|
A Mysterious ‘Ice
Circle’ Discovered in NE USA
The ‘Crop Circle’ Like Phenomenon Continues in
2003
By Ed Sherwood
On March 11th 2003 an ‘Ice Circle’, or ‘Ice Ring’, appeared in a
private residents’ back yard
pond in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. Precisely etched into thin ice,
‘about 1/4 inch thick’, the mysterious circle was reported to measure
about 25 feet 9 inches in diameter. It formed during the night, in a
section of a tributary that feeds the Silvermine River in Norwalk, and
amazingly, touched one side of the pond wall! Discovered by the owner at
about 6:00am, after night temperatures fell ‘to about 16’ degrees Farenheidt, the circle remained frozen until later that afternoon,
melting only after most of the ice around it had disappeared. No trees
overhung the Ice Circle, and nothing unusual was reportedly heard or
seen by the residents, or neighbours, in association with its creation
(Fig.1).
Fig.1 The Norwalk ‘Ice Circle’ (at about 7:45am)
Photo:
Courtesy of
Photographer
Anonymous by Request
Copyright ă
2003
Three weeks after the Ice Circle appeared, and after reading an article
I wrote entitled:
‘An
Extraordinary ‘Ice Ring’
in Churchville, Maryland:
The First Authentic ‘Crop Circle’ Pictogram of 2001?’ the owner of the
pond kindly e-mailed me the information and image presented above.
|
 |
|
|
Copyright © 2001 Lyn Winer |
FURTHER OBSERVATIONS
A preliminary analysis of the Ice Circle, and further contact with the
pond owner, yielded some additional information and observations
concerning this intriguing phenomenon.
To begin with, the circle appeared to be purposefully positioned and
etched with great precision into the changing textured surface of the
ice. Almost as large as the body of water that contained it, and
uniquely narrow for an Ice Circle, it formed a ‘tangent’ with the pond
wall that appeared deliberate and seemed to defy a simple natural
explanation.
Like most Crop Circle formations, and Ice Circles and Rings that have
appeared in the past, the Norwalk circle appeared sometime during the
hours of nightfall and first light, and was obviously located where
water was concentrated.
Could the Ice Circle have been formed by water in rotation?
Apparent in the photograph, and affirmed by the pond owner, the ice
showed no sign of having been swirled by rotating water that froze.
Could the Ice Circle have been created by a ‘ripple’ across the surface
of the pond?
The pond owner’s father suggested the Ice Circle might have been caused
by something falling into the pond creating a ripple that subsequently
froze.
‘… if you drop something in the water, even a raindrop, a perfect circle
is the result.
It could be possible that the temperature had dropped to just the right
temp,
something fell in the pond causing the cold water from the bottom to
come up
and instantly freeze when it reached the surface.’
There are some trees nearby I was informed, including one that deposits
leaves and occasionally branches in it when it’s windy. Could this
create the Ice Circle effect? It is an interesting idea, however, many
Ice Circles have appeared in bodies of water where trees were either too
far away, or not present to be considered a cause. In some cases, the
Ice Circle was of such size that a whole tree would need to be dropped
in to displace an equivalent amount of water!
Rather than the result of a ripple that froze, the circle looked like it
was thinly etched into the ice. Where it met the pond wall it didn’t
distort and deflect like a ripple would. Also, If Ice Circles were being
formed by falling tree limbs and cold temperatures I think they would be
far more common than they are.
Was there any evidence to suggest the Ice Circle could have been
manmade?
Interested to hear the views of the pond owner concerning this question
I wrote
and asked:
‘Some people would assume the Ice Circle in Norwalk was manmade (i.e. by
resident teenagers or students perhaps as a prank) just because of its
location, a small pond near residential housing, and inscribed
appearance. What would you say to such views? Did you see or photograph,
at the center of the Ice Circle, any indication in the ice that a pole
or something similar could have been used (like a compass) to inscribe
the circle? Are there any teenagers living nearby that might have made
it?’
The pond owner replied:
‘We did that research. My first thought was that someone had come into
the yard and made the circle. However, the pond is ours, in our
backyard... it is private property and we have a dog that usually barks
if something's in his yard.
There is no way it could have been man made as the ice was too thin and
the distance down from the edge of the pond to the edge of the circle
touching the wall was 3 feet down. The rest of the ice was frozen and to
make a circle by hand would have broken the very thin ice. There was no
hole in the middle...I took a few more pictures around noon as the ice
started melting. And we do not have teenagers in my neighborhood. All my
immediate neighbors are in their middle to later years- no kids.
I had my father come and look at the circle, as he was in the air force
and he is very knowledgeable about physical and engineering aspects of
things and he was amazed because he could not see how it could have been
manmade since a board or pole would have broken the ice and it was out
of anyone's reach without actually getting into the water which is about
5-6 feet deep.’
(Additional text to follow…)
Ed Sherwood
© Millennium Research
April 2003
Special thanks to the resident of Norwalk for reporting the Ice Circle
and giving permission to include their photograph in this report.
‘Ice Circle’ Photograph © 2003 Courtesy of Photographer – Anonymous by
Request
Mailing address for Ed & Kris Sherwood:
Millennium Research
P.O. Box 2084, Santa Monica, CA 90406, USA.
Email:
millennium9@earthlink.net
* * *
Copyright © 2003-2009 Ed & Kris Sherwood
CropCircleAnswers.com
All Rights Reserved
|