The Crop Circle Makers
How Two Hoaxers Made Patterns That Sparked a Global Mystery
Beginning in the 1970s, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley made formations with simple tools. Over the following years, they created hundreds of mysterious circles that baffled scientists, filled newspapers, and inspired an entire field of study called cereology.
When Doug Bower and Dave Chorley finally confessed in 1991, the expert who had declared crop circles impossible to fake examined their test circle — and couldn't tell the difference.
The real mystery isn't how they did it. It's why nobody figured it out.
1970s – 1991
Doug Bower and Dave Chorley made crop circles in southern English fields over several years using wooden "stomper boards," rope, and a wire sight on a baseball cap. They worked by moonlight, entering fields via tractor tramlines to avoid leaving footprints.
15 yrs
The number of years Doug and Dave operated before confessing.
3
A plank, a piece of rope, and a wire sight. That was the entire technology.
~20 min
A simple circle took about twenty minutes. Complex formations took a few hours.
The Evidence
The Formations
Hundreds of crop circles appeared in southern English wheat fields during the 1970s and 1980s. They grew from simple circles to elaborate geometric patterns. The wheat was bent, not broken — exactly what a plank produces.
The Stomper Board
A four-foot wooden plank with rope threaded through holes at each end. Stand on it, hold the rope like reins, and walk forward. The plank presses wheat flat without breaking the stalks.
The Demonstration
In September 1991, Doug and Dave demonstrated their technique for journalists. Expert Pat Delgado examined their test circle and declared it genuine — before learning who made it.
How the Story Unfolded
The Inspiration
A farmer in Tully, Queensland, Australia discovers a circular flattened area in a swamp. Newspapers call it a "flying saucer nest." Doug Bower reads the story and remembers it.
The First Circle
After a Friday night at the pub, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley drive to a field near Warminster — a town famous for UFO sightings — and create their first rough circle using an iron bar.
The Stomper Board
Doug invents the "stomper board" — a plank with rope handles — and a wire sight attached to a baseball cap. The circles become precise and clean.
Circles Go Viral
Crop circles become front-page news across England. Scientists, TV crews, and researchers flock to the fields. "Cereology" is born. Doug and Dave keep scrapbooks of their press coverage.
Circular Evidence
Pat Delgado and Colin Andrews publish their bestselling book declaring crop circles impossible to fake. Dr Terence Meaden proposes the "plasma vortex" theory.
The Confession
Doug and Dave contact the Today newspaper and confess. They demonstrate their technique in front of cameras. Pat Delgado examines their test circle and declares it genuine — before being told the truth.
The Legacy
Other teams take over, creating even more complex formations. Crop circle art continues today. Doug Bower died in 2018, aged ninety-four, still remembered as the man who started it all.
The People in This Story
Doug Bower
A picture framer and watercolour painter from Southampton who remembered the Australian "saucer nest" photograph and decided to recreate it in an English field. He invented the stomper board and the baseball cap sight.
Dave Chorley
Doug's Friday-night pub companion who helped create the circles over several years. Together, they went from rough attempts with an iron bar to elaborate formations that baffled the world.
Pat Delgado
A retired engineer who had worked on NASA tracking stations and co-authored Circular Evidence (1989), declaring crop circles impossible to fake. He examined Doug and Dave's test circle and couldn't tell it was man-made.
The Question That Remains
Doug and Dave proved the circles were man-made. They demonstrated exactly how. Pat Delgado couldn't tell the difference. And yet, some experts still refused to believe them.
Was the real hoax the circles themselves — or was it the story people built around them?
Read the full book to investigate the key clues and competing explanations — then decide for yourself.
Get the Full Book
The complete Crop Circle Makers mystery. 9 chapters of evidence, theories, and a question only you can answer.
Part of the Hoaxes Volume
From fake fossils to trick photographs, we investigate the greatest hoaxes in history — and ask how clever people were fooled for so long.
See all books in this volume →Keep investigating
Check the evidence
What the evidence supports
Doug Bower and Dave Chorley demonstrated that people could make convincing crop circles using simple tools.
Where to be careful
Accounts differ over whether Bower and Chorley began in 1976 or 1978; this book uses the 1970s for the start of their activity. Their admission does not identify the maker of every formation. An unidentified maker is not evidence of an alien maker.
Explore the sources
These selected sources support this guide and offer further reading. Some are written for adults; explore them with a parent or teacher.
The story and illustrations are modern retellings. Imagined scene details are not historical evidence. These sources are a starting point, not citations for every narrative detail.
Evidence guide reviewed 8 September 2026.