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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Josh Binswanger

Aired August 03, 2002 - 07:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: The mystery behind crop circles dates back to the Middle Ages. They've appeared in fields all over the world. And now, they're in a theater near you. In the new movie "Signs," Mel Gibson discovers an intricate pattern of circles and lines carved into his crops. He then embarks on a journey to find out who created the pattern and what it all means.

Many believe the circles are manmade, while others think they could be signs of another life form. To this day, crop circles remain in large part a mystery. Now the History Channel takes a look at the controversy tonight on "History versus Hollywood Signs."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH BINSWANGER, HOST: Hollywood's take on a phenomena that is both controversial and mysterious. In the early 1980s, circular designs began showing up literally overnight in the English countryside. They were, according to many, the handiwork of aliens sending us a message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's something bigger out there, which is making this. But whether it's little green men, extra dimensional intelligences, the earth as an intelligence is really impossible to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the show.

BINSWANGER: But why did the circles suddenly crop up, so speak in the late 20th century? True believers claim they were always here, but no one noticed until the age of air travel. As evidence, they point to a newspaper published in 1678, which seems to depict the devil himself creating a design. Reports of modern crop circles increased through the 1980s, not only in England, but around the world.

The designs even attracted their own groupies, men and women who went searching for circles, which they claimed were infused with special powers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Josh Binswanger, the host of "History versus Hollywood," you heard his voice there, and now he joins us live this morning from New York.

Josh, thanks for getting up this morning. BINSWANGER: My pleasure, Larry, how are you?

SMITH: I'm very good. I'm very intrigued as well. Can you tell us, first off, what are crop circles?

BINSWANGER: Well, crop circles are pretty much what we just laid out in the piece you saw. They first appeared in 1678 in Sterlingshire, Scotland. People were crediting the devil for creating the patterns that were appearing in crop fields at that particular time, but controversy surrounds just where they come from and who is responsible for creating them.

This was fueled, in part, in 1991, two gentlemen came forward: Doug Bauer and David Chorley, who are residents of Wilshire, England, where more crop circles appeared than anywhere else in the world. And so credit for creating some 300 crop circles over the previous 20 years.

Now the true believers or "croppies" point out the fact that there were some 350 crop circles that appeared long before these two gentlemen took credit for creating this particular craft in the fields in and around Wilshire, England. And so today, a lot of people feel that of all the circles that appear, some 20 percent are unexplained, and therefore has some credence and extraterrestrial involvement.

SMITH: So some room for doubt, I guess. What do we know about them for fact? Are they real? Are they hoaxes? What do we know?

BINSWANGER: The eternal question, Larry, that's the thing. Basically, it started. And that's -- as I said before, the two gentlemen who decided to start creating these circles came up with this idea in a pub, not surprisingly. And there are two pubs in Wilshire, one on the northside of town, the Barge Inn, one on the south side of town. The south side is populated by hoaxers. North side is populated by croppies or believers in this particular phenomenon.

The first -- in terms of the circles that appeared were rather crude and just that, small circles in a similar pattern, going clockwise or counter clockwise. What raised some interest from people in the last decade or so is that the designs have become far more complex, requiring a lot of geometry, requiring a lot of skilled mathematics involved. And some of the symbols that are appearing are celestial. People are wondering exacting how they're coming up with the exact shapes, the exact scale that's being reproduced in fields of wheat, barley, and canola.

SMITH: Now Josh, I got to tell you, I grew up in the farm country, the corn country of Illinois. And I feel kind of left out because nothing like this ever happened around my house. Where do these things usually show up?

BINSWANGER: Well, they show up predominantly in Wilshire, England, which is in the southeastern -- southwestern part of England, excuse me. But they have shown up all over the world. Some 250 appear annually around the globe, but predominantly in and around Wilshire, England, which is also the home of Stonehenge, which fuels some of this belief in an extraterrestrial presence in their creation.

SMITH: You've told us so much about your program tonight on the History Channel, "History versus Hollywood." The movie, "Signs, " Mel Gibson. How much -- what we learned about crop circles from this move is mythology? How much is truth with -- in regards to the movie?

BINSWANGER: Well, I think it's important to remember that this is a business venture. They are trying to put as many people in the seats as possible. So in this context, crop circles are used as a conduit to get to a story about a family dealing with some dysfunction, about a father coming to grips with some things from his past. So there's sort of an entry point to get into the meat of this particular story. There's not much discussed with regard to their history or significance, beyond a plot tool for this particular film.

But as -- and Mike Trammelon (ph) has pointed out, it is something of fascination for people. And as more circles continue to appear around the world, the controversy continues to grow.

SMITH: Yes, Josh, unfortunately we're out of time. I have one quick question. I'm curious, has all this research made you a believer?

BINSWANGER: I would have to say not.

SMITH: OK.

BINSWANGER: No, sorry Larry.

SMITH: OK, I -- just curious. I had to throw that -- hey, Josh, looking forward to seeing the show tonight though. Thanks for joining us.

BINSWANGER: My pleasure.

SMITH: OK, Josh Binswanger, the host of "History versus Hollywood," joining us this morning. And very interesting, I know, that we've been looking forward to talking about this all morning.

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