Paranormal researcher and author Chad Lewis discussed unexplained phenomena, including crop circles, during a presentation Wednesday night at the Shawano City-County Library.
Lewis, who has written 17 books on the paranormal, was making his third visit to the library in seven years. About 50 people attended the presentation.
“We have had him in the past and we had a good turnout of people, and there was a lot of interest from the public,” said Kristie Hauer, library director. “We decided to invite him back again this year.”
Crop circles are unexplained formations generally caused by flattening a crop. They vary in shape and size, and are also referred to as crop formations. Most scientists say they mostly are man-made, with possible exceptions due to meteorological or other natural phenomena.
“People thought they were caused by the environment, the wind,” Lewis said. “When we went there, we took aerial photos and compared the affected crop versus the controlled crop.”
The author concluded crops were bent at their roots, and not broken, which showed, he said, the circles could not have been made by farm machinery.
Lewis said dead animals and higher levels of radiation also were discovered near some crop circles.
“Ranchers would wake up and find one or more of their cattle mutilated,” Lewis said. “Farmers noticed they were done with a laser device. More bizarre would be that farmers found them surrounded by mud.”
Lewis said some people treat crop circles as sacred ground.
“Many people will see these formations as sacred creations. So they would come ritualistically, but they would often get sick after visiting the ground,” Lewis said.
A crop circle appeared Wausau in 2004, Lewis said. Farmers cut down the crops, but that did not stop people from coming to take a look.
“In fact, once the media reported on this, the Air Force started giving tours flying over this land,” Lewis said. “When I talked to the Air Force, they told me they have never been busier.”
In addition to crop circles, Lewis discussed unidentified flying objects. He said most of the Wisconsin reports of UFOs come from the Belleville, Dundee and Elmwood areas.
There was also a mention of the Bray Road Beast, which Lewis said people described as a werewolf, discovered in eastern Walworth County.
Residents were able to meet with Lewis following the presentation and share their stories with him.
“They enjoy listening to his experiences, and a lot of people share the experiences that they might have had,” Hauer said.
Lewis’ visit was sponsored by the Friends of Shawano County Libraries Inc.
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