 m (67.6 ft) and was therefore elliptic. Oddly enough, the circles in both formations were situated in such a way that the churches of Beulich and Morshausen were a natural border. A coincidence?

We left the field about 7.30 p.m. and talked to a passer-by. He told us that both fields in which the formations appeared belonged the same farmer. Again a coincidence? Nevertheless, Waldemar and I will continue to take care of the fields near Beulich, hoping that more circles will appear.