Researchers assumed the crop circles were caused by a weather event, such as a localized whirlwind, electrical phenomenon, or some combination of the two. Proponents of this theory worked hard to fit observations to meet this hypothesis. The fact that circles started appearing in the U.S. in tornado-prone areas was seen as potential confirmation of the whirlwind theory. Some researchers went so far as to try and recreate these completely unknown weather patterns in the lab.
Reality ended up being brutally embarrassing to the crop circle research community. In the late 1990s, two farmers, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, confessed to single-handedly starting the entire crop circle phenomenon in 1978 using ropes and a plank of wood. Others began coming forward, revealing innovative ways to sneak into even a guarded field undetected and rapidly flatten crops into a circle. It was all very low tech; most pranksters simply walked through dry fields when nobody was looking. Crop circle “experts,” reluctant to give up lucrative TV hosting gigs, resisted the hoax explanation but eventually had to concede that they’d been duped. Perhaps, like Fox Mulder, they wanted to believe.