It's a fair crop of top circles

From the archive, first published Friday 4th Nov 2005.

THEIR mysterious appear- ance has been blamed on visitors from outer space and farmers with too much time on their hands.

But whether you are a hardened sceptic or true believer, there is certainly no doubt the crop circle phenomenon exists.

Wiltshire, with its sparsely populated rolling country- side, is known as the crop circle capital of Britain, with dozens of formations spotted around the county every year.

The ancient stone circle in Avebury is a crop circle hotspot ­ 70 formations were recorded within a 15-mile radius in 2000.

Although they frequent the same fields every year, nobody has ever witnessed or captured on camera the creation of a crop circle, despite numerous overnight watches.

Scientific research has shown that, compared to the field around them, the composition of the soil is altered within a crop circle and the plants are affected at cellular level.

Within the energy field above these formations, electronic equipment such as cameras, video recorders and compasses have often malfunctioned.

One of the largest crop circles on record was discovered at Mick Hill, the highest point in Wiltshire, in 2001, which consisted of 409 circles and measured 787ft in diameter.

Ariel photographs of this year's collection have now been captured and collated in a calendar.

The calendar has been produced by the Wiltshire Crop Circle Study Group, a research group formed in 1995 to observe the manifestations of crop circles in the county.

The group supports scientific research, collecting data in the form of photographs, diagrams and study papers and also publishes Spiral, a monthly newsletter, which is the only one of its kind.

WCCSG meets every month to discuss its research and also holds workshops, lectures and special events like late-night watches.

For more information or to order a copy of the calendar contact WCCSG on (01380) 739966.

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