Robbert, October 2006, just before a new circle occurred in front of us. After a few normal images, the "fuzzed" photos began.

Every so often when we go out to a field where crop circles have previously occurred (or, as in this instance, actually occur while we are right there) (see: http://www.bltresearch.com/eyewitness/eyewitness4.php), a "fuzzed" effect will begin to appear on some of the photographs. In October, 2006, during a trip to Robbert's "special" field, the photos were all more or less normal at first. But then Robbert began to feel a "presence" and started to take a series of self-portraits, using my Pentax. He generally holds the camera in one hand out in front of his face, usually taking several photos at a time before stopping to look at them and/or show them to me. In this case I was standing right next to him, observing carefully.

As Robbert concentrated on the energetic "presence" he continued to take photos and his face became slightly obscured in a whole sequence of shots. After we had checked the first group of these photos I took out my 35mm camera and photographed him while he continued to take self-portraits with my Pentax—and the fuzzed effect appeared on my 35mm film photographs also.

At one point I wondered what would happen if I inserted my head into the frame also, right next to his. Every time I tried this the Pentax photos became absolutely normal. But when I moved a few feet away again and resumed taking pictures with the 35mm while he continued with the Pentax, both his digital and my film shots again showed the "fuzzed" effects.

"Fuzzed" effect in self-portrait taken with Pentax digital camera. Fuzzing also occurred in 35mm film photos of Robbert, taken by Nancy simultaneously.

"Fuzzed" effect in one of Nancy's film shots taken at same time Robbert was getting this effect with the Pentax. (Photo: N.Talbott, 35mm camera)

Effect continues as Robbert focuses on unseen energy, now producing a distortion around both his head and hand.

Normal photos occurred intermittently during this session, just prior to a new crop circle appearing 30-40 ft. in front of us.

This fuzzing can also occur (particularly in areas which have been otherwise "active") when Robbert aims the camera at people who have accompanied him. When Andreas Muller, a German crop circle colleague of Nancy's, joined us in 2007 Robbert photographed multiple extreme anomalies on both Andreas' and Nancy's cameras. Intermittently all of the photos would became normal for a brief period, and then this same "fuzzed" effect appeared in photos on all three cameras prior to the more striking anomalies appearing again. (Some of these more unusual photos appear in the next section.)

Andreas Muller and Nancy at Zavenbergen,Holland, 2007. Fuzzing occurred during a break in a photo series of brilliant light rings.

"Fuzzed" effect also occurred when camera was aimed at the horizon. Red light is a barely visible house light ½ mile away.

The same effect occasionally occurs in daytime, again usually when we are at a location where crop circles and/or other anomalous situations have occurred. As with the other anomalies, this "fuzzing" occurs mixed in with other totally normal photographs. One or two will be "fuzzed," then several will be normal, back and forth for varying periods of time.

"Fuzzed" effect in daytime, 2007, during visit to field near Hoeven where many crop circles have appeared.

Light Rings

"Light Ring" photographed by Robbert in 2000, at dusk, with a 3MegaCam. Ring was not visible, flash did not fire.

Robbert v/d Broeke has developed, over the years, an ability to somehow instantaneously "know" a great deal of information about people by simply focusing his attention upon them; in fact an acute awareness of the details of other people's lives sometimes occurs spontaneously, without any intent on his part at all. As the scope of this ability continues to develop, he has become sought out by many people who seek his counsel, and his father has built a small office adjoining the family's home where Robbert can see clients.

There are several of Robbert's light phenomena photographs on the walls of this office, two of which are of brilliant light rings which Robbert photographed years ago, late one afternoon. I know the place where the photos were taken and know there is no normal light source anywhere near which could possibly explain those rings….and I have wondered if (and secretly wished that) something similar would appear on my camera during one of my visits.

I never told Robbert about my interest in this particular anomaly. There have been only a few times in all the years I've known him that I was totally unable to control my amazement at something that occurred—one being in 2001 when we saw the 3 light tubes make a crop circle in the field behind his house (http://www.bltresearch.com/eyewitness/eyewitness1.php), another being the night an unknown man's face and another unidentifiable image appeared on the camera, while we were working in Robbert's office one night (http://www.bltresearch.com/eyewitness/eyewitness7a.php - part 2), and a third being an event that occurred on my last visit in October, 2008, which I have not yet reported.

Another "light ring" in same series as above, taken with Robbert's 3 MegaCam. Ring was not visible, flash did not fire.

At any rate, I had secretly hoped that "light rings" might appear on my camera someday. A crop circle that both Robbert and I felt was special had occurred in a field at Zavenbergen in the summer of 2007 before I arrived in August. The field had been cut by the time Robbert took me there, but I immediately loved the place and felt it was a good place for us to visit again. There are no houses nearby, no big roads, and the field is quite big and open compared to many in Holland. And there is a wide canal which cuts through the far end of the field, but which you can't see until you are right next to it.

On that first visit I got quite a startle when, in the pitch-black dark I suddenly saw large lights moving slowly, down low along this far side of the field--and heading in our direction. I know what tractor lights look like at night in the fields and realized these lights were not on tractors. And, not knowing about the canal I began to envision a more exotic scenario, until Robbert pointed out that what we were seeing were lights on a barge coming down the canal.

But something fairly exotic and not so readily explainable did occur that night. Because we weren't too familiar with the field at that time, we stayed mostly up on a small access road which runs alongside the field. While it was still dusk Robbert began to take photos…and to my astonishment, dozens of light rings—not visible to the eye--began to appear on the Pentax's LED screen.

Pentax, Ring E: original (top) & w/contrast added (bottom). In original, frame is much darker than real light; w/increased contrast sunset now visible. Flash did fire.

Pentax, Ring D: original (top) & w/contrast added (bottom), again reveals sunset. Lower arc & streak are reflections in camera's optics. Flash did fire.

Pentax, Ring D: very high contrast & "edge-find" added.

Not only did most of the originals of the light ring photos appear much darker than the true ambient light, these unnaturally dark photos also do not capture any of the immediate environment--as one would expect--when the flash (which fired in all cases except the two taken by Robbert with his 3 MegaCam in 2000 and the final "complete" ring photo taken by Nancy with the Pentax) was activated. Additionally, in some of these photos we could see many small BOLs inside the rings, and/or just outside them—similar to those we observed in a number of the light tube photos.

Pentax, Ring P: original (top) & w/ backlight, contrast adjustment & "edge find" applied (bottom). Small BOLs can be seen inside ring. Flash did fire.

Pentax, Ring P: contrast markedly increased and "edge find" applied. Black dots below ring are lights from distant farmhouse.

Pentax, Ring C: original (top) & w/contrast adjusted (bottom) we can see some nearby trees & BOLs inside ring. Flash did fire.

Pentax, Ring C: w/high contrast & "edge find" BOLs appear to be moving.

In a few "ring" photos taken with the Pentax the rings appear much closer to the lens and in all of these not only were the rings thicker, the immediate surroundings are better lit.

Pentax, Ring L: original (top) & w/backlight & contrast adjusted (bottom); nearby bushes now visible. BOLs & bottom ring probably caused by reflections in camera optics. Flash did fire.

In 2007 German crop circle researcher Andreas Muller joined Nancy and Robbert in Hoeven on two different occasions, a few days apart. Because Robbert had already taken a dozen or so light ring photos at Zavenbergen with Nancy's Pentax prior to Andreas' arrival, we were all curious to see if Robbert would get the same kind of anomalies on Andreas' much more sophisticated Olympus E-330 digital camera—and, if so, to see how they might differ, and in what respects. [The Olympus camera was set the entire time in "auto" mode.]

Although on this night there were two of us watching Robbert neither Andreas nor I saw any indication of chicanery, or any light at all other than the flash of the cameras as Robbert continued taking photos. There are a few farmhouses at least ½-mile away, but absolutely no bright light source anywhere near this field. [ Both Andreas and Nancy took some photos themselves from time to time, but no anomalies occurred in their images.]

Almost immediately Robbert again began again getting photos of brilliant light rings. We could see that, with the Olympus, the light rings were thicker and much brighter than the majority of those that had occurred with the Pentax. Overall, they appeared to be closer to the camera, and the immediate environment was now visible in these images, as one would normally expect in a flash photo. But is this due to the flash or the light rings themselves?

Olympus E-330, Ring I (original): one of several much thicker, bright white light rings; immediate environment lit normally. Flash did fire.

Olympus E-330, Ring M: original (top) & w/backlighting, contrast adjustment & lens sharpening (bottom). Flash did fire.

Olympus E-330, Ring M: w/"edge find" also applied. Small circle beneath ring is the almost full moon.

Very curiously, some of the Olympus camera's rings were a soft pink color and when these occurred (interspersed with the others), the ambient light in the photos was again very dark and the immediate surroundings, again, not visible.

Olympus E-330, Ring H: original (top) & w/SHO &"edge find" applied (bottom); pink color appears and flash fails to illuminate surroundings. Flash did fire.

Olympus E-330, Ring F: original (top) & w/SHO & "edge find" applied (bottom). Pink ring appears to have multiple BOLS moving internally. Flash did fire.

When Andreas returned a few nights later he brought a third camera, a Supra DC-8600, and we all returned again to Zavenbergen. This camera was also a much better quality than the Pentax and, again, many of the light rings Robbert got with the Supra DC-8600 were both pink and fatter than those taken with the Pentax. And although this camera was also set in "auto" mode the images seem a little more detailed.

Supra DC-8600, Ring K: original (top), & w/backlighting & contrast adjustment (bottom). Bright dot inside ring is full moon. Flash did fire.

Supra DC-8600, Ring K: "edge find" is added here. Black mark below ring is a distant farmhouse light.

Supra DC-8600, Ring J: original (top) & w/contrast added, backlighting & "edge find" applied (bottom). Flash did fire.

Supra DC-8600, Ring A: original (top) & w/sharpening & "edge find" applied (bottom). Rings A, J and K photographed sequentially, seconds apart. Flash did fire.

Supra DC-8600, Ring A: "glowing edges" filter applied. White dot inside ring is full moon. Distinct BOL is outlined inside ring itself.

There are many more of these "light ring" photos taken by Robbert using all three cameras. They were taken on three different nights, but all at the same field near Zavenbergen, and all the cameras were in the "auto" mode. There was no visible bright light source at any time, other than the camera flash (the moon, although full on the last night, was quite low on the horizon and not very bright; also, many of the light ring images were shot with the cameras aimed away from the moon). And I never saw Robbert move any of the cameras around in the air while he took these (or any other) photos. On each night he did report that he perceived (as is usual when photo anomalies occur) the now familiar "energy" or "presence," although on Andreas' first visit this "energy" did not appear immediately and on his second visit it was only present briefly, albeit resulting in spectacular images.

I did notice something else which I suspect is important. On the first night when Robbert and I were alone at Zavenbergen I also felt something very subtle, but different, when we arrived. On that night Robbert began getting the light ring photos immediately, and they continued for quite some time.

When Andreas was with us something felt different. Because Robbert and I have known each other for years and seen so much together, and because we are almost always alone when we go to the fields Robbert is generally quite at ease at these times. Robbert had invited Andreas to come along primarily because he knows I respect Andreas' thoughtful approach not just to the crop circles, but to anomalous phenomena generally. And, although I emphasized to Robbert that it did not matter to me or Andreas whether anything unusual occurred or not, I know that Robbert hoped to be able to demonstrate these photo anomalies for Andreas too. I suspect this created a tension not normally present when it is just the two of us together, and that Robbert had to make a greater effort at concentrating or focusing himself, instead of being able to just allow the "energy" to come through as it usually does.

As we saw in Part 2 ("Attempts to Replicate Light Streak Photos") the BLT photographic consultant was able to produce a type of light ring in his kitchen by focusing his camera on the bright kitchen ceiling light while the camera was in "slo synchro" mode, and then moving the camera lens around in a circle before the flash fired and the lens closed. Again, I can only point out here that there was no visible bright light source present during the three nights we were at Zavenbergen, the cameras were all in "auto" mode, and Robbert did not move the camera around at all while taking these photos.

One last fact. A week or so after the Zavenbergen sessions, but at another location entirely—a very dark field closer to Hoeven where I was hoping a crop circle might occur in the maize—I photographed the light ring below with my Pentax. It's the only light ring I personally have ever gotten, and it's the only total ring entirely in the frame that either of us has taken. And it is so bright that absolutely no other details are revealed upon examination of this ring in programs like Photoshop. And, curiously, the camera's flash did not fire.

Pentax: Nancy's complete ring, 2007. Flash did not fire.