Mysterious circles in Galway Bay

Brief: Three shoreline circles were discovered in Ireland in 1984 after an UFO sighting. 32 years later they are still there!

First published 17. March 2016

A Shamrock of Mysteries for St. Patricks Day

This is a St. Patricks Day Present to the city I love: the Galway Circles.

Location: goo.gl...

The three circles can be seen only during low tide off the shoreline from Salthill, Galway.
I first discovered them during a stay in Galway about 1984.


I went back to Galway Bay in the year 2000, when I took the close-up picture of the western circle on the beach.
I was astonished to see that they were still there.

Imagine my astonishment when I looked at Google Earth to discover that they are still there.
During high tide the circles are covered by water.
How they withstood the pounding of the Atlantic waves during storms for 32 years is anyone's guess.

The origin of the circles is unknown. In fact, the circles are not known. When you go to Google maps you will see that no-one has ever photographed them before, nor made any mention of them.

So, this is a genuine discovery.


The largest circle has a diameter of about 50 meters and is shaped like a giant spoked wheel.
The appearance of the circles up close is that of raised sand. On the raised sand seaweed accumulates, which makes them visible.
Coarse gravel also settles in the distinctive shape of those three circles.

Because there are actually three different shapes to the formation I cant' think of any particular function that could be given to them.


"Circle in Circle"


"Blazing Star"


"The spoked wheel" has a very technical appearance.

Would it be possible that something is buried under the sand? Maybe some old dwellings?


Digging up the Miami Circle

There is a certain resemblance to the famous Miami Circle, but it isn't anything like it, really.
I have no data on the existence of rock underneath the beach in Galway, Ireland (where stilted huts might have been built).

The general area came to my attention because of the sighting of a cigar-shaped UFO, during the annual Salthill Festival (ca. 1983-84).
Two weeks later a string of sightings had been reported along the Irish coast in a tabloid newspaper (it was something like the National Enquirer, not very reputable).

Because of these dubious circumstances I didn't investigate the matter further until now.

If it turns out that there were no septic tanks buried on the beach, novel fishing methods employed or a park of abandoned merry-go-rounds sat around, then an interested party could examine the area with metal detectors, geiger counters or do exploratory digging / drilling.
Inform the authorities beforehand you enter the site!

PS: I first featured the photograph of the western "Circle in Circles" on my website: ireland.ehabich.info...

I've contacted the Galway Archeology Department and the Northern Ireland Ufological Society for corroboration.
It is entirely possible that the circles were there before 1984! I only discovered them in '84.

Would love to hear your opinion, this is posted on my Facebook page, but my friends don't know what hit them...

Possibly old fish traps, but if they're only 32 years old ...?

It makes sense that they'd be traps. Stacked stones, Uncovered at low tide. Any oysters or muscles or fish or whatever would get trapped in them when the tide left and they'd be easy picking for people living there. But they definitely look like they'd have to be ancient and worn down.

I do wonder if they are tide traps (especially the 50 meter circle).

But they could also be the foundations of log roundhouses. In prehistoric times (3000BC), Ireland was tropical forest:

en.wikipedia.org...

Some reconstructions of a Iron Age roundhouse:

uk.pinterest.com...

a reply to: Mr Headshot

I have thought of fish traps too, but why have they 3 different shapes?
Do you know of the force of the Atlantic ocean pounding on the sea shore?

They are a minimum of 32 years in that location, the circles, certainly older.

originally posted by: Mr Headshot
Possibly old fish traps, but if they're only 32 years old ...?

It makes sense that they'd be traps. Stacked stones, Uncovered at low tide. Any oysters or muscles or fish or whatever would get trapped in them when the tide left and they'd be easy picking for people living there. But they definitely look like they'd have to be ancient and worn down.

That's a good thought but it doesnt explain why there is 3 different designs...and the blazing star design wouldnt work very well...for catching fish.
But I do like your idea....makes me want to try it out

a reply to: stormcell

Cool, I like the roundhouse idea!

a reply to: osaitax

Looks like Neolithic roundhouses. The one with "spokes" is a master roundhouse with rooms round a central area. I know I saw a Time Team repeat the other day where they uncovered a roundhouse that looked identical.

Oh and reality check. Which is more likely, an alien craft landing on the beach or a Neolithic settlement near the sea .

i say, in 2016, we should remove the word 'mysterious' among others from modern day vocabulary.

if we want to really deny ignorance .

a reply to: osaitax

They don't call it the wild Atlantic way for nothing =). Different shapes may be just different builders or something, not sure.

a reply to: osaitax

Reminds me of a puffer fish nest.

originally posted by: stormcell
I do wonder if they are tide traps (especially the 50 meter circle).

But they could also be the foundations of log roundhouses. In prehistoric times (3000BC), Ireland was tropical forest:

en.wikipedia.org...

Some reconstructions of a Iron Age roundhouse:

uk.pinterest.com...

I came here to suggest an Iron Age roundhouse, as soon as I saw the pics I started having flashbacks to when I sat down to watch a Time Team omnibus back in 2012 lol. Britain is littered with those things.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
i say, in 2016, we should remove the word 'mysterious' among others from modern day vocabulary.

if we want to really deny ignorance .

Yes, deny ignorance by shortening our vocabulary. Why stop with words when we can burn whole books?

S&F thanks for sharing.
Very well could be as others have mentioned of roundhouses, when the water was at a lower level.

Would be interesting to hear the UFO aspect, as they kinda resemble crop circles in a sense?

I've contacted the Galway Archeology Department and the Northern Ireland Ufological Society for corroboration. It is entirely possible that the circles were there before 1984! I only discovered them in '84.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
i say, in 2016, we should remove the word 'mysterious' among others from modern day vocabulary.

if we want to really deny ignorance .

If that's the only thing you got from the OP's info then

Sorry, I got the year of the discovery and UFO flap wrong: it was around 1987. I mention the sighting because the UFO was as real as the circles you see. Because of my own scepticism, I didn't follow the story up.

Deny ignorance, indeed.

Whatever it is, it's something and not as transient as a crop circle.

19 November 1987 at 7 pm: the Black Country UFO - a large UFO was seen at close quarters hovering over houses in Brierley Hill.[27]
1 December 1987: Philip Spencer (not his real name), a retired policeman, took a picture on Ilkley Moor, which is claimed to be of an alien creature, and then saw a white coloured craft leaving the area. The object in the photograph was examined by Kodak Laboratories at Hemel Hempstead and they decided that the object was not superimposed. This was one of the few British close encounters of the third kind. Under hypnosis he claimed to have been abducted and medically examined.[28]

Source:
en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: osaitax

Being so recent at 32 years old, (if that is accurate) it's a bit of a mystery as to what they were intended for originally.

Although, if they had been older, say ww2 era, i'd imagine they could easily have been Naval practice targets.

Ships would fire at them from the coastal waters, and the grid pattern would help them to zero in on the targets by showing where the rounds fell and what if any corrections would have to be made to the firing solution.

But if they are not as old as ww2 (or even older) then this wouldn't apply..probably.

I suppose it's still possible they were targets, from the cold war era...but that's just reaching a bit too far to get the target theory to 'fit'.

Many thanks for your comments.

The circles were noticed by me 32 years ago.

I did notice them because of a cigar shaped object in the sky,
which was not a balloon, that happened to be in the area at that time.

The circles may or may not have been there before 1987.

The nice thing is, anyone can just go and look and investigate, or get someone else to do that.
I don't know what they are.

If nobody investigates, one could do a crowd funding effort to fund an expediton.
This actually applies more to my next find, a Viking Ship on Disko Island.

UPDATE:

the circles were created by a local artist.

The date of my UFO sighting was wrong, I manged to narrow down the time. As a consequence I found corroborative evidence of my sighting.

The abovetopsecret post was corrected, because my recollection of those events (over 30 years ago) was dated wrongly.

(BTW, I'm extruding my claims on Facebook, www.facebook.com...)

In recollection the time period of the sighting was the year of the Challenger disaster, and the sinking of the nuclear sub K-219. en.wikipedia.org...

I remember this, because I had premonitions about those events. I should have googled the year, because that would make it easier.

The year of my UFO sighting was 1986, which exposes me as a man with a bad memory for years.

So, please, anyone recall the UFO Flap of 1986, which was featured on the cover of a magazine, dealing with UFO's (most likely the Fortean Times)?

When I saw the UFO, the Salthill Festival was on, this allows me to give a tentative date in 1986:
it was probably around 1. March: www.stocktonswinglive.com... That band played at the Festival, I presume, but I can't be 100% sure.

The design of the wheel is sourced from ancient celtic symbols.

The largest of the Circles was the "Jupiter" design (Circle within Circle).
The artist does mention on the website that shortly after they had finished the circles, comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter. www.carrowkeel.com...

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23 February 1986 - Irish Sea, Irish Sea - Prince Charles and four other planes spot luminous red UFO, hovers near royal plane. Makes tabloid newspapers.

9 March 1986 Daytime - Windsor Castle, UK - Tabloid account of luminous red disc, hovered near castle in broad daylight.

thecid.com...

Prince Charles was reportedly involved in a UFO incident in 1986. Flying over the Irish Sea in late February 1986, Prince Charles was returning from a visit to the USA in a RAF VC-10. The pilot reported ahead to Heathrow that he had been startled by a glowing red object in the sky, which lit up the cockpit of the aircraft. No official comment was ever made from the Palace regarding the incident but the MoD did confirm that there was no danger to the Prince.

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