Posted by Michael Glickman on March 16, 2012

Fig.1 - Jubilee Plantation

John Michell, the great teacher and pioneer of crop circle studies, said that to truly understand any phenomenon you must look at what it does to people. With this firmly in mind I would ask you, before you do anything else, to go to cropcircleconnector.com and find Jubilee Plantation of 15th August 2011. Now look through the sections marked “comments” and “articles”.

You will find yourself immersed in a wild tumult of speculation, obsession and learning. Subjects referred to will include: multi-dimensional E8 symmetry, the penteract, the truncated stellated dodecahedron, the Maya, astronomy, geometry, subatomic particles, Quetzalcoatl, Roman Catholicism, Venus, the Golden Ratio, Hebrew, mathematics, Egyptian mythology, spiders, snakes, Aztecs and da Vinci. This selection is random and by no means comprehensive. It is impossible to discover where all the correspondents come from though England, Russia, China and Australia at least are represented.

The volume and range of this information and scholarship is impressive and, in many ways, daunting.

But this is not the point. Assuming (as I do) that all of these comments, these connections and these intuitions are serious and valuable, what was the stimulus that could produce such a torrent of ideas? What is so moving and so overwhelming about a pattern pressed into a field of wheat?

The Jubilee Plantation crop circle is, I believe, a formation of great significance but half an hour spent on the Connector will reveal dozens of formations that have produced a similar density of response. John Michell was right. Perhaps the crop circle phenomenon’s true objective is to widen our curiosity and to extend our interests; in short to open up our consciousness

THE JUBILEE PLANTATION FORMATION
This crop circle [Fig.1] was certainly one of the most spectacular of the 2011 season and will come to be regarded, I suspect, as a landmark of the phenomenon.

This was a large, complex and elaborate design. It was something over 300 feet in diameter and it is useful to break it into its component parts. It can be viewed as three concentric ideograms, the central, the intermediate and the outer. Each has a radically different structure and, I imagines, a radically different meaning.

THE CENTRAL

Fig.2 - Jubilee Centre

The central pattern [Fig.2] is contained within a decagon, a ten-sided figure within which is a decagram, a ten pointed star. Contained in this figure is a complex, multi-layered diagram, the penteract. The penteract is also known as the 5-D hypercube. It is formed of forty separate straight lines, each subdivided into several parts. It is a shockingly difficult figure to understand and to draw. Stare at drawing [Fig.3]for a few minutes and you might see both two and three dimensional forms, squares and cubes, triangles and octagrams of differing sizes in many orientations. You might start to grasp its multi-dimensional nature.

Fig.3 - Diagram of geometry

In 1999 the Cube at Allington Down was the first clearly three-dimensional symbol the crop circles had given us. At that time I was preoccupied with the classical notion that the square symbolised the World and mechanical reality while the circle represented Heaven and the spiritual realm. And just as I felt that we were being shifted from the third to the fifth dimension,
Allington, in moving from the 2D square to the 3D cube, echoed that transformation.

Here, the primary complex pattern in the centre of Jubilee Plantation truly refers to the fifth dimension.

THE INTERMEDIATE
The intermediate part of this formation [Fig.4] is a ring of exquisitely laid wheat. The interior of the ring is a decagon generated by the central form while the exterior is simply circular. [Fig.5] Shows the remarkable lay within this component. There are at least three, and possibly four, levels of overlaid zigzags of finely manipulated wheat.
Viewed in detail the interior edge of this ring is most particular. The ten vertices of the decagon, that is the ten points where the ten straight lines join, are enclosed in a circle. Between that circle and the decagon the wheat is flat. The interior edge of the zigzag ring has ten flattened areas. The junction between the laid area and the zigzag area is shown on the left of image [Fig.5].

Fig.4 - Jubilee intermediate

Fig.5 - Detail of intermediate ring

I have no idea what, if anything, might be the meaning of this intricately fashioned ring but certainly it illuminates the continuing craftsmanship of the crop circle programme.

Fig. 6 - Jubilee outer ring

Image [Fig.6] shows the five large crescents surrounding and enclosing the formation. At their broadest point the crescents are about 16 foot wide. Five slender pathway arcs curving outwards from the intermediate section to end at what at first appears to be a broader containing ring define them. On closer examination the external ring is not in fact circular but is simply the union of the five arcs that become thicker as they join to form the periphery.

THE CIRCLE, THE ARC AND THE COMPASS

Fig.7 - Compass

The cheap school compass with no screw adjustment is useless. Often the hinge becomes loose, the mechanism becomes floppy and, crucially, the distance between A and B, the point and the pencil, is compromised.

There are many crop circle myths, but two are important here. The first is the idea that crop circles are circular. They never are! They are oval, though the degree of ovality, that is the difference between the xx axis and the yy axis, is usually too small to be distinguished by eye. The only crop formation in my experience which contained a true measured circle was the six-petaled flower at Waden Hill, Avebury on 3rd July 1998.

The second crop circle myth is that a piece of rope with a man on each end can accurately deliver a circle or arc. But the question of accuracy is not important here. At anything over about forty feet the weight of the rope will cause a substantial sag.

Fig.8 - Jubilee centres of curvature

Image [Fig.8] shows with what precision the centres of curvature of the arcs were located within the central geometry. This image should be compared with [Fig.6]. Each of the red dots in [Fig.8] locates the centre of an arc.

Less than a mile south of the magisterial Jubilee Plantation formation is the ridge of Calstone Down, which houses both the Landsdowne monument – a tapering stone obelisk on the horizon at Cherhill – and the Cherhill White Horse. A small group of fields, almost an amphitheatre, lies between this hill and the A4 road. Our understanding of Jubilee Plantation might be illuminated by reference to a few historic, and perhaps coincidental, crop circle events that have appeared here.

Fig.9 - Cherhill Flying Duck, 26th May 1994

The formation was in young green barley. A light breeze passed over the field like a gently caressing hand. It was the end of the day and, though the sun had gone down, it was still light and I could see, above all, just how colossal this arc was. I had never seen a crop circle curve that size and certainly not since. It remains with me as a marker of limit and is ironic now to be reminded that the five (certainly large) sweeps at Jubilee Plantation were dwarfed by their gargantuan 1994 ancestor and neighbour.

It was too late to go into the Flying Duck. I was with Mary Bennett who wanted to take photographs. I waited by the road overlooking the field and stared down at the majestic and enigmatic formation. I remember being overwhelmed by the simplicity of the design and the audacity of its scale.

Though since 1994 I have been convinced that this Cherhill formation displayed the largest radius ever seen, until the discussion of Jubilee I had never attempted to put a number to that radius. Having worked on it I would now estimate that the radius of curvature of that arc is something in the order of 450 feet or more than three times the radius of the Jubilee Plantation sweeps. This is an estimate only but I believe it to be reasonable. Reasonable but gigantic! I would appreciate any useful feedback or comment.

THE SECOND DIGRESSION: ZAPS OF THE EARLY NINETIES
During the early nineties, visitors to some crop circles often became unwell and certain formations acquired a particularly bad reputation. At the mildest level there would be short-lived headaches or feelings of nausea. More seriously, there were occasional reports of people fainting or collapsing. People said that they had been “zapped” and it was often seen as a mark of pride. There were never long term negative effects and indeed many felt, in some indefinable way, improved or realigned by the experience. The general view was that zapping was a reaction to an energetic field existing in the formation.

The most notorious formation for consistency of zapping was the so-called “Celtic Barmaid” (again, forgive me, I don’t know!) on 23rd July 1994 at Waden Hill, Avebury. This formation caused much disorientation and several collapses. Many people were physically unable to enter the formation. These reactions generally occurred within a day or two of a circle’s appearance and were rare after two days. I have heard few, if any, reports of zapping since the mid nineties. Glenn Broughton has never experienced a zap, but regularly, on entering a formation, he experiences a discomfort in the sinuses which dissipates in minutes

I am unable to dowse and I envy those who “feel the energies” though here, again, we stray dangerously close to Crystal Fairy territory. Such masters as Hamish Miller and John Michell have tried to teach me but I was inevitably dismissed as a dunce! My relationship with the phenomenon has always been visual. I look and I see; I do not tangibly feel.

Yet I was zapped three times. The first time in 1992 after visiting a little reported snail formation at Everleigh I became ill. In 1993 the “Hand of Friendship” was in the adjoining Cherhill field to the west of the Flying Duck. It made both my son and I feel unwell. But my final and most uncomfortable zap was delivered during the ten or fifteen minutes I stared, almost dreamlike, at the Flying Duck in its sea of softly undulating crop and with the gigantic and perplexing arch of its spine.

As I stood there I felt, almost uniquely for me, what I could only describe as a surge coming from the Cherhill field. I was mildly but persistently ill for ten days.

The formation arrived on Thursday 26th May 1994 and we visited it on Saturday 28th May. On Sunday 29th May John Martineau came to see me. As I opened the door to him he staggered back and raised his hands. “Wow, they certainly got you!” he said.

I realise I take a risk here and this small tale could easily be dismissed as the babblings of an old hippy. Make of it what you will.

THE THIRD DIGRESSION: LITTLE ELEPHANTS
Jubilee Plantation and a formation in the Cherhill bowl share another curious link; the strange little logo that appeared by the exemplary Swirled Moons formation [Fig.10] and [Fig.11] below the White Horse on 18th July 1999.

Fig.10 - Cherhill below White Horse

Looking carefully, it was clear that the main structure was three overlaid equilateral triangles rotated 40° from each other. The nine visible outer triangles are in fact the truncated points of the three equilaterals. The six swirled moons were geometrically very complex. Entering the circle was overwhelming both for the tenderness of the way in which the wheat had been handled and the charm and clarity of the three-dimensional space. It had the spirit of an enchanted garden. The occasions when the graphic grace of a two-dimensional crop circle drawing coincides with the experience of the architectural elegance of the formation itself are very rare. This, outstandingly, was one of those.

There was to be another major revelation. I went to the edge to look at the attendant logo and realised I had seen it before!

Fig.11 - Cherhill Swirled Moons 18th July 1994

Starting at Jubilee Plantation of 15th August 2011 we have moved less than a mile south to the Cherhill Amphitheatre in 1993 & 1994, dealt briefly with enormous crescents and zapping. Staying at Cherhill we have found the small thumbprint outside the formation of 18th July 1999, which makes it necessary now to race backwards in time to 4th July 1998, and about 70 miles northwards to Dadford in Buckinghamshire.

There had been stories of an unusual star formation in Dadford. Dadford is very close to the Silverstone racing circuit and is miles outside normal crop circle territory. I drove up with Denni Clark and one of her annual US crop circle visitor groups. It was a long trip into unfamiliar territory but eventually we found the field. There were Formula One trials less than a mile away which made this the noisiest crop circle experience of my life.

Fig.12 - Dadford 4th July 1998

There were three enigmatic symbols around the formation, rather like logos or trademarks. One clearly was an Egyptian Ankh, another was a strange T-shaped object surmounted by a large disc, rather like a primitive African sculpture. The third was more mysterious. I went into this third form and measured it but it took me some time to recognise what it might, perhaps, have represented. Viewed from a certain angle, the third symbol seemed to be a rather cartoon-like image of an elephant [Fig.13].

Fig.13 - Dadford elephant

Fig.14 - Cherhill elephant

On 21st September 1995 statues of the Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesh had reportedly started to drink the offerings of milk left before them in the temple. Gifts of food and drink have been placed before the statues for centuries. Normally they are distributed to the poor at the end of the day, the gods having been believed to consume only the “immaterial” part of the offerings.

On this occasion, in Delhi, a woman insisted on being admitted to the temple after dreaming that Ganesh was about to descend to earth to drink milk. To widespread astonishment, the milk, which she offered in a spoon to the statue of Ganesh, was seen to disappear.
Within hours the story of this miracle spread like wildfire around the world. Soon, crowds of thousands besieged Hindu temples in India, and throughout Asia, Europe, Australia, North and South America, bringing milk to be drunk and, presumably, to confer blessings on the giver. I personally saw a large crowd around the Hindu temple in Neasden, London.

Obviously, on many occasions, nothing happened and often the drinking of milk occurred under questionable circumstances. However, there are many stories, supported by credible witnesses, of the inexplicable disappearance of liquids into statues.

The explanologist shock troops were quickly on hand to suggest that the material of which the statues were carved must have been porous and absorbed the milk. Some even went to far as to suggest that the statues had been hollowed out and filled with absorbent kitty litter!

After two or three days of international pandemonium the milk drinking slowed and then ended. There can be little doubt that something extraordinary had happened but, as always, the mystery remains. The ritual of offerings had been regularly practised for centuries but this drinking phenomenon had never occurred before. How, if it was all a fake, had hundreds of thousands of pilgrims been duped?

Have we heard this question before?

Fig.15 - Jubilee elephant

As I made clear at the start, I believe the Jubilee Plantation formation is a seminal classic. There is a widespread sense of its importance. I have been asked for my “interpretation” of it and, indeed, starting this piece I felt sure that there would be some clues or gateways to further understanding. However, this astonishing crop circle remains – for me at least – calmly and graciously resistant and impenetrable.

It has sent me nostalgically through several formations over several seasons and I come away from the exercise enriched but equally bewildered. Who could say what it means? Who could have the hubris to try?

The farmer, finding this breathtaking miracle on his land, characterised it as “mindless vandalism” and, as an affronted farmer, we must forgive him his anger and his shortsightedness. A well-known researcher (whose name, out of respect, I will not give) having visited the formation, publically agreed with the farmer’s outrageous judgement.

What has happened to our discernment?

Acknowledgements and thanks
Photography: Steve Alexander, Werner Anderhub, Jineen Cronin, Patricia Murray, Karen Ryan
Diagrams and graphics: Ofmil Haynes Jr
Field measurements: Joanna Barry, Jineen Cronin and Daniel Rozman