Anybody have an idea on what it could be???
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2004-08-30
by Patricia Grames Pollock
Daily Times Correspondent
A very mysterious circle shaped like a bull's-eye has been evolving on Jack Ledbetter's property for the past three years, and so far neither he nor anyone who has come to examine it can give any definitive explanation for it.
``To me it's strange, and I would like to have an answer,'' the perplexed retiree said.
The circle is about 20 feet wide, and there is a 10-inch hole in its center.
``A lot of people say it's from rotted stumps,'' Ledbetter said.
The problem he has with that theory is that no one as far back as living memory goes remembers any trees growing in that area.
Ledbetter and wife Mary have lived on the four-acre spread for 38 years, and it's been in the family for generations.
According to Ledbetter, relatives and friends stand and shake their heads at it.
``It's sort of a family joke that it could be from aliens,'' said daughter-in-law Nema Ledbetter. ``Some think it's a sinkhole or even Indian burial ground. I call it a mystery.''
Its bull's-eye shape resembles some of the highly publicized crop circles worldwide that continue to mystify much of the scientific community.
What is doesn't share with the vast majority of these intriguing phenomena is that it appeared in grass, not wheat or corn as most of the others have done.
Moreover, the crop circles don't develop over a lengthy period of time like Ledbetter's has done. Even the very large ones generally take only about four hours to manifest themselves, according to data gleaned from a documentary on the Discovery Channel.
Three years ago, Ledbetter happened to step in a hole he hadn't previously detected.
The next thing he noticed was a distinctive fading of the surrounding grass's color.
``This year it turned completely dark,'' he said.
It has been suggested to Ledbetter that underground water could be the cause of it.
Perhaps that's not far-fetched. Some scientists who are always trying to analyze the crop circles so prevalent on Milk Hill in Wiltshire, England, have postulated that an underground aquifer might account for their formation.
Moreover, the rocks Ledbetter digs up occasionally have a strong resemblance to river rock, perhaps indicative of underground water.
Similar circles sometimes form in ice for no known reason.
James McMillion, director of the Blount County extension of the UT Department of Agriculture, studied a picture of the bulls eye but doesn't have any definite theories about it.
``It sounds like it's a sinkhole or a diseased ring of grass,'' he said.
``I mow over it all the time and it hasn't caved in yet,'' Ledbetter said.
He also stated that he has never used any weed killers or other chemicals on the grass in question.
Many crop circles have been exposed as man-made hoaxes, and there are those who are convinced they are messages from aliens.
The Ledbetters do not think there is anything paranormal involved.
Some scientists suggest upper energy disturbances might be a factor in crop circle development. Also, evidence of radiation has been detected in the ground around the crop circles, and it is said that magnetic particles are likely to be present.
Electronic equipment has been known to malfunction when operating in the circles, but it should be stated that digital cameras worked perfectly in Ledbetter's bull's-eye.
It is not out the question that a prankster might be behind it, although Ledbetter can't imagine who it could possibly have been.
He appears to be more puzzled than concerned, and there are certainly plenty of unanswered questions about it.
What caused it, and will it spread or eventually disappear in the same mysterious manner of its inception?
It seems in itself to be innocuous. There are no odors emanating from the small hole, nor has it caused any harm to anyone, including Ledbetter's relatives such as his toddler grandson, Kobe Ledbetter, the family dog, or curious friends.
Ledbetter is hoping for answers, but since the bulls eye circle isn't causing any problems, he jokes good-naturedly about it.
``If I see smoke coming out of that thing, I'm leaving here,'' he said with a laugh.
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