[CNI News editor Michael Lindemann was among those in attendance when crop circle expert Colin Andrews unveiled a controversial videotape at a Springfield, Missouri UFO conference in mid-September. The video shows what appears to be several glowing balls of light moving quickly over a crop field in southern England. As the balls travel just above the grain, a crop formation is seen to form. The whole process takes less than ten seconds, leaving behind a large "snowflake"-shaped formation as the glowing balls exit the scene. It is an impressive sight. Now, however, Colin Andrews himself has apparently concluded that the videotape is a hoax. His statement follows. CNI News thanks James Sutton for forwarding this information.]
From: Colin Andrews, CPRI -- 16th September 1996.
Several weeks of investigation into the video supposedly showing four Ufo spheres over a field while crop circles formed, reveal disturbing findings. The young man who took the film gave his name as John Wheyleigh. He is a young man approximately 25 years old and attended Nottingham Trent University in the past, as has another man with a similar name, John Wabe, who lives at Maple Grove, Bath, Avon. The latter studied 'American Studies' and is in partnership with a company in Bristol that edits video film for television companies.
When John Wheyleigh asked me to research his footage for him, he asked me to sign a roughed out contract. He suggested giving me 10% of all monies earned by this footage if any were forthcoming. He gave other details which have been checked out by agencies in England. These details, which were purported to belong to him, in fact belong to John Wabe.
Contact has been attempted with John Wheyleigh over several weeks without success. A telephone call to the home and work place of John Wabe has been answered by a man around 40 years [of age] claiming he has never heard of Wabe or Wheyleigh. Other enquiries are in hand and I have sought police advice regarding legal proceedings should that be necessary.
Many things have not looked right with the film or the man since I met him in the Wagon and Horses pub where he asked to meet.
I have had an opportunity to match the video with the crop pattern details as recorded by CPR the day after discovery and study other details which trouble me in the film itself. My conclusions, pending detailed plant analysis results and photographic analysis, is that both the crop pattern and the video are hoaxes and both probably by the same group. What is most concerning is the planned intentions of the hoaxers. I have reason to believe that several persons are involved in this fraud scam and the video/television business is likely involved in it.
In view of my findings, it is not my intention to do any more work with the film but to spend some more limited resources in trying to learn more about the people concerned.
Some people might have been prompted by [certain Internet personalities] into believing that my reason for not showing the world [the video] sooner was so that I could make a lot of money out of it. I want to make it perfectly clear that no money has been given to me for the film, although many television stations wanted it and so did many researchers. My promise to the mysterious John was to have it analyzed and then the film would have been shared with all.
I think we can see by developments so far, that this was by far the right way to have gone about it. It is so unfortunate that the crop pattern and subsequent film appears to have been designed to damage researchers like myself and Peter Sorenson, and the phenomena itself.
Peter Sorenson has recently been given a copy of the film by "John," as has video film maker Lee Winterton. Peter is also having it analyzed in the USA, but early indications from his investigations too are very disturbing.
Colin Andrews
Circles Phenomenon Research International
PO Box 3378 Branford, CT 06405-1978.
Original file name: .CNI - Andrews.Circle Vid Hoax
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