An account in Charente, France

On June 12, 1981, late in the afternoon, a farm worker working on a plot planted with corn noticed a circular area about 20 meters in diameter in which the plants seemed sick. At the center of the area, a few plants had disappeared, and further out the plants were dried out as if from intense heat, this effect decreasing with distance from the center of the circle and disappearing at about ten meters. At the center, the ground was cracked and a hollow of about 80 cm had formed, in which there were five holes 4 to 5 cm in diameter and about 20 cm deep, the whole forming a shape resembling a trapezoid. An indefinable odor remained at the center of the circle. Soil and vegetation samples were taken for later analysis. These analyses confirmed that the central area had been subjected to intense heat. Indeed, it showed a significantly lower moisture level than that of samples taken further away. The temperature experienced by this area was probably above 100 °C. Meteorological data indicate that on the night of June 8–9, a violent thunderstorm hit the area with heavy rain. The lightning hypothesis is favored because it can explain the blast effect that the corn plants in the damaged area seem to have undergone, as well as the temperature increase at the center of the area. The currents induced in the ground by a lightning strike can also explain the holes observed.