Ockham's razor or Occam's razor
— n
Also called: the principle of economy a maxim, attributed to William of Ockham, stating that in explaining something assumptions must not be needlessly multiplied
Occam's razor or Occam's razor
— n
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Translation: The most simple explanation is usually the most likely.
Hmmm. Let's take a quick sober (or even stoned) look at this and ask which is more simple/likely:
1.) Aliens who came from a star system tens to thousands of light years away, approaching so discretely that they are not seen, have a hidden ship, make no announcement to the planet as a whole, . . . . they've most likely either exceeded the speed of light OR come in what sci-fi authors call generation ships. That's a BIG investment. And they decide to show up in a few rural areas and do nothing but make nifty shapes in crops?
OR
2.) A number of highly organized people, with too much time on their hands, a lot of creativity and energy, a few supplies and possibly a bit of a load on decide to go out in the dead of night and spend 5-6 hours carefully laying out and laying down a nifty pattern in some crops?
Seriously, my money is on #2 at this point in time.