A mysterious 310-foot crop circle discovered recently in a barley field in California was created by marketers and not aliens.
People in Chualar were left stumped after the mysterious crop circle appeared on the farm. Some believed it was a message from outer space, while others thought it was the sign that an extraterrestrial invasion was about to occur.
But their fears were allayed when a tech firm said it was just a publicity stunt ahead of the release of a mobile processor used in automobiles, tablets and cell phones made by the firm.
"It is true. The NVIDIA marketing team is behind this phenomenon," according to its president and CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang.
"What you're looking at here is 310 feet in diameter. It is what people call a crop circle," Huang said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"It's like, out of this world, it's practically built by aliens," Huang was quoted as saying by CNN.
Brett Murray, who works as a marketer for the company, said the idea emerged during a brainstorming session about how to introduce the new product.
The company then set to work, swearing everyone to secrecy, hiring a Hollywood location scout to find "the perfect field in Northern California," and flying in a British group who have made crop circles before.
Starting buzz for the creation, the company called anonymous tip lines for news stations in the Bay Area, telling them: "Something's going on out in Chualar."
By December 30, the news trucks were rolling in and, with them, throngs of curious onlookers. The company hired security to keep them from trampling over the farmer's fields.
Murray said he understood why the story attracted so much attention. "This is like Santa Claus," he said. "People want to believe.
