THINK ABOUTIT CROP CIRCLE REPORT

1969: Garrison, Iowa Crop Circle

On the night of July 13, 1969, two teenage girls preparing for bed in an upstairs bedroom at the Barr farm — 7.2 miles south of Garrison, Iowa — heard what sounded like a low-flying jet. Pat Barr went to the north window and called her 17-year-old cousin Kathy Mahr. What they watched hovering over the family’s bean field was not a jet. It was a disc — two coffee saucers placed rim to rim — with a dull metallic finish, two rows of lights across the midline, rotating as it hovered. The sighting lasted only seconds before the object departed at such high speed neither girl could determine its direction. After it vanished, the spot where it had hovered glowed red. In the morning, Pat’s father Warren Barr — a skeptic who blamed his daughter’s imagination — walked out to the field and found a nearly circular patch of burned bean vines approximately 40 feet in diameter. APRO field investigators Glenn McWane and LeRoy Latham arrived, took an aerial photograph, collected plant samples, and sent them to an APRO consultant for laboratory analysis.

Date: July 13, 1969

Sighting Time: Night (preparing for bed — estimated late evening)

Day/Night: Night

Location: Barr farm, 7.2 miles south of Garrison, Benton County, Iowa

Urban or Rural: Rural (farmland)

No. of Entity(‘s): None reported

Entity Type: N/A

Entity Description: N/A

Hynek Classification: CE-II (Close Encounter II) — Observation of an object in close proximity to the witness, with physical traces left at the site.

Duration: A few seconds (visual observation of object); residual red glow persisted after departure

No. of Object(s): 1

Height & Speed: Hovering above the bean field at an undetermined altitude. Departed at extremely high speed — too fast for witnesses to determine direction.

Size of Object(s): Approximately 40 feet in diameter (inferred from the burned ground circle)

Distance to Object(s): Observed from upstairs window of the farmhouse, looking over the adjacent bean field

Shape of Object(s): Disc — described as “two coffee saucers placed rim to rim”

Color of Object(s): Dull metallic finish. Two rows of lights across the midline (face) of the object.

Number of Witnesses: 2 (Pat Barr and Kathy Mahr, age 17)

Special Features/Characteristics: Rotated while hovering. Two rows of lights arranged across the face at the midline. Departure speed too fast to track direction. Area beneath the object glowed red after departure. Nearly circular 40-foot patch of burned bean vines found the following morning. Vines appeared burned but with no evidence of flame. Aerial photograph taken. Plant samples collected for laboratory analysis. Radiation tests at site negative.

Source: APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization) — Field investigation by Glenn McWane and LeRoy Latham. Aerial photograph by McWane. Local radio broadcast of taped interview with witnesses.

Case Status: Unexplained

Summary/Description: On the night of July 13, 1969, Pat Barr and her 17-year-old cousin Kathy Mahr observed a rotating disc-shaped object with a dull metallic finish and two rows of midline lights hovering over a bean field at the Barr farm, 7.2 miles south of Garrison, Iowa. The object departed at extreme speed. The area beneath it glowed red after departure. The following morning, a nearly circular 40-foot patch of burned bean vines was discovered. APRO field investigators McWane and Latham conducted an on-site investigation, took aerial photographs, and collected plant samples for laboratory analysis. Radiation tests were negative. The bean vines appeared burned but showed no evidence of flame. Mr. Barr, initially skeptical, acknowledged the damage was “something unusual.” The local radio station broadcast a taped interview with the witnesses.

Detailed Report

The investigation was conducted by APRO field investigator Glenn McWane and member LeRoy Latham. The initial interview was obtained by Latham. Warren Barr, who owned the property, subsequently declined to allow his daughter Kathy to be interviewed further.

On the night of July 13, 1969, Pat Barr and her 17-year-old cousin Kathy Mahr were preparing for bed in an upstairs bedroom at the Barr farm home, located 7.2 miles south of Garrison, Iowa. Pat’s attention was drawn by the sound of what seemed to be a low-flying jet. She went to the north window and looked out in the direction of a neighboring farm. She called Kathy to the window.

Both girls observed a strange object hovering over a large bean field on the Barr farm. Kathy Mahr provided the following description: the object had a dull metallic finish that was easily discerned because of two rows of lights arranged across the face of it at the midline. It appeared like “two coffee saucers placed rim to rim” and rotated as it hovered. The sighting lasted only a few seconds, after which the object departed at such high speed that neither girl could determine precisely which direction it went, except that it passed their window. The area where the object had hovered was glowing red after it disappeared from sight. Neither girl was frightened; both were curious about the craft.

At breakfast the following morning, the girls told the Barrs about what they had seen. Mr. Barr was skeptical and attributed the sighting to “a figment of their imagination.” However, later that morning he discovered, at the spot the girls had indicated, a nearly circular patch of ground in his bean field that was almost bare. The bean vines appeared to have been burned, although there was no evidence of flame.

The affected area was approximately 40 feet in diameter and was clearly visible from the air. McWane provided an aerial photograph documenting the burn pattern. Local news media showed interest, and a taped interview with the Barr girls was broadcast on a local radio station. Most local residents were inclined to attribute the mark to a fireball or lightning.

Mr. Barr did not entirely rule out lightning. When interviewed, he said he hadn’t informed authorities initially because he was skeptical. Pat Barr stated that she was convinced the object she saw had caused the damage and that it was an “air-flying object from outer space.” Mr. Barr told interviewers he “would hesitate to guess” at the object’s identity but felt it was “something unusual.”

Samples of the bean vines from inside the circle, near the outside edge, and from elsewhere in the field were gathered by McWane and submitted to an APRO consultant for examination. Tests for radiation at the site revealed nothing abnormal, and similar tests of the vine samples were also negative.

Researcher’s Notes

Forty Feet of Burned Beans and an Aerial Photograph

Source Chain: This case was investigated by APRO, one of the oldest and most respected civilian UFO research organizations (founded 1952). Field investigator Glenn McWane conducted on-site investigation, obtained aerial photography, and collected physical samples for laboratory analysis. LeRoy Latham conducted the initial witness interview. The source chain is strong: named investigators, named witnesses (Pat Barr, Kathy Mahr, Warren Barr), on-site investigation, aerial photography, physical sample collection, and local media coverage including a broadcast interview.
Physical Trace Analysis: The 40-foot burned circle in the bean field is the strongest element of this case. The vines appeared burned but showed no evidence of flame — a characteristic inconsistent with conventional fire, lightning strike residue, or chemical herbicide application. Lightning typically produces radial scarring patterns and deeper soil damage; this was a nearly circular area of uniform surface-level vine damage. McWane collected samples from three zones — inside the circle, near the perimeter, and from unaffected areas of the field — for comparative laboratory analysis. The results of that analysis are referenced as pending in the source material; no follow-up publication of results has been located.
The Lightning Question: Local residents and Mr. Barr himself considered lightning as a possible cause. Lightning can produce circular or roughly circular damage patterns in agricultural fields, and Iowa in July is prime thunderstorm season. However, the girls’ observation of a rotating disc hovering over the exact spot where the damage was found the following morning — a spot that glowed red after the object departed — provides a temporal and spatial link between the observed craft and the physical traces. This does not exclude lightning but makes coincidence less plausible.
Witness Assessment: Pat Barr and Kathy Mahr (age 17) were family members at a farm — not UFO enthusiasts or attention-seekers. Their father/uncle Warren Barr was actively skeptical and initially dismissed the account. His subsequent discovery of the burned circle in the exact spot the girls identified converted him from dismissal to at minimum acknowledging “something unusual.” His decision to restrict further interviews with Kathy suggests he was uncomfortable with the attention rather than eager for it — a credibility-positive indicator.
The Red Glow: The residual red glow observed at the hover site after the object’s departure is a detail worth preserving for cross-reference. Post-departure luminescence at CE-II sites is reported in a small but consistent subset of physical-trace cases and may indicate residual thermal radiation, ionized air, or some form of energy deposition in the soil or vegetation.
Classification Rationale: CE-II is correct and well-supported. The object was observed at close range from the farmhouse window, and physical traces — the 40-foot burned circle, clearly visible from the air — were found at the indicated location the following morning. APRO investigation with aerial photography and sample collection confirms the physical evidence was real and documented. Radiation tests were negative. Status is Unexplained.

Warren Barr called it a figment of his daughter’s imagination — until he walked out to the bean field. The 40-foot burned circle was there, visible from a plane, in exactly the spot two girls said they’d watched a rotating disc hover the night before. APRO photographed it from the air and collected samples from three zones of the field. The girls weren’t frightened by what they saw; they were curious. Their father, confronted with the evidence in his own dirt, said it was “something unusual.” He didn’t elaborate. The beans didn’t grow back.