10 Conspiracy Theories That Inspired Horror Movies
3. Signs
In Signs, a faithless reverend wakes up one day to discover crop circles in his cornfield. Although he suspects it is mere vandalism, he eventually learns the patterns were formed by aliens. Crop circles may not be a hot topic anymore, but during the 1970s they were the most talked about mystery on the planet.
A crop circle, in layman's terms, is a pattern formed in a field by flattening plants. Because crop circles are so intricately complex and appear over night, many fringe theorists suspect they are the work of extra-terrestrials. Other theorists suggest the formations could be caused by irregularities in the planet's magnetic field, meteorological interruptions, pollution, or wallabies. (No, really.)
But it's likely this phenomenon has a much more rational explanation. In 1991, self-proclaimed pranksters, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, confessed to creating at least 200 crop circles around the UK over the last 13 years. They even recreated some of their arrangements in front of journalists to validate their claims. Even if crop circles are nothing more than an overelaborate prank, it still managed to inspire a plethora of conspiracy theorists over the years.