National Geographic Tales of the Weird

by David Braun

  But there’s no Masonic message in the city’s street plan, Tabbert said. For starters, Pierre L’Enfant wasn’t a Mason. And, Tabbert asked, why would Masons go to the trouble of laying out a street grid to match their symbols? “There has to be a [reason] for doing such a thing,” said Tabbert, himself a Mason. “But there isn’t one.”

  MYTH 5

  Freemasons Rule the World

  Maybe it’s the impressive list of prominent Freemasons—from Napoleon to F.D.R. to King Kamehameha (IV and V)—that’s led some to suggest the group is a small cabal running the globe. But Kinney, the Masonic historian, paints a picture of a largely decentralized group that might have trouble running anything with much efficiency.

  “I think the ideals that Masonry embodies, which have to do with universal brotherhood, are shared by Masons around the world [regardless of] religious, political, or national differences,” he said. “But having shared ideals is one thing—having some sort of shared hierarchy is something else altogether.”

  Kinney noted that the United States alone has 51 grand lodges, one for each state and the District of Columbia. Each of these largely independent organizations oversees its many local blue (or beginner) lodges and has little real coordination with other grand lodges.

  Internationally, Masonic lodges not only don’t speak with a single voice but sometimes refuse to even recognize one another’s existence. Also, many Masons are independent minded and tend to resist edicts from above, Kinney said. “There is no way that they could be run by a single hierarchy. There is no such entity.”

  MYTH 6

  Freemasonry Is a Religion—Or a Cult

  Masons stress that their organization is not a religion—that is, it has no unique theology and does not represent a path for believers to salvation or other divine rewards. Even so, to be accepted into Freemasonry, initiates must believe in a god—any god. Christians may be in the majority but Jews, Muslims, and others are well represented in Masonic circles. At lodge meetings religious discussion is traditionally taboo, Kinney and Tabbert said.

  MYTH 7

  Freemasons Started the American Revolution

  Prominent Freemasons like Ben Franklin and George Washington played essential roles in the American Revolution. And among the ranks of Freemasons are nine signers of the Declaration of Independence and 13 signers of the Constitution. But Freemasonry—born in Britain, after all—had adherents on both sides of the conflict. Tabbert, of the George Washington Masonic Memorial, said Masonic groups allowed men on both sides of the Revolution to come together as brothers—not to promote a political view, which would be against Masonic tradition.

  “For many years [Masons] claimed in their own quasi-scholarship that all of these revolutionaries and Founding Fathers were Freemasons,” Tabbert said. “A fair number of them were, but they weren’t doing these things because they were Freemasons.”

  MYTH 8

  Membership Requires Shadowy Connections

  Contrary to popular fiction, you don’t have to drink wine from a skull to become a ranking Freemason. In fact, tradition dictates that Masons don’t recruit members but simply accept those who approach them of their own free will.

  When Freemasonry hit its peak in the United States during the late 1950s, Kinney said, almost one of every ten eligible adult males was a member—a total of some four million and hardly a tiny elite.

  Today membership numbers, like those of other fraternal organizations, have declined dramatically, and only about 1.5 million U.S. men are Masons.

  But with perhaps new interest generated by pop culture and conspiracy theories, Masonic centers should brace for tourists—and maybe a few new recruits.

  ARTWORK OR ALIENS?

  Crop Circles Explained!

  Frauds, Artists, Scientists, and Aliens

  Are crop circles-flattened, gigantic patterns in farmers’ fields-agrarian graffiti, large-scale land art, or something more profound … an otherworldly message from outer space?

  Crop circles create controversy. Many believe that they are the work of artists—people who steal into fields of wheat and barley to flatten stalks into intricate and otherworldly patterns. Others believe they are of supernatural origin. No matter what side you’re on, the debate fascinates and draws tens of thousands of people to the English countryside every year to have a look for themselves.

  English Roots

  Crop circles began to appear in the fields of southern England in the mid-1970s. Early circles were quite simple, and simply appeared, overnight, in fields of wheat, rape, oat, and barley. The crops are flattened, the stalks bent but not broken.

  What’s My Name?

  Crop-circle enthusiasts, or “croppies,” also call themselves cereologists—after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. Most believe that crop circles are the work of either extraterrestrials or plasma vortices.

  Wiltshire County is the acknowledged center of the phenomenon. The county is home to some of the most sacred Neolithic sites in Europe, built as far back as 4,600 years ago, including Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill, and burial grounds such as West Kennet Long Barrow.

  As the crop circle phenomenon gained momentum, formations have also been reported in Australia, South Africa, China, Russia, and many other countries, frequently in close proximity to ancient sacred sites. Still, each year more than a hundred formations appear in the fields of southern England.

  Giant crop circles in a wheat field in Wiltshire, England (Photo Credit 5.8)

  TRUTH:

  THE EARLIEST RECORDED MENTION OF A CROP CIRCLE DATES BACK TO THE 1500S.

  Artists’ Creations

  In 1991, two artists, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, came forward and claimed responsibility for crop circles appearing in the ’70s and ’80s. “I think Doug Bower is the greatest artist of the 20th century,” said John Lundberg, a graphic design artist, website creator, and acknowledged circle maker. Bower’s work has the earmarks of all new art forms, “pushing boundaries, opening new doors, working outside of the established mediums,” Lundberg continued. Lundberg works with a group, known as the Circlemakers, a dedicated crop circle art group in the United Kingdom. Circlemakers now engages in quite a bit of commercial work; the group has created a giant crop formation 140 feet (46 meters) in diameter for the History Channel. But they also still do covert work in the dead of night.

  Circle Time

  Formulating a design and a plan, from original concept to finished product, can take up to a week. “It has to be more than a pretty picture. You have to have construction diagrams providing the measurements, marking the center, and so on,” said Lundberg. Creating the art is the work of a night. Lundberg said that for an artist, being a crop-formation artist is an interesting place to be, but circle makers rarely claim credit for specific formations they created. “To do so would drain the mystery of crop circles,” he explained. “The art form isn’t just about the pattern making. The myths and folklore and energy [that] people give them are part of the art.”

  Crop Circles of Note

  1. 2005, Hampshire, United Kingdom: A giant rendering of an alien from the classic arcade game Space Invaders.

  2. 2008, Wiltshire, United Kingdom: 150-foot-wide (46-meter) coded representation of the first ten digits of the mathematical constant pi appeared.

  3. 2009 Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: A 600-foot-long (182-meter) jellyfish almost engulfed a barley field.

  4. 2009, Cyberspace: The Google Doodle turned into a series of crop circles, complete with a circling UFO.

  Increasing Complexity

  During the last 25 years, the formations have evolved from simple, relatively small circles to huge designs with multiple circles, elaborate pictograms, and shapes that invoke complex nonlinear mathematical principles. A formation that appeared in August 2001 at Milk Hill in Wiltshire contained 409 circles, covered about 12 acres (5 hectares), and was more than 800 feet (243 meters) across.

  To combat the theory that the circles were the res
ult of wind vortices—essentially mini-whirlwinds—crop artists felt compelled to produce ever more elaborate designs, some with straight lines to show that the circles were not a natural phenomenon, said Lundberg.

  On the question of whether all such circles are human made, Lundberg is perched firmly on the fence. “I don’t care,” he said. “I have an open mind. It would be great if people could view circles as an art form. But really, to me, as long as they’re well made and well crafted, anyone can believe whatever they want to believe.”

  Unknown Origins

  There are groups who strongly oppose the artists. These researchers of the paranormal and scientists seek to explain the formations as work that could not possibly be the result of human efforts. Some believers are merely curious, open to the existence of paranormal activity and willing to consider the possibility that at least some of the circles were created by extraterrestrial forces.

  U.K. crop circle researcher Karen Alexander believes there is room for both schools of thought. “There’s no doubt that some crop circles are made by people and that some are made for advertising campaigns and so forth,” said Alexander, co-author of Crop Circles: Signs, Wonders, and Mysteries. “But then there’s quite a large percentage for which origin is just unknown.”

  Alternative explanations range from natural phenomena such as whirlwinds to visitations by aliens in UFOs. “There are lots of other equally strange ideas,” Alexander said. “People talk about earth energies, or think that earth spirits perhaps make them.”

  “Crop circles ‘like’ ancient sites,” she noted. Wiltshire—generally acknowledged as crop circle central—is littered with Stone Age monuments, including Stonehenge. Alexander herself remains “totally open-minded.” “I just think they’re a fascinating cultural phenomenon,” she said.

  A Mighty Wind

  One scientific explanation given for crop circles is that they are akin to dust devils and created by small currents of swirling winds. The spinning columns force a burst of air down to the ground, which flattens the crops. Dr. Terence Meaden of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) in Wiltshire, England, says the vortices that create crop circles are charged with energy. When dust particles get caught up in the spinning, charged air, they can appear to glow, which may explain the UFO-like glowing lights many witnesses have seen near crop circles.

  Circle Gawkers

  Crop circle season extends from roughly April to harvesting in September—and the Wiltshire community profits from it. The best time to make (and to see) a circle is in mid to late June, making summer crop circles popular tourist attractions in some corners. They’ve spawned bus tours, daily helicopter tours, and sales of T-shirts, books, and other trinkets. “We get tens of thousands of people coming to the U.K. each year just to look at them,” Alexander said. And the phenomenon shows no signs of abating. “I think we’ve had more crop circles in the U.K. than just about any year I can remember,” Alexander said.

  MOON MYTHS AND TRUTHS

  7 Moon Landing Hoax Myths—Busted

  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to overturn these myths (although it wouldn’t hurt).

  Forty years after U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon, many conspiracy theorists still insist the Apollo 11 moon landing was an elaborate hoax. Examine the evidence, and find out why experts say some of the most common claims simply don’t hold water.

  MYTH 1

  The Flags Were Waving

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because the American flag appears to be flapping as if “in a breeze” in videos and photographs supposedly taken from the airless lunar surface.

  While on the moon, the astronauts accidentally bent the horizontal rods holding the flag in place several times, creating the appearance of a rippling flag in photographs. (Photo Credit 5.9)

  The fact of the matter is “the video you see where the flag’s moving is because the astronaut just placed it there, and the inertia from when they let go kept it moving,” said spaceflight historian Roger Launius, of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

  MYTH 2

  Mystery Photographer

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because only two astronauts walked on the moon at a time, yet in photographs such as this one where both are visible, there is no sign of a camera. So who took the picture?

  The fact of the matter is the cameras were mounted to the astronauts’ chests, said astronomer Phil Plait, author of the award-winning blog Bad Astronomy and president of the James Randi Educational Foundation. In the picture below, Plait notes, “you can see [Neil’s] arms are sort of at his chest. That’s where the camera is. He wasn’t holding it up to his visor.”

  Neil Armstrong and the Eagle lunar lander are reflected in Buzz Aldrin’s visor in one of the most famous images taken during the July 1969 moon landing. (Photo Credit 5.10)

  MYTH 3

  Where Are the Stars?

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because the astronauts made no such exclamation while on the moon, and the black backgrounds of their photographs are curiously devoid of stars.

  A view of the moon’s star-free sky as seen from the surface. (Photo Credit 5.11)

  The fact of the matter is the moon’s surface reflects sunlight, and that glare would have made stars difficult to see. Also, the astronauts photographed their lunar adventures using fast exposure settings, which would have limited incoming background light. “They were taking pictures at 1/150th or 1/250th of a second,” Bad Astronomy’s Plait said. “In that amount of time, stars just don’t show up.”

  MYTH 4

  No Landing Crater

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because the module is shown sitting on relatively flat, undisturbed soil. According to skeptics, the lander’s descent should have been accompanied by a large dust cloud and would have formed a noticeable crater.

  The lunar lander known as the Eagle rests peacefully on the moon’s surface in a picture taken mere hours after the July 20, 1969, moon landing. (Photo Credit 5.12)

  The fact of the matter is the lander’s engines were throttled back just before landing, and it did not hover long enough to form a crater or kick up much dust, the Smithsonian’s Launius said. “Science fiction movies depict this big jet of fire coming out as [spacecraft] land, but that’s not how they did it on the moon,” he added. “That’s not the way they would do it now or anytime in the future.”

  MYTH 5

  Strange Shadows

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because Aldrin is seen in the shadow of the lander, yet he is clearly visible. Hoax subscribers say that many shadows look strange in Apollo pictures. Some shadows don’t appear to be parallel with each other, and some objects in shadow appear well lit, hinting that light was coming from multiple sources—suspiciously like studio cameras.

  The fact of the matter is there were multiple light sources, Launius said. “You’ve got the sun, the Earth’s reflected light, light reflecting off the lunar module, the space suits, and also the lunar surface.” It’s also important to note that the lunar surface is not flat, he added. “If an object is in a dip, you’re going to get a different shadow compared to an object next to it that is on a level surface.”

  A moon-landing picture shows astronaut Buzz Aldrin standing on the footpad of the Eagle’s ladder, his bent knees suggesting that he’s about to jump up to the next rung. (Photo Credit 5.13)

  MYTH 6

  Footprints Too Clear

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because the astronauts’ prints are a bit too clear for being made on a bone-dry world. Prints that well defined could only have been made in wet sand.

  The fact of the matter is that’s nonsense, said Bad Astronomy’s Plait. Moon dust, or regolith, is “like a finely ground powder. When you look at it under a microscope, it almost looks like volcanic ash. So when you step on it, it can compress very easily into the shape of a
boot.” And those shapes could stay pristine for a long while thanks to the airless vacuum on the moon.

  The contrasted lines of a boot print appear as Buzz Aldrin lifts his foot to record an image for studying the moon’s soil properties. Apollo pictures show scores of clear boot prints left behind as the astronauts traipsed across the moon. (Photo Credit 5.14)

  MYTH 7

  No Leftovers

  You can tell the moon landing was faked because with instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope capable of peering into the distant recesses of the universe, surely scientists should be able to see the various objects still on the moon. But no such pictures of these objects exist.

  The fact of the matter is no telescope on Earth or in space has that kind of resolving power. “You can calculate this,” Plait said. “Even with the biggest telescope on Earth, the smallest thing you can see on the surface of the moon is something bigger than a house.”

  When Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the moon in July 1969, they left behind part of the Eagle, the U.S. flag, and several other instruments and mementos, including the seismometer Aldrin is adjusting in the above picture. (Photo Credit 5.15)