Driving up to Marlborough one sunny evening in July I wondered
whether I was about to attend the crop watcher's morgue or one
giant punch-up. How would the cerealogists react to having Doug
Bower there in person ? Would they believe his tale ? Or would
they physically assault him for his treachery ? And what would
they do to someone like me who had dared to publicly accept
Doug's claim that he and Dave Chorley began making crop circles
in the mid 1970s ?
Nafferton Hall was difficult to find, located up a dark unlit alleyway opposite Marlborough Town Hall. The hall itself was raised above surrounding back gardens up some steep iron steps. I paid my fiver and went in. Surprise number one was the size of the place. The doors had just opened and already all the seats were taken ! I guess there were less than a hundred people in the room and I struggled to reach friends and acquaintances as people pushed and shoved their way round what little space remained. Many tried to inspect the two large display boards that Ken Brown and Doug Bower had obviously spent a good deal of time preparing. So great was the crush that I was barely able to examine this photographic evidence, let alone Doug and Daves' circle making equipment positioned on the far side of the room. Nevertheless what I saw on that board convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was no "fraudulent sham" as George Wingfield would have it but a well-organised presentation of Doug and Daves' case.
With some misgivings I soon realised that I was possibly the
most senior "cerealogist" there. Pat Delgado and Colin
Andrews were conspicuous by their absence, as was Michael Green,
Jim Schnabel (back at CIA headquarters in the States) and Terence
Meaden (sunning himself at his luxurious French Villa - paid for
by MI5 of course). Also missing was George Wingfield, who had
somewhat inconveniently stepped on a nail a few days before
(typically, George had forgotten to send his apologies). Oh dear
! Looks like I'll have to defend the "science" of
"cereology" all on my own !!
Ken Brown welcomed everyone to the meeting, which began
promptly at 7.30. Brown began by warning everyone present that
this was an opportunity for Doug Bower and himself to present
their evidence, not for anyone to interrupt their presentation,
to promote their personal theories or to cause a disturbance,
which would not be tolerated. Almost immediately, as if the crop
spirits themselves had been aroused, his introduction was
interrupted by someone's tape recording loudly misbehaving. Such
was Ken Brown's good nature that this was quickly brushed aside
as "NOT the Grasshopper Warbler".
Brown explained that he was Doug Bower's
"amanuensis" - his "taker of notes" - and
that he had realised that all circles were hoaxes after
discovering underlying tracks at the 1991 double- ringed flower
at Cheesefoot Head. He explained that in January 1992 he had
subsequently approached Doug Bower in order to clarify certain
aspects of his claim. Over the next 18 months Brown repeatedly
visited Doug Bower's picture-framing shop in Southampton,
sometimes spending whole days there. What Ken Brown discovered in
these meetings only convinced him further of the truthfulness of
their claim.
Ken Brown then made an astonishing statement about the absence
of Dave Chorley, stating that Chorley had deliberately not been
asked to attend the meeting. Doug Bower explained "During
the past 22 months it has become obvious that David's memory is
not as clear and accurate as it could be - and there are those
who would use this to their own advantage. This type of meeting
relies upon answers being as accurate as possible, so we thought
it best not to give anyone an opportunity to confuse the issue.
That's the real reason why Dave is not here tonight.... ".
Ken Brown clarified this statement by explaining that Doug Bower
was the mastermind who was responsible for "99 per
cent" of the crop circle hoaxing. By contrast according to
Brown Dave Chorley would be the first to admit that he was
"just another pair of hands who happened to be there".
Brown then asked what he believed to be the most important
question - has there ever been a genuine crop circle or did these
two men invent the phenomenon in the mid 1970s ? Brown stated
that if all crop circles are hoaxes then ALL attendant phenomena
can also be dismissed. He then introduced the display of Doug
Bower's own photographs taken during every year since 1980.
According to Brown this was primary evidence which proved their
case. These photographs were debated repeatedly as the evening
progressed.
Throughout his presentation Brown was scathing about the crop
circle researchers, dismissing "Pope" Andrews and
Delgado as "those self-seeking, publicity-pushing,
self-styled 'expert' circle researchers" who had quickly
"corralled" themselves into a "clique of powerful
high priests and a flock of willing sheep" who were
"highly enthralled by a hyped-up load of nonsense".
Brown commented "And we all know what happens when power and
position and pennies are up for grabs - we get a brand new
hierarchical religion". According to Brown these so-called
researchers "jealously guarded" their
"temples" - the crop circle databases which were
"locked away" from the "unbelievers" - and
they published their own "parish magazines", holding
their own "prayer meetings" and "swooning" at
the "shrine" of a mere crop formation, where
"miracles" were said to have happened. "God help
us ! We're back in the middle ages walking bare footed to
Walsingham".
Next Brown alleged that in a meeting with Colin Andrews, some
time after the Doug and Dave story had broken, Andrews had
claimed that "There are probably only a dozen circles out of
all the circles we have ever had - that I can put hand on heart
and say I think they are absolutely genuine". Andrews
allegedly confirmed this on 18th January 1993 in a telephone call
to Brown. Later, Lucy Pringle and Pat Delgado are alleged to have
stated that Ken Brown was playing with people's
"faiths" and "irrationalities" and that by
investigating the Doug and Dave claim there was a
"danger" that Brown was destroying the beliefs of
"90 per cent of the crop circle believers". Brown
alleged that Delgado and Pringle were keen to hush up the truth
about the Doug and Dave claim and simply "worry about
people's faiths and dreams" in case they ended up "like
the Bishop of Durham". It was this desire which had led to
"screaming abuse" from the "circle
establishment", who had accused Doug and Dave of telling
"a pack of lies" and of being "government secret
agents". According to Brown, "The circle establishment
has always fabricated its own form of The Truth. They resort to
diatribe and innuendo, and - worst of all - finally to the last
resort of paranoia, where everybody and everything can be
explained away as The Enemy".
Ken Brown took the opportunity to explain why Doug and Dave
had not - as had been their original plan - written a book about
their circle-making. Apparently they had been advised by a
solicitor that a written confession that they had made a specific
circle at a specific site in a stated year would be interpreted
by the courts as a clear admission of trespass and whilst the
final proof that financial loss had been incurred would be the
responsibility of an individual landowner it was quite possible
that a judge would seek to make an example of Doug and Dave,
perhaps with a fine of £ 10,000 or a 3 month prison sentence.
Despite this in early 1993 Ken Brown had given Jurgen Kronig a
full written account of Doug and Daves' story which, for reasons
the German publishers never made clear, was dropped from the
second edition of Kronig's book in May. These two meetings were
thus the only opportunity the crop circle community would have to
question Doug Bower personally.
Doug Bower then read out a prepared statement which read
"I'd like to apologise to farmers and landowners, and to
thank them for the tolerant and good-humoured way in which
they've viewed the escapades of two middle aged pranksters who
became obsessed with an idea - it was nothing more than a
practical joke from the start".
During his opening remarks Doug Bower bitterly attacked the
"so- called" researchers and experts for their
commercialisation of the phenomenon. He claimed that he and Dave
Chorley stopped making circles because they were "so
disgusted" with the huge amounts of money that these
"researchers" had made from their promotion of his
circles. "I've had the biggest insight into the human being
ever in the last few years ... We've been insulted, my wife's
been insulted. What a defence these people have put up !
Government agents ! We've not called anyone any names at all !
All we've said is the truth - in the [news]paper. But we've been
insulted left, right and centre, we're [accused of being] frauds,
we're [accused of being] liars, government agents ! They're
trying to hold on to something that's been gathered in. I tell
you right now that its finished ! Because had the crop circle
hoaxers in Wiltshire stopped making their circles when we put our
story over in 1991 they'd be no more circles for them to
research.... It had to finish sometime, it can't go on forever. I
don't see why we should do it for 14 years and not publicise it
that we were the culprits. Lots of people have had a good laugh
but it was us - lots of people don't believe us ...".
Thanks to Ken Brown's research we now know more about Doug and
Dave's lifestories. Doug Bower was born on 25th June 1924 in
Southampton and became an apprentice wood machinist. He
volunteered for flying duties in the Royal Air Force when he was
18, passed out as a wireless operator, air gunner and volunteer
reserve. During the war he became a cabin steward on RMS
Acquitainier and crossed the Atlantic 56 times helping to ferry
GI brides and Canadian Soldiers to and from the European war.
Then he returned to live in Southampton as a wood machinist and
married Ilene. On Trafalgar Day 1958 Doug and Ilene set sail from
Tilbury Docks on a £ 10 per person emigration package to
Australia where Doug became a woodcutter and picture-framer. Doug
built his own house and owned a small plot of land. However, both
Doug and Ilene became acutely home sick and returned to
Southampton in the autumn of 1966. Within 18 months they'd taken
over a small shop in Bassett where they sold pictures and picture
frames. In his spare time Doug became an expert wild-life sound
recordist, travelling throughout the British Isles capturing bird
songs on tape ("so he knew all about the grasshopper
warbler"). In his time he has won many awards for his sound
recordings and has even had some of his bird songs published by
the National Sound Archives and the Hamlyn Publishing
Group.
Dave Chorley was born on 26th August 1929, left school at 14
and became a storeboy on Southampton Docks. His apprenticeship to
become an electrical engineer was interrupted by National Service
but he also served two years as a wireless operator with the RAF.
Afterwards he returned to the Docks and helped modernize the old
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary ships. Dave Chorley also sailed
across the Atlantic and during this time developed his love of
painting. At 26 he became the youngest trades unionist shop
steward in Southampton Docks. He married Terry in 1960 and raised
a family of three sons and a daughter. After 30 years working in
the docks Dave Chorley left and made his living "scratching
around", working on colourings and steel engravings, even
being employed by Rose Kennedy, mother of President John Kennedy,
to colour antique prints of the early American west. Later Dave
divorced but still lives in Southampton and works as a freelance
artist.
Taking each year in turn Ken Brown prompted Doug Bower to
recount his story. There were many new revelations which rung
true to all but the most avid crop circle believers. One
particular story concerned the creation of a circle at
Micheldever next to the main Southampton-Waterloo railway line.
The following day Doug and Dave travelled from Winchester to
Micheldever on a train to view their creation. Unfortunately the
train was travelling so fast they hardly caught a glimpse of
their creation, much to the amusement of a child and her mother
travelling in the same compartment, so the following day they
returned to the site and made the circle that much bigger ! This
incident became known as "Von Ryan's Express" after the
film. This event - along with many others - was later featured in
a Christmas card drawn by Dave Chorley, which was on display in
the corner along with other Christmas cards featuring other
circle-making expeditions.
Bower described how he and Chorley began their crop circle
career in 1975, not the 1981 previously referred to in the TODAY
newspaper. Here are some of these revelations:
(1) Doug and Dave used to take food and coffee with
them, later even taking a frying pan to cook a meal after making
their circles !
(2) Doug was the catalyst for the circle-making,
drawing up the plans before-hand, making all the circle making
equipment, even providing Dave Chorley with a pair of Wellington
Boots and a waterproof coat !
(3) Doug initiated every circle by (almost always)
constructing the centre first and then working outwards.
(4) Doug first met Dave a year or so after opening his
picture- framing shop. They used to visit public houses for ten
years before they began making crop circles.
(5) It was Doug who knew about the Tully circles and
who suggested that they make a circle to make people think that a
"flying saucer" had landed.
(6) They began making circles by using the iron
security bar from his shop. They used the bar by kneeling on the
corn and pushing the bar half way up the corn. This first method
hurt their knees so they changed over to the stick and rag method
shown on TV.
(7) The "first circles" they created must
have predated 1976 by several years because Doug Bower remembers
Dave Chorley refusing to go with him on one of their
"regular" circle making journeys because Dave Chorley's
son wanted him to watch him playing in a school match that year.
(8) There had to be a layby located close by the
circles in the early years. Later, as more and more researchers
were visiting circle prone areas, Doug and Dave would leave
Doug's car in the lane adjacent to the caravan park by the Percy
Hobbs pub and then walk two miles into Cheesefoot Head bottom to
avoid being detected.
(9) After making the centre the circle was made by a
series of concentric rings pushed down.
(10) The Alfriston circles of 1984 appeared close to
Dennis Healey's garden purely by accident, neither Doug or Dave
knew about Dennis Healey or the suspicious proximity of
"Cradle Hill".
(11) Dave Chorley's ex-wife Terry knew nothing about
the circle- making until she saw the Today exclusive.
(12) D&D made no more radial swirls after the
problems they had making the 1987 Chilcomb "cheese
wedge".
(13) Doug used to telephone Colin Andrews the morning
after he had made a circle to tell him about it !
(14) Doug and Dave's circle at Childrey, Wantage
(1985?) circle displayed a "runway" and
"hole" to make it look as though the aliens had taken
soil samples. The soil and corn removed from this hole was dumped
on the A33 Chandlers Ford by-pass on the way home.
(15) D&D admitted making the
"WEARENOTALONE" message in the Cheesefoot Head
punchbowl in 1987.
(16) To avoid detection D&D used to park their car
in the dead- end road by the caravan site at the Percy Hobbs pub
and then walk up into the punchbowl via the A31 back route.
(17) As Dave had to watch his son playing football Doug
did the 1987 South Wonston oilseed rape circle on his own.
(18) The only time Doug and Dave were
"caught" was at the Long Man of Wilmington in 1987,
when Doug and Dave were preparing to make a circle and were
interrupted by a stranger who thought they were about to put up a
tent. This was on the same night as Jenny Randles' remote sensing
experiment advertised in "The Unknown".
(19) The first non Doug and Dave circle was beneath the
White Horse at Westbury in August 1987 - but the circles were too
far from the hillside to be Doug and Daves' efforts. This was the
year that they made "COPYCATS" . Ken Brown claimed that
he had a list of "over a dozen" circles from 1987 which
were not D&D's circles and that -somewhat paradoxically -
"maybe they were genuine".
(20) The triangular triplets at Corhampton and the
Cheesefoot Head punchbowl in 1988 were based on the triplet in
Billy Meier's book Light Years which were publicised in an
article in the September 13th 1987 News of the World
colour magazine. Of course the earlier triplets were all
three-in-a-line rather than in formation. D&D used a method
similar to that used by the "Dambusters" by using
string attached to rods to get these three circles precisely
positioned in an equilateral triangle. Because the rods bent as
they pulled the string the Corhampton circles were less well
positioned than the punchbowl circles.
(21) Christmas 1988 D&D fell out so Doug had to
make all the earlier 1989 circles, including a failed circle in
rape at Chilcomb and the infamous contra-rotating circle that
appeared out of sight of the cameras during Operation Whitecrow.
(22) There is some confusion about the
"swastika" on the front cover of The Crop Circle
Enigma. Ken Brown believes that D&D made this formation
and the earlier "swastika", although Doug Bower can
only recall having made the second formation. This was laid down
by laying the outer rim first then using the cross- piece to mark
out the angles. This was another formation where mistakes were
made when laying down the corn. It is for this reason that Ken
Brown believes D&D returned to have a second attempt.
(23) On one occasion, in 1990, D&D were making a
circle in the punchbowl when they were fired upon by farmers
shooting at rabbits from a Landrover.
(24) The pictograms were based on a modern art
painting. It was Ilene who proposed making the flower patterns.
(25) After being struck by the toilet bomb Doug and
Dave carried on making their circle to avoid leaving a
half-completed circle. Ilene had to shampoo Doug's hair to remove
the muck.
(26) It was one of Dave Chorley's sons who accidentally
let the Doug and Dave story out of the bag to a reporter from the
Daily Mirror. D&D owned up on 3rd September 1991 to
the Daily Mirror, who were not interested in the story,
and then to the TODAY newspaper.
(27) Ilene discovered Doug Bower's circle-making
activities in 1984. Thereafter Doug was able to go out making
circles on several nights of the week.
One of the strongest pieces of evidence revealed were the
photographs Doug Bower had taken in every year since 1980. There
was a previously unknown photograph of a single circle in the
Cheesefoot Head punchbowl in 1980 along with Doug Bower's own
photograph of the 1982 single at Litchfield. Also there were
(apparently) photos of Doug and Dave half way through making the
infamous Sevenoaks circles - the ones which led to TODAY's
exclusive expose of their circle-making claims. Ken Brown has
obtained copies of the TODAY photographs which
(apparently) show Doug and Dave half way through this hoax. In
addition there were two photographs of the 1982 Cley Hill circles
which had subsequently been identified by Meaden plus a
previously unpublished photograph of a single in the punchbowl in
1987. [Ken Brown has subsequently circulated photocopies of some
of these photographs].
Another highlight of the evening was Doug Bower's three
photographs of the 1980 Westbury circles. The first of these
three circles probably appeared in May but had been harvested by
the time of the "Wiltshire Times" article of August
15th. Terence Meaden has confirmed that this "first"
photograph was in precisely the right place according to his
records. The second and third circles were discovered by the
farmer, John Scull, on August 13th, and may have appeared on July
21st and 31st. For these reasons neither Ian Mrzyglod or Terence
Meaden have ever possessed or even seen photographs of this very
"first" of the "first" circles. In question
time I pointed out the importance of this evidence (which didn't
go down too well with some of Doug Bower's accusers). How could
Doug Bower have obtained these photographs unless he was the
person who created them? How could he have known that he would
have had to drive 60 miles up from Southampton after these
circles appeared unless he made them ? No one presented an
argument to falsify this evidence. On display were a cross-piece
and torch, for positioning the outer satellites of the
quintuplets, which Doug demonstrated. In addition Doug
demonstrated the use of his extendible pole, which had been used
to ensure that annular rings were always equidistant from the
outer edge of the circle. This was four feet long - which
apparently coincided with the width of standing crop in many of
the ringed formations.
One of the highlights of the evening was Ken Brown's impromptu
request for a brief statement by Matthew Lawrence, the discoverer
of many of the original Cheesefoot Head circles sensationalised
in Crop Circles, Conclusive Evidence and Crop Circles,
The Latest Evidence. Lawrence made the following statement
about the state of the circles he discovered:
"I used to get up to [Cheesefoot Head] at about half past four on numerous occasions, just as the sun came out, and I was quite surprised when I went in because I knew that I was one of the first people in there and they weren't as immaculate as they'd said in 'Circular Evidence'. There was quite a lot of damage on the crop, there was tracks I could see in places, sometimes mud on the actual crop around the edges, which would suggest that someone had been in before .. so [perhaps] I wasn't the first one there ... ".
This statement demands a public explanation from Colin Andrews
and Pat Delgado, who have repeatedly stated that the circles they
discovered at Cheesefoot Head were pristine, undamaged and showed
no sign of human entry. If it can be shown that Andrews and
Delgado misrepresented the condition of the circles in the
Cheesefoot Head punchbowl this would be evidence of a cold
calculated fraud which should be dealt with by the courts [see
article on page 30].
Another important piece of evidence discussed was the
"red dot" maps compiled by Ken Brown. These were
Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 maps with the locations of all the
circles Doug and Dave can recall having made. According to Brown
the maps contain over 40 locations which have never been
published anywhere. Brown alleged that Don Tuersley and Richard
Andrews had both approached him and confirmed the existence of
previously unpublished circles on these maps.
Unfortunately 3 hours was not enough time to present all the
evidence. The audience may have missed the large poster showing
the pavement at Westminster Abbey. The pattern on this pavement
looked very similar to the quintuplet patterns that Doug Bower
claims to have invented in 1981. For some reason this poster was
not discussed during the presentation.
By 10 o' clock the audience had grown increasingly impatient
and Ken Brown, realising he had over-run his own schedule, wisely
invited questions. By any standard the question and answer period
was heated, although most members of the audience at least
refrained from making open insults. Polly Carson launched a
fierce attack on Doug Bower, claiming that she could not accept
his story because of the lack of photographs showing him half way
through making a circle. Later she accused Bower of being a crop
"vandal" who had maliciously tricked two genuine,
contentious researchers, Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado. She vowed
that the farmers would push for a prosecution. A number of people
expressed their total disbelief in Doug Bower's story. Chad
Deetken from Vancouver challenged Bower to demonstrate how to
make crop circles at night with complex layering effects. Doug
Bower stated that he would be prepared to start making circles at
midnight and carry on until 6.30 or 7 in the morning whilst
Deetken watched. This acceptance of Deetken's challenge drew
applause from the audience. In response to a question from
Michael Hesseman Ken Brown admitted that Doug Bower and Dave
Chorley had made the 1992 formation at East Meon. A woman at the
back described a new eye witness account. Montague Keen stated
that he accepted "most if not all" of Doug Bower's
story but he expressed his puzzlement at to why we were being
asked to accept Doug Bower's story without any photographic proof
yet at the same time we were being asked to dismiss the testimony
of farmers dating back decades when they too had not been able to
furnish photographic proof that they had seen crop circles
decades ago. Keen observed that whilst Doug Bower's story may
account for much of the phenomenon it didn't explain the reported
luminosities and other strange effects reported in the
literature. In response to another question from Michael Hesseman
Brown admitted that he was intrigued by UFO films such as the
Concorde flight. Asked whether Doug and Dave had made any more
circles after the 1992 East Meon formation Ken Brown responded
"no comment, and you can take the correct inference if you
wish".
Ken Brown made his only real error of the night when he
claimed that there were no photographs of sharply defined pre
1975 circles despite more than a decade of research. This, in his
opinion, only proved that "corn circles were Doug Bower's
original idea". He repeated this heresy by claiming that the
Tully reeds circle was a "dish-shaped" depression in
reeds that was not like the circles that Doug and Dave had
"invented" in 1976. He then dismissed my historical
crop circle photographs by claiming that they showed
"slanting edges" ! Contradictory Brown claimed that he
didn't really care what had caused the Tully circles and that
perhaps they had been "blown down by some kind of
force" ! In the question and answer session I too challenged
Ken Brown's claim by presenting my photographs of the Rossburn,
Bordertown and Wokurna circles [which all feature in the 2nd
edition of Crop Circles, A Mystery Solved]. At last ! Here
was my opportunity for a well-planned piece of cerealogical
espionage. I loudly passed around my photos to disprove Ken
Brown's treason and this only enraged the audience all the more.
Snigger, snigger !
Picture not available
The cross-sectional sketch of the single at Wokurna, South
Australia, December 1973 (drawn by Peter Horne and Stephen
Bolton) After it was all over I chatted to various crop circle
personalities, some of whom I had only conversed before by
letter. I began by challenging one of the most vociferous of Doug
Bower's tormentors, someone I had guessed to be none other than
Chad Deetken from Vancouver (the discoverer of the famous
porcupine-in-a-circle discussed in CW17).
Deetken and I had a short but unconstructive conversation.
Deetken informed me that he took more note of Colin Andrews'
"13 years of research" [!!!] than the false claims of a
fraud like Doug Bower whose inability at creating layered crop
circles was obvious from the photographs of the Chilgrove
demonstration that were on show. I told Deetken about the U.B.I.
and the "two dozen" other groups of crop circle
hoaxers, but he was utterly disinterested. When I asked him what
the eye witnesses were seeing he admitted that they might be
seeing circles created by whirlwinds. In the end I just gave up,
for here was the epitome of the True believer - someone who had
read Andrews and Delgados' books and was not going to let little
things like facts detract from his belief in alien intelligences.
I spoke to others and discovered that several were outraged
at what they saw as Ken Brown's "arrogant" presentation
of the evidence. For these people it was not enough to see
photographs or to hear Doug Bower describe his circle-making
techniques. These people wanted Proof and could not accept that
there was no proof. Like Polly Carson they too were unimpressed
with the lack of photographs of Doug and Dave half way through
one of their hoaxes. Then there were others, perhaps less emotive
and more willing to accept the word of a confessed trickster, who
quietly accepted what they had been told with some mirth.
Overall I found the evening's entertainment both
informative and rewarding. The crop circle research community
owes a debt to Ken Brown for spending time and money researching
Doug and Daves' case and for presenting this evidence in such an
organised and calm manner. I wish there had been more time to
question Doug about certain aspects of his circle making and to
properly assimilate the material on the display boards. In my
opinion there can be little remaining doubt that Doug Bower
really did create those "first" circles at Westbury in
1980. For this reason the very reality of the whole phenomenon
must be called into question. It was therefore a pity that Ken
Brown chose to ignore evidence which has already been published
(eg in The Crop Watcher). By ignoring this
evidence - particularly the Wokurna photograph and sketch
published on page 9 of issue 4 - Ken Brown risks discrediting
Doug Bower's own story as well as condemning the debate to
further polarisation. But these criticisms aside it was a
splendid evening. I should take this opportunity of correcting
the incorrect claim made in John Vidal's article in The
Guardian concerning the alleged profit from these two
lectures. Ken Brown assures me that he and Doug Bower actually
lost £ 5 - which they shared - for the cost of hiring the halls
and buying the photographs etc. The Covent Garden lecture will be
reviewed in CW19.
PF.
