As usual by late July and early August they were appearing everywhere, but little was it realised at the time that the numbers of formations reported would be down by as much as a third when compared to last season. However, what we lacked in quantity we certainly had gained in quality. The three following designs are but only a small sample of the amazing "jawdroppers" that were around at the time!

Photo 6 - Old Shaw Village, Lockeridge, Wiltshire 28th July

Photo 7 - New House Farm, Acton Turnville, N. Somerset 5th August

Photo 8 - Woodborough Hill, Alton Barnes, Wiltshire 10th August

Whilst still mesmerised by all the beautiful designs that had arrived so far, I don't think anyone was quite prepared for what was about to appear next.

Photo 9 - Milk Hill summit, nr Alton Barnes, Wiltshire 13th August

No one could have anticipated that on one of the wildest and wettest nights of the year, an absolutely stunning 6-armed galaxy of 409 circles would appear! Proclaimed by the world's media as the greatest crop circle event ever, it was discovered occupying the Milk Hill plateau on the 13th August. Covering an area of approximately half a million square feet, people were astounded by its perfectly aligned complexity. The sheer size and scale of the formation was beyond belief. Those who discovered this awe inspiring pattern were simply at a loss to explain why they had found the floors of the circles absolutely bone dry, even though it had been bucketing down all night long!

I personally was amazed to find a harvest mouse nest, very much intact and still attached to its stem, lying amongst the downed crop, in one of the circles. Incredibly, stalks had been swept gently around it, without causing any visible damage! ... Such a simple act clearly demonstrates that "The Circlemakers" show a respect for life.

With this formation sceptics were forced to think once again ... fence-sitting waverers re-entered the fold, and those who had always kept the faith shouted a resounding "Yes!"

Whilst everyone was looking towards "The Circle of Circles" as this year's grand finale, a couple of encores were yet to come. Two of the most extraordinary and highly complex formations ever to appear were discovered lying next to one another at Chilbolton in Hampshire. Confronted by wheat woven around standing cylinders of crop in one formation, and wheat arranged like Lego bricks in the other, it was virtually impossible for anyone to try and work out what the patterns portrayed at ground level. From the air though, researchers were amazed that one formation revealed a sort of Persian rug pattern. But whilst that formation was quite spectacular, researchers nearly fell out of the plane when the other formation revealed a face staring up at them!

Photo 10 - Chilbolton, Hampshire 20th August

Photo 11 - Chilbolton, Hampshire 14th August

With the first formation though it was soon realised that it simply wasn't a rug pattern, but an intricate binary message similar to the one NASA beamed out from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico in 1974, in an attempt to contact alien civilisations. The binary message that was sent in the direction of star cluster M13 (which is around 25,000 light years from Earth) was part of NASA's SETI project and contained much information about the human race. (For example: where we live, population of Earth, our DNA structure and chemical make-up etc, etc.)

Whilst the formation clearly mimics much of the original transmission, there are interesting differences that have left many to deduce that here we have ET returning our call! ... And can you believe that both these formations appeared in a field right next door to a radio telescope?

Photo 12 - Both formations viewed in the field beside the Chilbolton telescope

As for the half-tone veiled face that stares at us from the field, could we be looking at the alien humanoid that transmitted the reply? As you can imagine there's much here to speculate upon, but one thing's for certain though, never have "The Circlemakers" employed this medium in order to communicate in such a direct manner. In the past "The Circlemakers" have always been known for their more subtle approach, employing aesthetically pleasing designs within spiritual symbolism. This new and exciting development adds yet another dimension to what is already a complex but fascinating subject.

At the beginning of each season it is practically impossible to predict how it will unfold. Never has such a season ended on such a high, for surely some of the formations we received this summer were amongst some of the most staggering so far. By continuing to intrigue us they're certainly maintaining our interest, and I for one, being someone who's always been fascinated by them, wouldn't want it any other way!

Graham Tucker © 2001

End notes

1. Aerial photograph of Barrowden formation used by kind permission of Nick Nicholson © 2001.
Nick is editor and publisher of "The Circular Review" - an informative quarterly review of the phenomenon.
email: circular99@lineone.net

2. Aerial photograph of Hillbarn formation used by kind permission of Stuart Dike © 2001.
Stuart is co-webmaster of www.cropconnector.com, which is an absolute must for all dedicated croppies. Daily updates of what's landed where, homepages, articles and links etc.

3. All other photographs used by kind permission of Steve Alexander © 2001.
Steve is a professional crop circle photographer who produces a beautiful yearbook illustrating the season's events. Details to be found on his homepage at:
http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/temporarytemples/books2000.html

4. Diagram & text are by G Tucker © 2001