SOURCE: ANN
Yogyakarta (The Jakarta Post/ANN) - Local residents were on guard, the Indonesian Air Force used a helicopter to inspect the site and social networks were atwitter after a crop circle was discovered in a rice field in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The crop circle -- a large, geometric pattern often made by flattening crops -- was found by a local farmer, Tukiman, on Sunday at 6 a.m.
Residents of Rejosari stood guard at the paddy field where the crop circle was discovered, as reported by kompas.com news portal -- guarding their ripening rice crops from hordes of visitors who swarmed over the field after reports of circle were made public.
A police line has now replaced the farmers. The Indonesian Air Force also dispatched a helicopter to capture images of the crop circle, which measured 70 meters in diameter.
"Adisutjipto [Air Force] base responded by flying a Colibri HL 1210 for a 30-minute photographic session starting at 10:30 a.m.," according to a press release posted to the base's website. The release said the Air Force helicopter took numerous photographs "of the object thought to be leftover from a UFO from the height of 1,000 feet... from a number of different angles."
Twitter users engaged in debates on the origins of the circle. Some tweeted outright disbelief in that UFOs were beyond the phenomena while others said they were "spooked out" by the crop circle's appearance.
"It's scary. It got me thinking if I should believe the world will end in 2012," one Twitter user said.
Some believe that crop circles are the works of alien visitors or are supernatural occurrences; other hold that the phenomena are surreptitious works of art crafted by humans.
A posting on the website of BETA-UFO INDONESIA, which lists UFO sightings and analysis, said the pattern of Yogyakarta crop circle resembled the chakra symbol in Hindu Tantrism.
UFO enthusiast Nur Agustinus said that the event in Yogyakarta differed from the dubious crop circles that had been reported in Tuban, East Java, in 1986-1987.
"This occurrence is the most obvious one," he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com news portal.
Moedji Raharto, a top Indonesian astronomer and the former head of Bosscha Observatorium in Lembang, West Java, said: "If this really is the work of a UFO or extraterrestrial beings, it is almost 100 percent certain they would have left some sort of trace behind. It is highly improbable such beings could cover such distances without bringing along some sort of provisions."
Such trace evidence might be used as the starting point for investigating of the crop circles, he added.
"The chemical composition of the soil may reveal the origin of the phenomena. If this crop circle was an extraterrestrial event, we can expect to see similar results in the soil analysis," Moedji said.
Kompas.com reported that the crop circle was found under extra high-voltage aerial transmission wires, adding it was to soon to connect the phenomena to the power lines.
Residents of Rejosari stood guard at the paddy field where the crop circle was discovered, as reported by kompas.com news portal -- guarding their ripening rice crops from hordes of visitors who swarmed over the field after reports of circle were made public.
A police line has now replaced the farmers. The Indonesian Air Force also dispatched a helicopter to capture images of the crop circle, which measured 70 meters in diameter.
"Adisutjipto [Air Force] base responded by flying a Colibri HL 1210 for a 30-minute photographic session starting at 10:30 a.m.," according to a press release posted to the base's website. The release said the Air Force helicopter took numerous photographs "of the object thought to be leftover from a UFO from the height of 1,000 feet... from a number of different angles."
Twitter users engaged in debates on the origins of the circle. Some tweeted outright disbelief in that UFOs were beyond the phenomena while others said they were "spooked out" by the crop circle's appearance.
"It's scary. It got me thinking if I should believe the world will end in 2012," one Twitter user said.
Some believe that crop circles are the works of alien visitors or are supernatural occurrences; other hold that the phenomena are surreptitious works of art crafted by humans.
A posting on the website of BETA-UFO INDONESIA, which lists UFO sightings and analysis, said the pattern of Yogyakarta crop circle resembled the chakra symbol in Hindu Tantrism.
UFO enthusiast Nur Agustinus said that the event in Yogyakarta differed from the dubious crop circles that had been reported in Tuban, East Java, in 1986-1987.
"This occurrence is the most obvious one," he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com news portal.
Moedji Raharto, a top Indonesian astronomer and the former head of Bosscha Observatorium in Lembang, West Java, said: "If this really is the work of a UFO or extraterrestrial beings, it is almost 100 percent certain they would have left some sort of trace behind. It is highly improbable such beings could cover such distances without bringing along some sort of provisions."
Such trace evidence might be used as the starting point for investigating of the crop circles, he added.
"The chemical composition of the soil may reveal the origin of the phenomena. If this crop circle was an extraterrestrial event, we can expect to see similar results in the soil analysis," Moedji said.
Kompas.com reported that the crop circle was found under extra high-voltage aerial transmission wires, adding it was to soon to connect the phenomena to the power lines.
