History of the 16' circle?

[greymule]

Professor of occult studies at Princeton University tells me the circle originally was not 16 feet, but 5 times pi feet (15.71 feet). Something to do with necromancy and an ancient curse. Through the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the Catholic Church, in an attempt to eradicate vestiges of paganism, set the uniform standard of 16 feet.

If you examine the ancient fields along the Cornish coast, you'll find the five-pi circles.

The prof says the ancients used the exact same infield fly rule, though.