A field of barley within view of the famous Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire, England -- the same field that hosted the spectacular "Julia Set" formation in July 1996 -- is the site of a new crop formation.
According to Mark Fussell and Stuart Dike of the Crop Circle Connector, the 400-foot diameter formation was perhaps two days old when first reported on June 9. It depicts an elaborate "snowflake" design with six branching arms around a central hub, all inside a hexagonal box surrounded by a circular ring. Scores of small individual circles at the end of each branch bring the total number of circles in the formation to 194, tying the record set by last year's "Triple Julia" formation at Windmill Hill.
However, whereas both of the "Julia" formations" were notable for their exquisite craftmanship, this new formation is not.
In the words of the Crop Circle Connector: "The details are irregular, and the craftsmanship of the circles varies greatly. While impressively complex, the design lacks sophistication of finesse. It is not the work of a Picasso -- let alone of ETs or Angels!"
An aerial photo of the new Stonehenge glyph and a diagram by Peter Sorensen are posted at the Crop Circle Connector web site: http://www.marque.demon.co.uk/connector/1997.html
Also reported on June 9 was another formation at West Meon, near Peterfield in Hampshire. Researcher Tim Williams accidentally discovered the formation while flying to view a previously discovered glyph at Winterbourne (see below). His description, reported to the Crop Circle Connector, reads as follows:
"The formation was a fairly simple geometry of an outer circular ring enclosing a diamond, with three small rings inside in alignment, two of them on the tips of the diamond, the third in the centre. Crop was green, couldn't tell of what sort. Neither could we give a size or any idea of the age of the formation.
"Execution looked fairly poor from the air. This and the simple geometry led us to the view that it is most probably a hoax, but neither observers are seasoned crop-circle spotters so I don't want to jump to a conclusion."
As of June 15, photos of the West Meon glyph were not yet posted.
Another major formation was reported on June 1 at Winterbourne Bassett, near Avebury in Wiltshire, in a field owned by farmer George Horton. This was the first formation of the year reported in barley (several previous large formations had been found in rape seed/canola) and, although circular, it was highly complex.
The 150-foot diameter circle enclosed an equilateral triangle bisected three ways and cutting three circles in the corners to create an unusual design referred to by some as "harlequin."
It was noted by one researcher who arrived early on the scene that there were no spurious footprints around the formation, "but neither was there a single magical bend." By this he seems to mean that the stalks were creased or broken, not gently curved over. This would be interpreted by many researchers as a sign of human creation.
A photo and diagram of this formation can be seen at the Crop Circle Connector web site.
Original file name: CNI - Circles.Stnehge
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