Authorities in this northern Nebraska town searched Wednesday for the origin of mysterious "crop circles" that appeared in a nearby barley field this week.

"Nothing like this has ever happened around here before," Boyd County Sheriff Duane Pavel said. "People are in awe."He said a circle about 25 feet in diameter in the barley field was surrounded by a wide swath of barley and then another cleared ring about 4 feet wide. In all, the design was about 42 feet in diameter.

Pavel said there were no footprints, vehicle tracks or signs indicating the circles in the field were man-made.

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