Maritzburg UFO fan comes home to find ‘crop circles’ on her lawn
01 Mar 2009
The aliens have landed. Or not.

A Pietermaritzburg UFO fanatic has fallen victim to a prankster after returning from church yesterday morning to find crop circles in her garden.

Kitty Smith — a Hayfields resident who founded the Pietermaritzburg UFO club 54 years ago at the age of 23 — says when she left her house shortly after 9 am there were no crop circles in sight.

“When I returned, I was shocked to see these circles cut into the grass. I’m obviously being hoaxed, but I must say I’m quite impressed with the meticulous precision that went into the hoax,” she said.

Smith says what puzzles her is how the culprits managed to gain access to her garden because she is certain that the gate was locked when she left.

A gardener who was on duty at the house opposite to hers says he recalls seeing three cars parked outside Smith’s home while she was away.

“I saw people busy in the yard and I could hear the sounds of a lawn mower but I didn’t think anything of it. I just assumed that people were cutting the grass,” said gardener Wesley Ntombela.

Smith says she was the victim of a similar hoax three years ago.

While she was hosting a UFO party at her home, one of her friends arranged for a strange red light to float above her premises. She says she was surprised to see this light darting across the night sky, but soon realised that someone was playing a practical joke on her.

Smith says her initial suspect was close friend Frank Downs, but when the gardener was asked to identify him as one of the culprits, he said Downs was not one of the people he saw in her yard.

“I always take the mickey out of her and although we’re friends, I don’t believe in aliens or UFO’s.

I admit to being behind the previous hoax … but I had nothing to do with this. I get up to mischief sometimes so I’m quite upset that whoever did this didn’t include me,” said Downs.

Smith says that although she faces repeated ridicule for her interest in the paranormal, she nevertheless still firmly believes in alternate life forms.