Mysterious crop circles have appeared in an eastern Washington wheat field , but farmers preparing for the harvest find the distraction more amusing than alarming.
"You can't do anything other than laugh about it," said Cindy Geib, who owns the field with her husband, Greg. "You just kind of roll with the theory it's aliens and you're special because aliens chose your spot."
Friends called the Geibs on July 24 when the pattern of flattened wheat was spotted off Highway 174, about 16 kilometres south of the Grand Coulee dam.
The circles resemble a four-leaf clover and remind Cindy Geib of Mickey Mouse ears. The design knocked down about half a hectare of wheat. Some of it could be salvaged by combines when the harvest starts in a week or two, she said, but some will be lost.
"Of course, we don't have alien insurance," she said.
Crop circles have been a worldwide phenomenon for decades, and this is not the first one in Lincoln County.
Similar circular patterns were left in crops in the area in 2010 and in 2008 or 2009, Geib said.
Lynne Brougher, public affairs officer for the Grand Coulee dam, hadn't heard about the latest crop circles but said the previous one was no cause for alarm.
There are no signs that anyone walked in the field, Geib said.
