NUFORC Sighting 23856

Occurred: 2002-07-05 00:00 Local
Reported: 2002-07-22 01:33 Pacific
Duration: unknown
No of observers: 0

Location: Forest Grove, OR, USA

Shape: Unknown

Crop Formation appears in Forest Grove wheat field.

On Saturday July 13th, Assistant Director Eric Byler and investigator Phil Simmons returned to Forest Grove to talk with the owner of the field and get permission to go in and take a look. At that time the owner commented that he had heard the formation may have been discovered by others as early as Friday July 5th but that he did not personally know of its presence until it hit the news on Tuesday July 9th.

Investigator Carol Pedersen from The Center for Crop Circle Studies has been out to the site to collect samples for Michigan biophysicist, Wm. C. Levengood. Levengood has been examining crop circle plants and soils since 1989. To-date, three papers presenting the research findings have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as more than 100 lab reports on individual crop formations in the U.S., Canada, England, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia and Israel. These scientific papers and laboratory reports outline the physical abnormalities discovered so far in the plants and soils, clearly indicating a causative agency other than human-directed mechanical flattening of the plants, suggesting instead an energy system which emits microwaves and associated unusual electrical and magnetic field. Although some instances of the phenomenon known as “crop circles” are apparently created by people, scientific analysis of the affected plants and soils indicates that slightly more than 90% of formations tested have a more interesting—and more complex—causation.

Tuesday July 16th update...

Oregon UFO Research has received a preliminary report from the main investigator in this case, OUFOR consultant Carol Pederson of The Center for Crop Circle Studies. The findings she observed while in that formation along with new witness testimony strongly suggests this formation may in fact be authentic and casts serious doubts on the sole testimony of 17 year old Logan Richardson who claimed that teens he was acquainted with made it. Not one of the teens has come forward to identify themselves and the day they were supposed to have done the formation is later than the actual discovery date.

A few items of interest that should be noted.

1) A witness provides testimony that the formation appeared as early as Friday July 5th...this pre-dates when the teens were supposed to have created the formation.

2) No one has personally admitted to making the formation.

3) Another witness reports seeing the formation on Sunday the 7th of July. This witness had some knowledge of the phenomenon and looked for a trail leading in...none were present. Monday morning, July 8th she noticed a path leading into the formation.

4) Wheat heads were intact during the investigation and spilled out when walked on.

5) Stalks were bent but not broken.

6) Elongated nodes were observed but no blown or bent nodes.

7) Lay pattern indicates the swirls were made from the outside in.

8) The formation was aligned exactly N-S by compass reading.

9) It should also be noted that this formation is very similar to one that appeared in Washington State in 1993.

With the exception of the Hillsboro Argus newspaper, most of the media reported that this formation was a hoax based on one teens testimony minus anyone admitting to it. The press also attempted to make a connection to the upcoming Mel Gibson film "SIGNS" as a possible reason for it's appearance without any evidence to prove the Forest Grove circle was a hoax. While a hoax is always a possibility, some of the information gathered during the investigation points away from this and we should all wait until the samples come back from the Laboratory of Michigan Bio-physicist W.C. Levengood before making any final conclusions. Past analysis have shown that 90% of formations tested gave positive results of being authentic. We are also grateful for the hard work and dedication by Carol Pedersen of The Center for Crop Circle Studies. Carol has worked for many years investigating formations in the state of Oregon and is the best in her field. We at OUFOR have our hats off to her detailed investigative talents and are fortunate to have her as a consultant for Oregon UFO Research.

We will post more information when the tests are complete regarding the authenticity of this formation.

To view three photos from KATU channel 2's Jet ranger 2, go here... http://www.oregonuforeview.com/recent.html ... and scroll down to 7-05-02

NUFORC Note:

We express our gratitude to Eric Byler and Skip Schultz, of Oregon UFO Research, for following up on the case, and sharing the information with NUFORC. PD

Posted 2002-07-26