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Advocates of the hoax theory are usually characterized as sceptics. To explain circles satisfactorily as a hoax or man-made event requires two questions to be answered. First, how are they constructed and Through a variety of sources, plenty is known about the methods employed to construct circles. As well as Doug Bower and Dave Chorley (discussed more fully in Chapter 7), Jim Schnabel has disclosed his techniques and the circle making competition, in 1992, revealed various ingenious strategies. Early speculation about hoaxing methods included the use of chains or ropes to flatten the crop, but most circlemakers prefer a 'stomping tool' or 'stalk stomper'. This consists of either a plank or length of plastic tubing suspended from a length of rope in a loop, held by both hands, and pushed to the ground in a series of steps, with one foot on the plank. Alternatively or additionally, there are lightweight plastic garden rollers, which may be filled with water for additional weight. Two basic techniques are used to found a basic circle. Either they are flattened from the centre outwards, which does not necessarily require a stake and line, or using a central point, measured with a length of line, swirled from the perimeter inwards. Access to the crop is achieved via the tramlines and, by carefully walking through the standing crop, surprisingly little sign of passage is left behind. Often the trademark of a man-made circle is an underlying pathway from the tramline to the centre, which has then been covered over by the swirl of the floor when the main construction is complete. Why people make the circles is considered in detail in Chapter 9, but here is a brief list of possible motives: * scientific experimentation * as a 'message' to the 'real' circlemakers * commercial reasons * to discredit the phenomenon * artistic or aesthetic aspirations secondly, why? Feet and hands are also used and cardboard or polystyrene sheets employed to spread the load and conceal footprints. No doubt the circlemaker's arsenal contains other devices and techniques, but results adequate to have fooled veteran observers have been produced in these ways. * for pure mischief.