Burned circle in a Barbezieux cornfield

Summary

On June 12, 1981, a farm worker discovered a circle roughly twenty meters in diameter in a cornfield at Barbezieux. At the center the plants had vanished and the soil showed an 80-centimeter-deep basin with cracks. Surrounding stalks were dried out as if exposed to intense heat. Five holes of four to five centimeters formed a trapezoid, and the ground gave off an unusual smell. Analysis confirmed the central area had been subjected to temperatures above 100 °C. A violent storm with heavy rain had been recorded between June 8 and 9. Investigators favored the lightning hypothesis: an electrical discharge could have induced currents in the soil, explaining the progressive drying, the holes, and the elevated temperatures.