Up till now TV stations have aired very few programs about crop circles, and the few they have shown have been characterized by a very sceptic angle, poor factual information and even ridicule. Cinema films did hardly show any interest in the subject before the autumn 2002. However there are signs that these trends are about to change. Below you’ll find film reviews and other information about films and TV programs (in Norway and abroad) treating crop circles, both those that have been released and some that are under production.
2003.10.12 TV PROGRAM
STYRK live - About mysteries
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Type of progr.: |
TV program, series treating different subjects. This week: “Life’s |
| remaining mysteries” – crop circles as one of several items. | |
| Channel: | NRK1 (Norw. Nation. Broadc.) 5.30- 6.00 pm., “Nachspiel” at |
| NRK2 at 6.00- 6.45 pm., with interactive “chatting” at www.nrk.no. | |
| Sent: | 28th of September 2003 |
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
("STYRK live" has its name after the TV show host called Styrk. The series, which has been sent live on NRK1 Sunday afternoons since the autumn 2002, has dealt with a different theme in each program. The program profile is informal, -an ongoing dialogue between the host, public and the guests. The second part of the program, which is called “Nachspiel” and is shown on NRK2 right after the first part, is interactive. This means that the viewers can participate with questions and comments via e-mail (chatting on www.nrk.no ) or cell phone).
The 28th of September 2003 the program’s theme was life’s remaining mysteries, and crop circles was one of the subjects. The Norwegian Crop circle Group was invited to participate, but did not have the possibility to come to the studio. A short film about crop circles (edited by our member Terje Toftenes) was shown in the program. Truls Toftenes participated in the show, and told the viewers about his experiences with English crop circles last summer. He and his father had travelled to England to experience the phenomenon "for real" as he expressed it. The viewers were left with no doubt that the experiences had made a strong impression, and in a short dialogue with the host of the program, he made it clear how he had felt lying on his back in the crop circles in Wiltshire (Southern England).
The public and the guests in the program expressed their different opinions about the phenomenon. One of the guests, astro physicist Eric Newth, chose an open attitude, but did not neglect to point to the contemporary predilection for mysteries. He also questioned the authenticity of the phenomenon and the scientific basis claimed to support the mystery. Doctor of theology and researcher of religion Jone Gro Salomonsen pointed to the new age religiousness, as an explanation for people’s need to "believe in something".
Truls
Toftenes rejected the assertions (supported by the public) and pointed out the
phenomenon is not about believing since the crop circles are physical.
They are there for everyone to see and touch, and cannot be explained away. The
mystery lies in how they come about.
TREATED IN A SERIOUS MANNER
The Norwegian Crop Circle Group is very pleased by the fact that the phenomenon was put on the agenda in a Norwegian TV program. That different opinions are allowed is important and creates an opportunity to present the facts to the public who can then make their own judgement. But the fact that the mystery is backed by 12 years of scientific research is of less importance if researchers and scientists do not take the time to examine this research material. The matter needs further attention.
As far as we know, this is the
first time the crop circle phenomenon has been treated in a serious manner
in a Norwegian TV program. Let’s hope this is the start of a new trend.
2003.07.06 TV DOCUMENTARY
Crop Circles: Mystery in the Fields
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Crop Circles: Mystery in the Fields Tv-program |
Type of progr.: |
Tv-documentary |
| Channel: | CNN Discovery Sci-Trek (now Discovery Science) |
| Sent: | Since October 2002. In Norway the program was sent repeatedly |
| during spring 2003 |
ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY
During the last
year (2002-2003) a program about crop circles called “Crop Circles: Mysteries
in the Fields” has repeatedly been shown on Discovery Sci-Trek. The
program, that has frustrated more than one crop circle enthusiast, presents a
project carried out by 5 young students from the
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT). These students are given the task to make a crop circle, in
the dark of the night, within the maximum time span of 4 hours. The crop
formation has to show the most common chemical and biological changes found in
genuine crop circles, such as elongated or exploded nodes and tiny magnetic iron
spheres in the soil.
The project as such is not a bad idea. The intention seemingly is to test whether a research institution has methods to produce these chemical and biological changes. Nancy Talbott, who works for BLT Research Team Inc., USA, is invited to present the BLT findings to the students. The students then try to produce a crop circle with these chemical and biological changes. Afterwards another group of students evaluate the experiment.
By the use of infrared light, the students barely manage to finish the crop circle (a quite simple design) within the 4 hours. And to anyone without proper knowledge of scientific methods or with the capability to reveal insufficient presentation of evidence, it seems that the students, by advanced techniques, have succeeded in reproducing the chemical and biological changes. Even fairly well informed crop circle enthusiasts have swallowed the bate and turned sceptical, convinced by the program that it is possible, with the right means, to recreate the changes to plants and soil, and that crop circles must after all be a hoax.
Several Norwegians have contacted the Norwegian Crop Circle Group to enquire about the authenticity of the reproduced changes to plants and soil that are shown in the program. To be able to give the best answers, we have turned to Nancy Talbott from BLT research Team Inc., USA, who played an important role in the program.
You can read her full answer to
us, including the rejection of the students’ alleged results,
here.
Below you’ll also find a summary of her answer:
RESEARCHER NANCY TALBOTT REJECTS THE RESULTS
Researcher Nancy Talbott totally rejects the MIT students’ alleged "results", and explains very thoroughly why. (See above reference for full account.) The problem is that Talbott was never asked to evaluate the results, which means that the scientific value of the project never has been verified. In stead another group of MIT students was given the task of assessing the project. This assessment was, according to Talbott, much too generous towards the achieved results.
"The fact that a crop circle was produced should not surprise anyone. We all know that man made crop circles occur", Talbott says. She points to the fact that the students did not even try to produce elongated nodes. They did claim to have produced expulsion cavities, but we are not shown any close up pictures of these. Neither did we see any evidence that the students had produced magnetic iron spheres, only common iron filings that can be bought from any supplier of scientific accessories. Talbott thus concludes that the students did not manage to produce any of the three effects agreed upon in advance.
Talbott also holds out that her statements are misused. Statements she had given in connection with other crop circles are used in such a way in the program that they appear to apply to the formation made by the students. She gives us a list of six deviations from the agreement they made prior to starting the experiments. These agreements were the basis of her involvement in the TV-program.
The BLT Team is chocked by the misuse of her statements and the
misleading treatment of scientific facts, but realises that now the harm is
done, there is little they can do about it. Talbott points out, however, that
it
is not necessarily an intentional debunk
from the film team, but that the director’s wish to make an entertaining film
became more important than the respect for scientific facts.
"THE FILM SHOULD BE REGARDED AS PURE ENTERTAINMENT",
Nancy Talbott says. So let’s take a look at some of the more entertaining sides of the film:
PARTICLE SHOOTER
The students used a particle shooter to try to copy the semi molten magnetic
iron spheres of 10-50 microns that are often found in the soil of genuine crop
circles. They tried to disperse
the iron particles with the shooter that was equipped
with a 50 cm wide burning ring at the end.
It is difficult to imagine that a fire
canon like this one would not be seen if used during the dark of the night in
the landscapes in
England where there are “crop watchers” on nearly every hill
during the summer nights.
DISPERSING BY BOMB
At the end the students used a bomb like device
in an attempt to produce a linear distribution
of the iron particles. The device went off with a loud bang, and a lot of smoke
was produced. Again, what are the chances that such an event could take place
without drawing attention?
DANGER OF FIRE
Nancy Talbott had a good laugh when she saw the film and cannot make herself
believe that anyone would seriously think that crop circles are made in this
way: "- By youngsters equipped with particle shooters and transportable microwave
generators..?? People have to realise that hardly anybody know how to make a
particle shooter nor have any idea how to get hold of a microwave generator? And
where would they get the power from? If this were the way crop circles were
made, we would have seen a lot of fields catching fire!"
.
(During the recording of the
film two fire engines were parked at the edge of the field in case of fire. Ed.)
INTERESTING PHENOMENON
One
thing that researcher Nancy Talbott did find interesting though, was that when
the microwave generator was tested, the film crew’s camera failed. It
simply stopped working. This shows that microwaves tend to put electronical
equipment out of function, something frequently experienced in crop circles
(with cell phones, cameras, film cameras, tractors etc.).
”THE
TRUE STORY” AT SWIRLED NEWS
The
Norwegian Crop Circle Group wanted to have all the facts about this
televition documentary made
available to the public. We contacted Swirled News who was more than willing to
publish an informative article about the TV program. We recommend the article
written by Guro Parvanova, a member of our group, working together with
Nancy Talbott. The article was published at Swirled News the 20th of June under
the title "DISCOVERY
CHANNEL DOCUMENTARY - THE TRUE STORY".
2003.03.05
CINEMA FILM
A Place to Stay
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Director: |
Marcus Thompson |
| Location: | Wiltshire, England - the summer of 2001 |
| Time of release: | Still uncertain, hopefully during 2003 |
ABOUT THE FILM
“A Place to Stay” was shot during a period of 8 weeks (the summer 2001) in and around Wiltshire in Southern England. The director was Marcus Thompson. Colm O’Maonlai and Amanda Ray-King played the lead characters.
The film, set in the magical landscapes of Wiltshire in Southern England, is said to more than anything, tell the love story between a traveller and a Gypsy woman. It has been characterized as a tale of fate and of the human capacity for endurance in an uncaring world. One of the interesting things about the film is of course where it takes place. According to local informants the film takes us to many locations in Wiltshire that croppies are familiar with, such as “The Ridgeway”, the market in Malborough, and to Alton Barnes. For practical reasons some crop circles were created for the film, but parts of the movie was also recorded in genuine crop circles. The 900 ft in diameter “Milk Hill Spiral” which consisted of 400 individual circles (up till now been the largest crop circle ever) appeared during the recording of the movie. Many beautiful scenes in the film were, as far as we’ve been told, shot in this particular formation.
Some of
the pioneers among crop circle researchers, such as Colin Andrews,
Busty Taylor and Reg Presley (front figure of the sixties’ pop-group
“The Troggs”), appear as themselves in the film.
A DIFFICULT BIRTH THOUGH
The expected launch of the film to the movie theaters has not yet happened. There was some publicity for the film in the spring 2002, and it premiered at the film festival in Cannes in May the same year. Afterwards there’s been nothing but silence, however. Did the sponsors and distributors back out before the final steps were taken?
The local crop circle
group WCCSG arranged a private display at a Devizes cinema during the
summer, and in September a special display was arranged at the Empire Cinema in
London. Both times the viewers received the film very positively, but still
there is no sign of a public display in England or abroad. Maybe we can at least
hope for a release on video or DVD?
RENEWED HOPE OF PUBLIC RELEASE
The 5th of March 2003,
director Marcus Thompson announced that ”A Place to Stay” would be
re-launched at Cannes the coming spring. The sales agents that he originally
negotiated with have been taken over. He now sees new possibilities for
the film, and he hopes it will be on the screens during 2003.
THE VIEWERS RESPONSE
Several of the few who have seen the film have responded very positively. According to the American crop circle researcher Peter Sørensen the film is well worth seeing: “The story takes place in the Alton Barnes area” he says. “The film has a romantic theme that grows on you, and the cinematography is beautiful!”. Read his full review here. But other more negative reactions have also been voiced. A person who is not involved in crop circle research, David Haith, and who saw the film at the Cinema in Devizes the 21st of Mai 2003 (!) had this to say about it.
Director Marcus Thompson has posted a large number of stills from the film at his web site. A look at these photographs might provide you with some impression of what the film might be like.
Sources: Swirled News, Peter
Sørensen’s- and
Marcus Thompson’s web sites, and David Kingston’s mailing list.
2002.10.12
CINEMA FILM
New Bulgarian film?
| Recording
in Bulgaria -
started
the
autumn 2002 Place: Recording in the capital Sofia and in the town Radomir At cinema: No information awailable of where or when it will premiere |
RECORDING ALREADY STARTED
At this date (autumn
2002), reports say that the recordings for a new film about crop circles
have already
started in Sofia.
Apart from the leading role of the film,
that is played by the Hollywood star Billy Zane (known from ”Titanic”), all
actors are Bulgarian. In addition to the scenes shot in Sofia, some scenes will
also be shot in a maize field close to the town of Radomir. It is not clear at
this point whether the film will be in Bulgarian or English.
It appears that an American film company that has
earlier produced 13 films in Bulgaria together with the European “Senator”, is
behind the production.
The limited amount of available information about the film can be found at the Bulgarian news site Novinite.com.
Source: novinite.com: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=14770]
2002.09.29
CINEMA
/ DVD / VIDEO / TV: Discovery Sci-Fi Channel 29. april 2003!
Crop circles
QUEST
FOR THRUTH
 UK and USA: On the screens since the autumn 2002 |
Crop
circles QUEST FOR THRUTH |
by the "Academy
Award" nominated William Gazecki
PROMOTION
The movie theatre
film,
Quest for Truth
(2002), is promoted as a compelling and provocative
feature-length documentary full of never-before-seen footage and
interviews with leading Crop Circles researchers and scientists, some of whom
agreed to be on camera for the first time. The film is an in-depth examination
of prevailing theories about the origin and nature of Crop Circles and the
possible implications for us and for the future of Planet Earth.
PUBLIC REVIEW
The film is highly praised
by the crop circle community, but reviews have been mixed, some finding
it one-sided and undramatic, although reaction to the phenomenon it
displays has been surprisingly supportive. But there have also been very
positive remarks, and away from the official critics, many crop circle
enthusiasts have hailed it, as the documentary the cerealogical world has
always deserved. It had a mission to clean up any misconceptions left in the
wake of the horror movie ‘Signs’ that was shown in the cinemas last autumn. Andy
Thomas (experienced English crop circle investigator) sums up the
reviews
that came in the wake of the American premiere 21st of August 2002.
2003.05.06
CROP
CIRCLES PRESENTED IN A
POSITIVE WAY IN THE MEDIA:
CNN'S Discovery Sci-Fi Channel airs "Quest for Truth"!
Quest for Truth, that has been shown in the American movie theatres since the autumn 2002, and that has also been available in video and DVD versions, has now been shown to the American public at CNN’s Discovery Sci-Fi Channel the 29th of April this year! (2003). It is remarkable that CNN chooses to show such a positive and serious documentary about the crop circle phenomenon. Does it signify that the one sided tendency of debunking the phenomenon has ended?
The 23rd of April this year (2003) the news portal Crop Circle News writes that: "..this marks a new beginning for the crop circle community. The Sci-Fi Channel's broadcasting of "Quest for Truth" to mainstream America will have a positive impact by giving them a deeper insight into the crop circle phenomenon and render the media's attempts to ridicule or debunk them that much harder". (CCN hopes presumably too that it encourages a great many of them to see the full feature at a select theatre, if they can, or get the DVD for the extras as well!) Read the full announcement here.
It would have been nice if Discovery Sci-Trek would air the documentary as well, which would have allowed Norwegians to see it as well. Sci-Fi Channel has not been available to Norwegian viewers for the last two years. The channel has many viewers in Britain and USA, though, which hopefully means that the public opinion will be influenced in a positive way in these countries.
Source: Cropcirclenews.com
2003.05.12
“QUEST FOR TRUTH” WINS EDDY AWARD
The news portal Crop Circle News also reports that, the 12th of May this year, "Quest for Truth" won an Eddy Award for Best Documentary at the Edison Film Festival (named after famed prolific inventor/plagiarist Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931). Congratulations! Someone has finally realised something...
Source:
Cropcirclenews.com
2002.09.22
CINEMA FILM / VIDEO / DVD
Signs - by M. Night Shyamalan
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HORROR FILM WITH SUCCESS
The autumn 2002 the film
"Signs", by M.
Night Shyamalan and with Mel Gibson in
the leading role, made a large
success in USA, and brought in 60,3 million dollars
(!) only during the opening weekend in August. To the Norwegian Crop
Circle Group this represents a big mystery.
CROP CIRCLE ENTHUSIASTS ARE DISAPPOINTED
The Norwegian cinema audience had been looking forward to the film, but it seems that the reactions have been more mixed in Norway than in other countries. It’s not too much to say that "Signs" was a great disappointment to Norwegian crop circle enthusiasts. But unfortunately it seems to have appealed to persons with little knowledge of crop circles on one side, and with hunger for breathless suspense on the other.
"Signs"
is definitely not a
crop circle film. It can
rather be labelled as a simple and low budget horror film, or as a poor UFO
film.
ABUSE OF THE CROP CIRCLE PHENOMENON
The Norwegian Crop Circle Group would like to express its resignation about the banal presentation of the phenomenon. We also regret the fact that crop circles, for no understandable reason, is associated with fear, something that is very strange considering that the phenomenon is most of all known to install wonder, peacefulness and awe of its beauty.
The way we see it, the film is imputing on the
audience that fear and hostile aliens are associated with crop circles, which
couldn’t be further away from our perspective on the phenomenon.
THE NORWEGIAN CROP CIRCLE GROUP AT THE PRESS DISPLAY
The Norwegian Crop Circle Group was grateful to be invited to the film’s press display in "Filmens Hus" in Oslo. To our great delight, the Norwegian distributor of “Signs” (Buena Vista) at our request communicated our web address to media and public that requested information about the real phenomenon. We can only hope this means that our group is taken seriously.
And we are happy that it
looks like the film has at least increased people’s appetite for factual
information about crop circles.
PRESS RELEASES & THE ATTITUDE OF THE MEDIA
When compared to their colleagues abroad, the Norwegian media the have not at all embraced the film. In our opinion, the reviews have been rather critical and they have shown an unexpected ability to discern. It looks like the journalists have quite realistic knowledge about the phenomenon. We especially note that the press refer to the crop circles as a mystery, more than as a result of pranks and faking.
This allows hope that the
old Dough and Dave syndrome is no longer central in the journalists’ minds and
that they realize that they are dealing with an unsolved mystery. If this
attitude has reached the public through the reviews, it’s indeed a very
positive effect of the film “Signs”.
The film probably gave the crop circle phenomenon more publicity than we could
have hoped for if hundreds of good quality documentaries had been aired on
Discovery Channel. Because of the many spectators who found their way to our web
page, we were given a unique possibility to inform what crop circles are really
about. It should also be said that the film’s message could have been worse from
our perspective.
VIDEO and DVD
From April
2003 "Signs" was also available on Video and DVD (in
England and USA).
ARTICLES IN THE PRESS
During the summer of 2002 several newspapers and magazines interviewed the Norwegian Crop Circle Group. This resulted in informative articles on crop circles in the following journals: Dagbladet, Dagsavisen and Norsk Ukeblad. The 20th of September, when "Signs" premiered in Oslo, even the very serious Norwegian newspaper, Aftenposten, published an article about the phenomenon, based on an interview with our group.
Note: Several
of these journalists try to scientifically balance the information given by the
Norwegian Crop Circle Group by arguments from Knut Jørgen Røed-Ødegaard at the
Astrophysical Institute at the university in Oslo. He comments that they regard crop circles
as a curiosity and that there has been no scientific research on crop circles in
Norway. We find it important to inform that scientific research on the
phenomenon has been carried out in USA since 1990. This research that has
resulted in articles in peer reviewed scientific journals is presented at the
web page of BLT
Research Team. (For a summary of this research, click on “Research”
on our web page.)
OTHER REVIEWS ON "SIGNS":
Dagbladet
Oslo Puls
Sign’s own web site
Reactions from the British public
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