One of the most beautiful crop circle of this year appeared in Italy, in Robella (Asti), on the night between 29 and 30 June.

The size and complexity of the work can be appreciated better through this spectacular movie, shot by Aereovisione with a drone:

Since a few days ago, we also know the name of the person who designed and created it: it is my friend from Taranto Francesco Grassi, one of the best circlemaker in the world, author of the Italian bible on the phenomenon and coordinator of the team that worked on the crop in Rebella. (1)  Prize for the best title on the subject to the online journal “Taranto Buonasera”, which on 7 August yelled:

Mystery solved. The alien? It is of Taranto.

Ten years ago Francesco taught me to create crop circles, involving me in the creation of some formations. During this decade, I have devoted to his art a long chapter in my Italian book The Magic of Numbers and a wide analysis in my I Can Read It in Your Mind.

During a radio interview with Swiss Channel RSI (listen to it) Francesco pointed at an asymmetry worthy of note :

In many mysteries […] there is a propensity to believe in “further” human capabilities, which still have not been definitively proven. I refer for example to telekinesis – that is, move objects by thought. […] [In the case of crop circles], on the contrary, it happens that many denies people the ability to do things that are absolutely within their reach – that is, to make crop circles, as I have shown. (2) 

Another (sad but essential) aspect of the phenomenon is the wave of aggression that unleashes every time someone reveals the paternity of a circle. Some refuse to believe it – offering the creators an additional source of pride, as only a work of extraordinary quality can induce such disbelief.

Others express their discomfort indirectly, trying to censor the phenomenon with vaguely pathetic arguments. This is the case of a letter published in La Stampa on 13 August, which – insensitive to the spectacular nature of the circles and the sense of majesty that are able to evoke – whines on the damaged grain and remember that

other people’s stuff should be respected […] and everything that can become food for humans or animals deserve a special respect. (3) 

Interesting argument. Think of the poor eggs used by Michelangelo Buonarroti to create the paint with which he depicted the Sistine Chapel.

The author of the letter forgets that men do not live by bread only, but also by wonder and amazement – and crop circles are open air temples with powerful symbolic suggestions, both for those who believe in vague otherworldly energies, and for those who simply trust the ability of art to alter perceptions.

Thankfully, pace the author of the letter, circlemaking is an anarchist activity like satire, which – as explained by Daniele Luttazzi

informs, deforms… in short, it does whatever the fuck it wants. (4) 

Notes