The Crop Circle Makers
Scientists Were Baffled for Years — Until Two Men Confessed
In 1976, two retired men from Southampton walked into a wheat field with a plank of wood and a sense of humour. For fifteen 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.
1976 – 1991
Doug Bower and Dave Chorley created crop circles in Hampshire wheat fields every summer for fifteen 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 between 1976 and 1991. 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 for fifteen 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 every piece of evidence — 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.
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