HELSINKI, Finland -- Helsinki's daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on September 21 that two crop circles had been found in fields about two miles apart in the Helsinki suburb of Espoo. The formations appeared during the night of August 24, the paper said. The larger of the two measured approximately 90 feet across.
UFO enthusiasts were reportedly of the opinion that the formations were made by a source from above. Some other observers shared the view that the circles were highly unusual.
"At first we thought of reporting vandalism. But when we went for a closer look at the patterns, we realized that they could not have been made by humans," said Birger Nymalm, agronomist at Soderskog Manor where the rings were found.
"The patterns were made from the air. The field around them was completely untouched," Nymalm was quoted as saying.
Reuters quoted the Helsinki newspaper as saying the patterns "consist of swathes of grain pressed to the ground, the stems snapped at the roots and lying pointed in the same direction."
If this is an accurate description, the circles may well be the work of hoaxers. Crop formations considered most likely to be anomalous do not have "stems snapped at the roots." However, it is not clear that the news report was accurate.
Helsinki police said they will not mount an investigation unless someone reports a crime.
1996 has been an exceptional year for crop formations, with notable patterns reported in the United States and Canada as well as England. As usual, the great majority of activity was reported in southern England, where over 90% of the world's crop circles have been found.
This year, the English formations include several known as "Julia Sets" that are so complex that, in the words of crop circle expert Colin Andrews, "If these are found to be hoaxes, well, we can all pack our bags and go home."
Original file name: .CNI - Crop Circles in Finland
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