Page Content (OCR)
of reference, much in the manner of the characters in Foucault's Pendulum. In this atmosphere, co- operation between researchers became less frequent and relationships between rival theorists deteriorated, often to the level of petty insinuations and gossip. Some researchers found their projects being deliberately targeted by hoaxers. The Argus project were the victims of this, as was Steven Greer, an American ufologist, who claimed success at initiating contact with 'alien' UFOs. He came to Wiltshire in the United Kingdom in 1992, to undertake a project, using high powered lights, which he had used to Vector in' UFOs in previous attempts. On this occasion, it appears that the sense of expectancy created in his group allowed a group of hoaxers to fool them with some lights shone from a hill some distance away. Understandably, researchers felt hugely frustrated by these kind of events, leading to a situation where writers such as Wingfield were vilified for being 'negative' when they tried to deal with the extent to which mischief makers had become inextricably linked with the circles. John Macnish describes an episode in his book Crop Circle Apocalypse, which illustrates just how strange some of the fringe areas of circles research are. After being contacted from Australia by a television producer, who was interested in following up the Doug and Dave conspiracy theory, a request for film footage of the farm where MBF consultancy was based was received and included the request that Macnish destroy the letter. Footage was duly shot by Macnish, who then received a late night telephone call from Australia. His caller was the television producer, begging for help, saying he had been holed up in his flat, convinced that he was being spied on by his neighbours and that this was connected to the crop circles. A further telephone call from one of the producer's colleagues produced the explanation that he had been diagnosed as suffering from a psychotic illness. This prompted Macnish to wonder about 'the real effect that the circles were having on people. I was becoming convinced that involvement with them could have serious side effects. ' Patrick Harpur's article, 'Delusion, revelation and reality’, in The Cerealogist is a brilliant analysis of the dangers of obsession with the circles and how there is a thin line between the awestruck attitudes of researchers and the development of delusional ideas concerning 'the truth' and conspiracies against the circles. One can observe a current example in the treatment on the Internet of the NEC television References The Bratton Castle hoax is documented in Wingfield's piece in The Cerealogist No. 2 and is taken from my notes of Colin Andrews in 1 990 and various personal communications with other researchers. Macnish gives a good ‘inside account’. Kronig's references to Cabinet discussions comes from my own notes of a talk and conversation with him. The story of Henry Azadehdel is told in Keen's contribution to Devereux and Brooksmith's 50 Years of Ufology. Schnabel's 'CIA links' were referred to in Wingfield's story on the Alien autopsy scam, in The Cerealogist No. 15. The reference to the deterioration of the scene comes from my own observations. The hoax on Steven Greer is programme featuring circlemakers in action. The next chapter takes a closer look at the psychological aspect of the circles.