THE DEVIL'S CIRCLES

There is a tale of a twenty foot diameter circle called "the Devil's Circle" deep in the Black Water Swamp of Floridas Lake County, near where the Wekiva River meets the St. John's river. Reportedly nothing grows inside this circle, it has always been totally barren of plant life and is extremely dry of moisture, even after heavy rains. Folklore has it, that objects placed inside the circle overnight will vanish. I have found that such circular places are mentioned and exist in many states, Florida has several of these places, another supposedly in the Green Swamp, west of Orlando. The most publicized "circle" is in North Carolina just outside of Siler City, which has been mentioned in numerous publications on the unexplained. Almost all of these weird circles are dubbed "devils circles." One theory is that certain abnormal soil conditions prevent flora from growing inside these areas, perhaps as a result of some kind of chemical reaction. Of course there are an endless number of theories about what causes these weird circles; including the possibility that they were landing sites of UFOs, and residual radiation has permanently altered the soil, or they were places of pagan rituals and actually visited by the devil. It is interesting to note, that most of the circles are reported to be nearly the same size in circumference. This would certainly support the bizarre theory of a UFO landing site. However, to be objective other possibilities must be considered. One research team conducted soil sample tests from two such circles and found that, in both cases, there was a zero level of nitrogen in the samples and an extremely high level of sodium and iodine content when compared to the surrounding soil. This would affect the growth of plant life. Another observation was that insects normally found in the same areas, i.e. ants, beetles, and etc, are seldom found within these circles. No ant hills, nor insect holes, have been noted within the perimeters of the circles. The team conducted overnight tests concerning objects disappearing from inside the circles but did not experience this phenomenon. Objects that thier researchers had left overnight inside the circles were still there in the next morning. Only one test, involving a cardboard box and a bottle, was there any unexplained physical effect. This test was conducted at the Round Cypress Circle in Seminole County. In that test, both the box and bottle were dumped over and moved during the night. There were no animal or human footprints noted within the circle; however there had been a slight breeze during the night which could have explained the movement of the objects.

While these circles exist, they have not been fully classified as natural or supernatural.