Copyright(C)Scripps Howard
A so-called "Crop Circle" has made some Paulding County,Ohio,residents scratching their heads-again.Is this man-made?The creation of a mysterious natural force?The impression of an alien spaceship?
In"X-Files" fashion,investigators of the paranormal have come and gone in Latty Township,as they did exactly two years ago to another field in Paulding.
While they returned to labratories to analize samples and ponder data,Paulding County Sheriff Dave Harrow looked the site over and made his conclusion,"It looks like a case of vandalism of wheat,"the sheriff said,"It does not look like the work of extraterrestrial beings."
The mysterious ring is three miles from where an identical crop circle was found in July,1996.
Pricwe herself inspected the 92-foot circle.There were noticeable footsteps leading to the circle.But she said they were from people traipsing the wheat field to stare at the ring.
"The wheat was flattened to the ground,all bent over in one direction,counterclockwise,"she said.
What is it? What caused it? Thats what observers ask every time a crop circle appears.
Theories abounding among students of the paranormal.Are crop circles weather phenomina?Landing pads for unidentified flying objects?The result of quirky winds or magnetic energy forces?
Or are they hoaxes,made by jokesters?
This time,not as many noticed."Curious people came to look the first few days,"Price said."I dont know what the circle is.Most folks around here think it's weather-related of something,or maybe it's caused by them little green men from outer space.We joke about that,but we dont really know."
Harrow doesnt have those doubts."It looks like vandalism to me," he said,"The case is closed."
An investigator from the Mutual UFO Network,Rogr Sugden,and an Eastern Michigan University professor,Jeffery Wilson,were on the scene one recent day,Price said.
But most crop circles have proven to be hoaxes,perpetrated by practical jokers.
It was concluded that the 1996 Paulding County ring was man-made.
One investigator,Joe Nickell of the non-profit Skeptical Inquirer,declared,"They're all hoaxes."
Likewise,a 1996 crop circle in Allen County,Ohio,was declared a fake.
And in England,two men were found to have mapped and made manty circles using string and boards to flatten the stalks.
Still,UFO enthusiasts and sleuths of the paranormal prick up their ears whenever a new crop circle is found.Not all that could be bogus,they say.
"sure,some are hoaxes,but some are unexplained,"said Richard Thielmann of Toledo,a Mutual UFO Network member.
"Our organization has analyzed wheat and found chemical changes in stalks and how grain was broken off that could not have been done by pranksters,"he said.
Harrow has studied the topic since the 1996 crop circle caused and uproar in his county."I've read documents about them and went out there to look and I'm satisfied it was made by people,"the sheriff said.
He says he especially does not believe it is UFO-related."I personally think if intelligent extraterrestrial beings evaded radar and other detection,they would not make a mark by landing in a wheat field when there are so many empty,paves parking lots for them to land on."
Rosamaria Machado-Wilson says even a walk to the coffee pot at BSG Labratories meant weaving past praying coworkers,sometimes there was impromptu ceremonies spoken in tongues.
She sayd she and other workers were forcrd to be baptized and attend prayer meetings at the audio lab.
She also claims in her lawsuit that employees found to be "nonbelievers" were fired.
Machado-Wilson wasa fired last year.She's seeking damages in excess of $15,000.
AP_NY_07-26-98 1141EDT
The coffin and other monuments,dating back to the sixth dynasty 4500 years ago,were found during a dig at the ancient necropolis of Sakkara,near Cairo,the burial ground for the ancient city of Memphis.
Thw Australians,led by Professor Naquib Kanawati,of Macquarie University's Australian Centre for Egyptology,have been working with the archeologists from the University of the Suez Canal.
King Teti's pyramid is at Sakkara.
Dozens of other fires burned through brush and woodlands around Greece in the most devastating season of blazes in decades.No villages were in imminent danger in the latest fires.
Since the fires broke out late last week,thousands of acres of forest have been burned on Mount Olympus,the country's highest mountain range with a peak about 9,570 feet high.
Two planes assisted crews of firefighters on the ground on Olympus,about 250 miles northwest of Athens.
Although wildfires are common during hot and dry summers in Greece,this season has been called the most devastating in decades.Four firefighters died last week battling a fire on the outskirts of Athens.
By Cynthia Hubert
Bee Staff Writer
(Published July 29, 1998)
Federal officials have effectively killed plans for a new ski area on Mount Shasta, capping one of the most contentious land-use debates in Northern California history.
Regional Forester Lynn Sprague has revoked permits for the proposed Mount Shasta Ski Area Project, which for 14 years has been the center of an emotional debate between developers and preservationists.
In terminating the project Tuesday, Sprague followed the recommendation of Sharon Heywood, supervisor of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
"Adverse effects of the Mount Shasta Ski Area Project on this special place are too great to support proceeding further," Sprague said in a letter to Carl Martin, who since 1984 has been trying to build a resort on 1,860 acres of national forest land.
Martin, who can appeal the decision to the U.S. Forest Service chief in Washington, D.C., did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
Others, including American Indians who regard the mountain as one of the Earth's most powerful religious and cultural symbols, cheered Sprague's decision.
"We are naturally very happy at the public acknowledgment of the sacred value of Mount Shasta," said Michelle Berditschevsky, a member of American Indian and other groups that fought to stave off development on the mountain.
"Many people the world over learn special qualities of being and nature from this mountain. We feel that the sacred value that the mountain teaches is the value that can untangle the knots our world is in."
Sprague concluded that the proposed development would harm two properties that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because of their cultural significance to American Indian tribes.
He also said the recent expansion of Mount Shasta Ski Park, which operates nearby on private land, made the development unnecessary.
"To proceed with the project would absorb an extraordinary amount of time, money and resources," he said in his letter to Martin. "I am not willing to expend appropriated federal funding in such an effort when it is clearly not in the public interest to do so."
Nearly everyone familiar with the majestic mountain, which towers 14,162 feet about 200 miles north of Sacramento, is passionate about it, said Duane Lyon, a spokesman for the Shasta Trinity National Forest.
"Mount Shasta means different things to different people," he said. "Folks who like downhill skiing love it for its snow depth and the long skiing season. Native Americans appreciate it for its historic and cultural importance. Environmentalists are drawn to it because of its unusual vegetation and the wilderness solitude it provides. Local communities have viewed it as an important tourist attraction offering the potential for economic growth. "
Environmentalists who want the entire peak to be eligible for the national register rather than the currently designated area above 8,000 feet said Sprague's decision was an important victory in an ongoing battle.
"Mount Shasta is a precious resource for all Californians," said Herb Walker of the California Wilderness Coalition. "It represents something that is quickly disappearing from California, pristine wild lands.
"This has been a long, long struggle. We're glad the decision is final, and now we can go about protecting the rest of Mount Shasta."
Bob Roberts of the California Ski Industry Association said he agreed with Sprague's decision.
"It is long overdue," he said. "I think the proposed ski area on that part of the mountain was perhaps appropriate in the 1960s or 1970s. But certainly now the demand for another major resort in this part of the world is pretty thin. All things considered, the forester did the right thing."
Even some business leaders in the area who originally supported the project expressed relief that the acrimonious battle may be over.
"That's probably the best thing about the decision, that we'll have a sense of closure," said Richard Derwingson, a longtime Mount Shasta businessman, former mayor and chairman of the visitors bureau committee for the chamber of commerce. "Now maybe people can get on with their lives."
Derwingson said he originally supported expanded skiing in the area, but believes the project would have diluted the market.
"I think the forest service made the only decision they could have, under the circumstances," he said.
Copyright © 1998 The Sacramento Bee
