Does 'ufo snapped over crop circle' prove aliens really are behind whe

GETTY•JONAUSTIN Francine Blake snapped a Francine Blake insists she captured this picture of a UFO hovering over a circle and years of research has shown the intricate patterns can appear

within seconds. Mrs Blake, who moved to the south west of England to study the phenomena from her native Canada 28 years ago in 1987, also claims to have photographed strange lights and orbs

within west country crop formations.  Crop circles - allegedly made by landing UFOs - have been widely considered one of the world's biggest paranormal hoaxes since 1991, when hoaxers

Doug Bower and David Chorley were filmed showing how they made many of the reported corn field patterns discovered across the UK. FRANCINEBLAKE The "UFO" Blake snapped over a

circle JONAUSTIN Francine Blake with books for sale FRANCINEBLAKE More mysterious lights in a circle at night RELATED ARTICLES The two said they simply used wooden planks and rope to flatten

corn in a circular fashion. The pair started the tomfoolery in the 1970s to tease locals who believed in UFOs. In the latter half of the 1990s more "circle makers", who tried to

out do each other with the most complicated designs, emerged. But despite the hoaxers outing themselves just four years into her research, Mrs Blake refuses to believe they could make the

"highly geometric" patterns she has documented and claims one highly intricate formation appeared in just "four milliseconds". FRANCINEBLAKE Strange orbs caught on camera

at crop circle by Blake JONAUSTIN Francine Blake speaks at Glastonbury Symposium FRANCINEBLAKE More orbs from Blake's collection RELATED ARTICLES Speaking at the 25th annual

Glastonbury Symposium, an event which started to look at the crop circle subject and now covers other new age issues, she claimed to have "scientifically proven" the composition of

soil, water, and even the plants, were chemically changed during a crop circle formation. Mrs Blake, from Devizes in Wiltshire, claimed a "burst of energy", which she believes can

stop cameras, compasses and even helicopters from working, was responsible for forming the patterns.  Discussing a 1991 half-mile long serpent-shaped formation, she said: "It affected

our camera equipment. All the film was washed out. "The whole film is blotched and blurred." Mrs Blake said although croup circles filled her with wonder, their power could be

unsettling, and being in one could leave people feeling faint or sick. She revealed a photograph of a UFO hovering above a formation plus others which showed strange orbs of light or other

anomalies. She said: "The UFO was there. The camera cannot have prejudiced it took a picture of what was there. "These other orbs and lights have appeared on the camera. "We

had a compass in one circle and it was just going round and round and going the wrong way. FRANCINEBLAKE This picture was from the set 'ruined while studying the serpent' Francine

Blake This compass allegedly went haywire in a crop circle FRANCINEBLAKE Another damaged shot RELATED ARTICLES "They can affect helicopters as well it can be quite frightening."

She claims to have carried out a series of scientific tests on the crops, soil and even water that has been in contact with a formation, in some cases sending samples to university

laboratories and Defra's predecessor. She said: "In a crop circle the wheat is not broken, it is lying down. It reflects the light differently. If you look at this picture of the

inside of the wheat in one from the field that was not in the formation, and then this one which was affected. "Afterwards you can see the inside of the wheat was quite different.

Something quite profound has happened." Other bizarre claims included that the composition of soil had been shown to be different from a crop circle area to that in the rest of the

field. Also that if water were brought into the formation area, a pattern similar to the crop circle would form in the water. FRANCINEBLAKE Blake said this was the inside of wheat outside

the circle area viewed through a microscope FRANCINEBLAKE Blake believes the cells have mutated in this close-up image of inside of wheat from a circle FRANCINEBLAKE Blake said she has

experimented by bringing water into crop circles... FRANCINEBLAKE ...and she claimed this was the result with a pattern like the formation forming in the water RELATED ARTICLES > The UFO 

was there. The camera cannot have prejudiced it took a > picture of what was there. These other orbs and lights have appeared > on the camera. >  > Crop Circle investigator 

Francine Blake Mrs Blake claimed to have evidence of occasions when the most intricate patterns were formed during g daylight in a matter of seconds, meaning they could not have been done by

a "faker". She said: "Not everyone believes (in crop circles being paranormal). They have been debunked tremendously. "People try to do it as a prank, but it takes a lot

of time and preparation it takes a couple of days.  "But the truth is they happen in a split second." She claimed on July 7 2007 an intricate designate of 409 circles had appeared

in 4 milliseconds. FRANCINEBLAKE The formation of 406 circles which it is claimed appeared in milliseconds JONAUSTIN Blake during her seminar RELATED ARTICLES The pensioner told of the

appearance of an infamous 1996 formation in a field south of Stonehenge. She said: "A very angry farmer came over and said he had gone to the other end of the field at 5pm and just come

back 30 to 40 minutes later and he had been hit by "another crop circle". The man was so livid, she said she suggested he charge people £3 each to view the formation. She said:

"He had 20,000 visitors. In the end there was no wheat left because everyone was taking apiece and it became an earth circle, so instead they brought jars and took some lot the

soil." FRANCINEBLAKE Mrs Blake has catalogued hundreds of crop circle incidents RELATED ARTICLES The farmer reportedly took more than £30,000 from visitors.  Most remain convinced the

circles, which stall appear today worldwide, are the work of pranksters. Nick Pope investigated UFOs and crop circles for the Ministry of Defence and is convinced the wheat field patterns

are man made. He said: "It was soon clear to me that while these patterns were often stunning and intricate, they were made by people. "Some of these hoaxers plan their patterns on

computers, navigate by GPS and wear night vision goggles "An extraterrestrial civilisation is unlikely to travel halfway across the cosmos, only to start making patterns in crop

fields." FRANCINEBLAKE She speaks about the subject across the globe FRANCINEBLAKE Another aerial shot from Blake's collection RELATED ARTICLES It is unlikely his stance will

deviate Mrs Blake, who has a sideline in trips to sacred sites and crop circle calendars, from her position. She claimed crop cycles had been recorded back into worldwide ancient history,

with at least 9,000 mentions in ancient documents, from areas as widespread as the UK and Africa. But in Middle-aged Britain people had been reluctant to speak about it for fear of being

labelled a witch. She also said "circles" could appear in other material, not just crop fields, such as on snow and ice. She said: "If it happened in a stream there would be

an explanation, but I have found them on lakes where there is no current and on the sea in Canada where it is very thick ice." In 2004, Mrs Blake said one extraordinary formation

discovered in Wiltshire predicted a new era for the solar system would begin in 2012. It is not clear if anything of any significance took place. Francine Blake Blake said this was an

"ice circle" which formed on a lake MYSTERIOUS CROP CIRCLES APPEAR IN DORSET FIELD