Satellite captures odd circles in Midwest US

I've been using TomNod.com for some time now - searching satellite images to tag various disasters. The most current disaster tag is the tornadoes that ripped through the midwest. Tagging damaged buildings and roads, etc. Well.... in the area a tornado touched down, there is an odd occurrence of circles (not the colored green circles..that was my tag) Has anyone seen these before? Can they be caused by tornadoes? They almost look like burned circles or something....? What are your thoughts? I'm not calling them paranormal -just saying I don't know what they are, and wondering if anyone does or has theories.
Being that I live in a state that has seen one tornado in my entire life, I have no personal understanding of the after affect a tornado can bring... and I have to say, it's pretty heart-wrenching going through these photos and tagging current buildings - knowing full-well, that every click of a circle I make is a dot over someone's actual life that has changed in a significant way.

a reply to: CeeRZ its hard to see the photo, do you have a link were we can enlarge and see the circles.

a reply to: CeeRZ

You might not care, but I can see your name in the top right of that photo. Just wanted to let you know in case you wanted to edit.

Where are these circles at? It looks pretty rural, and in the country they burn their rubbish. So you may be spot on with the burn circle theory.



ETA - After a second look, I am wondering if they aren't the remains of hay bales. I see possibly cattle or horses in the right (tiny black specs) of the pic. Farmers can purchase huge round bales and then they dump them off of the truck or tractor. They can last awhile and kill the underlying grass.....

WEll I live in a rural area, and can tell you, that you are looking at an area that once had hay that either sat there and killed the grass, or has just been moved. no paranormol there sorry

Maybe mounds of dirt? Looks like some sort of building or trailor at the top. Many contractors in my area will have a piece of land that the will store/take dirt from. A place to keep equipment etc. Could be anything though.

a reply to: Glassbender777

Residing in Illinois, I am familiar with big cylindrical bales of hay. My problem with that theory is that the bales are almost as large as the structure that is to the top of the picture. Those are awfully big hay bales. Ive seen large bales, but nothing the size of a house.

a reply to: Doodle19815

Megan is a very common name.... I'm ok I thought about it before posting it, but not too incredibly worried. Thank you for your concern though!

And I think you guys are right - hay bales. I was trying to figure out what would cause these perfect looking circles in various random locations on the side of a road. Just didn't make sense in my brain. And I'm not from a farming area - very much in the suburbs, so I wasn't sure.

a reply to: andr3w68

I grew up in central IL. They have lots of square bales... You should see the size of the circle bales in TX though. It took me forever to figure out what the giant hamster wheels were laying out in the fields.

a reply to: CeeRZ

A GEOMETRY OF BOMBS, INSCRIBED INTO THE PLANET

bldgblog.blogspot.com...

originally posted by: andr3w68
a reply to: Glassbender777

Residing in Illinois, I am familiar with big cylindrical bales of hay. My problem with that theory is that the bales are almost as large as the structure that is to the top of the picture. Those are awfully big hay bales. Ive seen large bales, but nothing the size of a house.

So I was considering this, and looked at the reference at the bottom - I would say they are close to 75ft wide.
And a large hay bale is considered 26x13x6 ft.... so these are definitely really big for hay bales

Straw bales vary in size and shape with a standard bale being 900mm longx450mmdeepx350mm high. You can also find large bales that are 8x4x4m with the largest being 8x4x2m and require mechanical lifting to transport them.

I was just considering the most obvious, the size does look big, comparing the size to the tree tops, surley its not 75ft, looks to be about a 1/3rd of the tree tops. and if the hay just sat there and decomposed and lost its support it would gain a lot of area. who knows could be landing spots of a UFO, burn piles, dead grass.

a reply to: CeeRZ

Can you show me how you come up with 75ft? I am not seeing that at all. I estimate maybe 50ft going by the key at the bottom right corner.

That is way to large to be hay bales. Any idea what type of place this is exactly?
Interesting find!

Maybe fungus? That grows in circles and can get quite large.

Figure the ruts in the driveway are about 6'-8' apart, makes the circles 15'-20' in diameter. So they haphazardly dump the hay bales and the cows come feed on them and spread them out, muddying the outer perimeters?

originally posted by: Doodle19815
a reply to: CeeRZ

Can you show me how you come up with 75ft? I am not seeing that at all. I estimate maybe 50ft going by the key at the bottom right corner.

You're right - more ilke 50ft - still massive for a hay bale....
I have to admit, having a guide right in the photo is sure helpful!

originally posted by: 11I1I1II1I111II
Figure the ruts in the driveway are about 6'-8' apart, makes the circles 15'-20' in diameter. So they haphazardly dump the hay bales and the cows come feed on them and spread them out, muddying the outer perimeters?

This is definitely the most plausible!

originally posted by: 11I1I1II1I111II
Figure the ruts in the driveway are about 6'-8' apart, makes the circles 15'-20' in diameter. So they haphazardly dump the hay bales and the cows come feed on them and spread them out, muddying the outer perimeters?

Yes that could be and is even consistent with the coloration of the circles, which seem to have a smaller lighter circle inside (maybe remnants of hay?) and a darker circle surrounding it (The muddy outer perimeter).

These are commonly seen and known as buffalo wallow's.
en.wikipedia.org...

Its common to see them in clusters like this even 150 years after the last great buffalo migrations went through.

Most farmers have removed these with what is known as a land leveler
nwauctionservice.com...

what state exactly? they do look like buffalo wallows. i think cows do that too.... i'm guessing cows made those since it appears to be on someones farm.