Adresseavisen 6^th of September 2001

Is it uninvited guests from outer space, heavenly angels or earthlings who wants to play a trick on the world? Last week, one way or another, one night a mysterious crop circle appeared in a field at Rotvoll.

By Kirsti Husby

I had a feeling of something holy when I stood inside the circle, says Helle Bjerkan, one of the first to visit the field.

The whole thing is a big mystery.

The phenomenon of crop circles has aroused just as many discussions and speculations as the UFO phenomenon. The opinions vary from persons who are convinced that absolutely all crop circles are man-made by simple means, to persons who believe that the circles are encoded messages from other worlds or dimensions, made by advanced technology or mind power.

Architect and writer Bodvar Schjelderup has studied the phenomenon for some time and is more or less convinced that humans have not made the crop circle at Rotvoll. Both he and Helle Bjerkan choose to be open to the possibility that angels or a higher spiritual power have been present in the field, and that the crop circle may represent a message.

Even though several cases of hoaxing have been revealed, among other places in England, many crop circles have been proven genuine, that means that they have not been created by human effort. Just the fact that crop circles may occur in seconds, without anybody noticing and without a sound, make the thought of human creation impossible, states Schjelderup.

After having studied the Rotvoll circle several times the last days, Bodvar Schjelderup still feels that no bombastic conclusions should be drawn. He points out that there are some geometrical inaccuracies to the circle that may indicate hoaxing.

- But then again there are features to the circle that indicates that humans cannot have made it, Schjelderup continues.

- The stems are not damaged near to the ground like they would generally be if someone had rolled over them or trampled them down. In addition to this, I feel that the location is not chosen at random. Crop circles often appear close to holy sites, and I am open to the fact that The Dome of Nidaros plays a role here. The circumference of the circle for instance, is the same as the full height of the tower of the dome, he states.

- It’s maybe too much to say that I interpret this as a sign from a higher power, but I would like to be open to the mysterious, says Helle Bjerkan.

- Crop circles are a worldwide phenomenon that we should at least not ignore.

- Some persons in Trondheim (the town in Middle Norway where this crop circle appeared. Ed.) get a good laugh today, says professor Martin Ystenes, at NTNU (a technical university in Trondheim. Ed.). He has read about and commented several findings of crop circles earlier, and has not got the slightest doubt that al of them are made by ordinary earthly beings like you and I.

There has never been any scientific publication in any serious magazine to indicate anything else. In addition, the first person ever to make a crop circle has told the media about it. It seems rather strange that UFOs and angles should copy something that is human to start with, says Ystenes.

- But why is there all this mystery in connection with these crop circles, then?

- I think the reason for that is that the crop circles are often quite large and that they may seem rather impressive if they are made in the right way. But it is important to remember that all of them are made up by straight lines, circles or by humanlike figures. (?! Red) Most of it is easily made by putting a sticking a pole into the field and pulling a rope across the grains, says Ystenes.