Mayan 'apocalypse' crop circle appears at Silbury Hill

[emad]

A 350ft crop circle of an ancient Mayan symbol, said to be a sign of an impending apocalypse, has appeared next to Silbury Hill in Wiltshire.
08 Jul 2009


The giant pattern - thought to represent a traditional Mayan head-dress - appeared next to the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe last week.

Members of the crop circle community believe the mystic symbol is a signal of the end of the 5,126-year Mayan 'Long Count' calendar on December 21, 2012.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5777580/Mayan-apocalypse-crop-circle-appears-at-Silbury-Hill.html

[Mythsaje]

1. You've got to give these crop circle folks credit

(the ones who aren't stoned wallabies, that is)... Some serious artistic talent at work there.

I was on the fence about this phenomenon for years, but I've reached the conclusion that people (and stoned wallabies) are doing it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Did the Mayans get to Silbury Hill in their time travelling UFO?

[crim son]

3. No way was that made by an unusual lightning strike.

Heh.

[Ian David]

4. Wow. Someone put a lot of work into that. n/t

[Ian David]

5. Viral marketing for the movie 2012.

http://www.circlemakers.org/perpetrators.html
http://www.starstreamresearch.com/confessions.htm


2012
With the Mayan calendar ending in 2012, a large group of people must deal with natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, typhoons and glaciers.
The Official 2012 Movie Site: http://whowillsurvive2012.com/

[wtbymark]

9. wow, that looks like a hell of a movie

check out the trailer (2012)

[joshcryer]

14. Yeah, it looks to be the best thing to come out of the whole 2012 thing.

:D

[comrade snarky]

16. The trailer calls the Mayans "Mankinds Oldest Civilization"

Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow


Disaster Porn - Check

Protagonist trying to save his kids - Check

Family reconciliation in the face of impending doom - Unknown but Likely

Overbearing theme music - Check

Loud explosions to keep the audience from noticing the lack of plot - Very Likely

Stating facts about a civilization without bothering
to crack a book or ask an archaeologist if you are right - Double Check!

[Greyskye]

18. Whole lot of unhappy endings in that movie!

:popcorn:

[Occulus]

20. Some of those shots were *really* nicely created.

I say "created" because of the massive amounts of CG work in just the trailer alone. I certainly hope those weren't all of the best shots, which is known to occur in Hollywood trailers these days.

That huge chunk of town tilted and sinking into the ocean like a sinking ship was my favorite. Holy shit...

[joshcryer]

23. I read a script overview. It.will.be.amazing. (Purely from a destruction POV.)

I make no claims to intellectual curiousity in this movie. It is purely for the graphical effects. :D

[Occulus]

26. I have no problem with that.

I've dabbled in that area myself.

By the way- if you like those sorts of effects, and you want to learn some of how it's done, I very highly recommend that you check out Blender. It's free (open source free!), and very powerful. Here's an example. Here's an image closer to home.

First, install Python 2.6.2, a programming language Blender needs to run certain extra scripts. Download and install the latest version of Blender here, and then head for some free college course video tutorials from Neil Hirsig at Tufts University. You'll also want to look at Blendernation and Blenderartists.

Blender really does have amazing potential (two links there, click 'em) if you know what you're doing with it. I don't doubt it will mature into a project that challenges Maya, 3D Studio, and Lightwave (which was used for CG effects in the television series Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica). Blender still has a road to travel to realize that potential, but as is in the nature of open source software, this popular package is becoming ever more powerful.

Perhaps the upcoming and highly-anticipated Blender 2.50 release will be a step along that path. Only time will tell.

[joshcryer]

30. Yes! Another Blender user. :D

Thanks for your very thoughtful post, but I am a Blender user, too! I'm sure you know about the Orange Project (Big Buck Bunny).

I designed a house in Blender (and exported it to Irrlicht for viewing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uDVUtWWwEk

Also modeled bits for a game with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMcl__U9dJY

Blender really is great, though it does have an incredible learning curve, I still think it's awesome.

But your post did introduce me to two things I hadn't known about (London Project, and Kajimba). Thanks for sharing those. They're brilliant looking already.

[FiveGoodMen]

6. I've noted quite a few recent crop circle pics look like they're in the exact same field

Can anyone firmly state that these aren't just being photoshopped?

[stopbush]

10. I'm with you. This is probably a photoshop job.

[emad]

13. Unlikely a major UK broadsheet would use a totally spurious

photoshop hoax pic.

[Occulus]

27. Doubtful. Take a close look.

Magnify it by 400%.

This level of fakery would require a powerful 3D modeling/animation package, as well as the knowledge to exploit it to photoreal level.

It's an authentic man-made crop circle. A nice one, actually. It would make a great tattoo.

[emad]

31. The newspaper that published it has a non-enhancement/non-

photoshop policy. It is a major UK broadsheet and although its politics are often somewhere to the right of Atila the Hun it is bound by the UK newspaper code of conduct.

While I couldn't find a commerical reference to their quoted MyNewsAgency picture credit I can't see them risking a whopping great big fine for faking such a photo.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. It's very neat and tidy unlike a lot of crop circles

[Old and In the Way]

8. Impressive work.

Seriously, I have no idea how someone creates such a sophisticated design without getting detected.

[kimmerspixelated]

11. Isn't there any way to monitor these fields?

Catch the symbol makers(whatever they are) in action? Something like this would take even a group of folks an enormous amount of time, don't you think? A mystery...or not...and I am very interested in the subject of 2012, but I haven't investigated crop circles just yet....any ideas for more info?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Sure.

Here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_opN9ghPKQ

"Something like this would take even a group of folks an enormous amount of time, don't you think?"

It'd take a few man hours. With a large group, properly delegated, it wouldn't take much time at all.

[emad]

22. Monitoring...A couple of years ago there was an official question

asked in Parliament about UK/US satellite cooperation in the monitoring of these phenomena which have become increasingly more frequent in the Wiltshire area of special scientific interest (archaeological site, full of pre-Iron Age barrows, burial mounds, connections to stone age sites such as Stonehenge, Avebury etc.)

The official record of parliamentary proceedings - Hansard - then deleted all referencde to the questions and the official replies which came from the Ministry of Defence.

Draw your own conclusions.

[joshcryer]

25. The people proposing it got embarrassed because an intern walked up to them...

...and told them college students, some high school kids, and drunk people make them for the most part.

[emad]

32. Good cliche.

But only half the story.

[joshcryer]

33. I forgot housewives, teenagers, working mothers, and 8 year olds.

:)

That should fill out the other half.

[redqueen]

15. Why do people insist on attaching words like 'apocalypse' to the Mayan calendar?

Honestly.

[comrade snarky]

17. I don't know... I really don't know

It's a cyclic calender. When one cycle ends, another begins.

This is the big cycle turning over. A big Party\Symbolic moment. I understand wanting to watch the world destroyed, I feel that way myself some days, but this 2012 thing just makes me tired.

[Thor_MN]

19. My 50th birthday will be Day 1 of the new long count.

So I'll have something to celebrate beyond not being destroyed...

[comrade snarky]

21. OK.... That's really cool.

I'd send you a card but I'm too busy building my shelter. :evilgrin:

[joshcryer]

24. It sold well in the 90s, now it's more about enlightenment and spiritual becoming.

Basically the doom and gloom stuff stopped selling (to the lower level crowd) and now they're selling feel goodyness.

The movie mentioned up thread as an exception, however (it's mainstream though and not related to the spiritual / conspiracy movement that 2012 is known for).

[and-justice-for-all]

28. These things ar emade by people...sorry..

and that would be a wicked tat.

[RagAss]

29. Pretty work.