In the year 2000, a remarkable crop circle appeared in a wheatfield at East Kennett (UK). One needed very little imagination to see what it was: a heart. In less than an hour, the first rumours that this formation were a hoax, were in the air. People said to have met somebody in the formation, who not only had hoaxed some formations in the past, but who also claimed this particular one. He had told them that he made this formation for a couple who were to be married the very next day, and who wanted the ceremony to be celebrated in a crop circle.
Most people swallowed this rumour straight away, as often is the case when formations are claimed. But some researchers remained sceptic about this claim. The lay of the flattened crop was not bad at all. It was actually a lot better than what lies within the capabilities of the hoaxers. Apart from that, the heart was surrounded by dozens of small circles, that were quite exquisite. Furthermore, those small circles lay seperate in the field, with no visible traces leading up to them.
On 24 May 2003, I read an interesting article in one of the major Dutch newspapers (the Volkskrant), called: "Peeping in secret at quantum". The article described how quantum physics recently discovered that one can actually observe quantum systems without disturbing them. Scientists had always considered this to be impossible; each time when they had observed an experiment, the outcome turned out to be influenced, merely by the observation itself.
The article showed a colour photo of an interferention pattern of a laser beam behind a screen with two chinks (the so-called two chinks experiment of quantum mechanics). The image that appeared behind the screen in this experiment, needed very little imagination to see what it was: a heart. Around the heart was a pattern that showed great similarity with the small circles surrounding the Heart formation in 2000.
When I saw this photograph and read the article, the Heart formation of 2000 imediately came to my mind, including my own doubt about the authenticity of this formation. On the one hand I found it almost too much of a coincidence that the wedding had been planned for the very next day. But on the other hand, I loved the formation! It touched my heart...
The doubt may always remain. The formation was never sampled and analysed scientifically. But the similarity between the crop formation and the interferention pattern mentioned above, is crystal clear and stunning. It is just another indication in the direction of quantum mechanics: the place where science and spirituality seem to meet.
30 May 2003
