REPORT ON ROCANVILLE, SASKATCHEWAN CROP CIRCLE FORMATIONS
*Preliminary Report*

Date of Report: September 12, 1996
Location: Rocanville, Saskatchewan, Canada
Date Found: September 4, 1996
Investigation: Daniel Clairmont (Saskatchewan MUFON), Chad Deetken (Pacific
Research)
Catalogue No: 00296 / 00396

Report received from Chad Deetken on September 11, who received it from CBC
Radio on September 10, 1996.

Two circles, each about 14 metres (42 feet) in diameter, in a wheat field
near a potash mine. Discovered on September 4, 1996.

The plant stalks were bent close to the ground, not broken or damaged, and
neatly woven together in a very impressive spiral pattern. The ground
beneath the flattened crops was not disturbed and no other evidence of
hoaxing was found.

Reports carried on local Saskatchewan radio (CBC) and in local newspapers
(Leader Post - Regina, Saskatchewan; The World Spectator - Moosomin,
Saskatchewan).

Photographed, surveyed and sampled by Daniel Clairmont. He stated to me
that these were the best Canadian crop circles he had ever seen. Even the
couple reporters I talked to in Regina were impressed. Samples sent to Dr.
Levengood in Michigan, USA for lab analysis.

The location is halfway acoss the country from where I am (Vancouver, BC),
so I was not able to investigate the site personally.

A full report will be available soon, with further details, diagrams,
photos, etc.

Paul Anderson
Director
Circles Phenomenon Research International
CPR-Canada
Tel / Fax: 604.731.8522
E-Mail: psa@direct.ca
___________________________

The World-Spectator (Moosomin, Saskatchewan)
September 10, 1996

CROP CIRCLES LEAVE PEOPLE WONDERING

By KEVIN WEEDMARK

Two almost-perfect circles of flattened crops in a wheat field near
Rocanville have left local people wondering what could have caused them.

The crop circles were first seen Wednesday morning, Sept. 4 in a field used
by the Rocanville Rink Board as a fundraiser this summer.

The field is located southwest of the PCS Rocanville mine. The two circles
are about 45 feet in diameter.

The circles have already attracted a stream of onlookers from throughout
the area.

Bob Langley was the first person to see the circles. He saw one of the crop
circles early Wednesday morning, and said he didn't know what to think.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said. "There was no wheat trampled
down - no sign that anyone had been in there."

He walked through the field to take a closer look at the crop circle, and
spotted a second one nearby. He says there was no trampled wheat and no
other sign that anyone had been in the field.

The first person he told about the find was Wayne Kingdon, who was just as
surprised. "It's hard to imagine what could do this," he said. "If it was
wind, you would think it would have tossed things around a bit. If somebody
was in there, you should have been able to tell."

Neither of the men has any idea what could have caused the circles. "I
don't know what could have done that, and I'm not sure I want to find out,"
said Langley.

There was nothing unusual spotted in the field as of dusk on Tuesday. A
crew had been working on the road allowance next to the field and no one
saw the circles or anything else in the field on Tuesday.

Wheat stalks in the circles are bent close to the ground, but the stalks
are not broken. The ground is not compressed within the circles. All the
stalks are neatly laid down and appear to be woven together in a spiral
pattern. The edges of the circles are clean, with stalks standing straight
up next to stalks laid flat.

Rick Holm, a professor of crop science and plant ecology, says he has heard
about six reports of crop circles in Saskatchewan in his 12 years at the
University of Saskatchewan, but he doesn't have any explanations.

"It's a bit of a mystery," he said. "There is no explanation."

He said there are three theories about the origin of crop circles. "One is
pranksters, one is some sort of local whirlwind, and the other you hear is
UFOs and that sort of stuff."

Holm doesn't put much stock in the UFO theory, and while many crop circles
have proven to be hoaxes, he believes some are caused by wind or some other
natural phenomenon.

He investigated one crop circle just outside Saskatoon which was an obvious
hoax.

"It was within sight of a new subdivision, and it looked like someone had
just picked up a 2x6 from one of the construction sites and laid the crop
flat with it in a circular pattern. The stalks were broken, and you could
see footprints in the circle."

However, he has seen photos of other crop circles that are harder to
explain, leading him to think that some unexplained natural phenomenon is
causing them. "A lot of them have turned out to be the work of pranksters,
and people have admitted to it afterwards, but I don't think all of them
can be explained that way. Some remain mysteries."

One person who has made a point of studying crop circles is Daniel
Clairmont, an IMC Esterhazy employee who spends much of his spare time
investigating unusual phenomena.

Clairmont said in an interview Thursday that there are more crop circles
than people know about in southeastern Saskatchewan.

"They're happening all over the place, but most people don't want to report
them," he said. He took measurements and samples at the site of the
Rocanville crop circles on Thursday.

This is the third local instance of crop circles Clairmont has
investigated. In each case he has taken soil, grain, and straw samples from
inside and outside the circles.

In the earlier instances, Clairmont says analysis of the samples showed a
number of differences between samples taken inside and outside the circles,
differences that point to sudden heating in the circles.

Clairmont says he doesn't draw any conclusions from his investigations, but
the results raise a lot of questions.

"Some people think the crops have just been flattened down by something,"
he notes. "But why are the stalks not broken? I looked at the soil in the
circles at Rocanville, and the ground isn't compacted at all. The stones
aren't pushed into the ground.

"Some people think it's just a whirlwind. But what kind of wind can do
something like that - take the wheat and lay it down and weave it
together?"

Clairmont took measurements, and found that the circles are not perfectly
round. One, on a slight incline, has a diameter that ranges from 44.5 to
46.5 feet. The longer diameter runs along the incline, as would be expected
if a circle was impressed from above. The other circle, on more level
ground, has a diameter that varies from 45.5 to 46 feet.

Clairmont isn't counting on his investigations ever turning up the source
of the crop circles.

"It's really hard to imagine what could be behind these things," he says.
"Until we're ready to know, or whatever is doing it decides to let us know,
I don't think we'll ever find out."

The crop circles have attracted a lot of media and public attention, and
will be left as is. The area including the circles will not be harvested
along with the rest of the field.




