Posted by Michael Glickman on October 14, 2018

THE 2018 SEASON

Some optimism (and a couple of problems)

The 2018 Crop Circle season was exceptional; we were granted (or perhaps we have earned) several formations of classic quality. It is too early to offer a comprehensive overview and so, forgive me, this will be a random, stream-of-consciousness piece. My adversaries will call it disjointed and rambling; my pals might suggest it’s discursive.

1. Martinsell Diagram

Let’s start with number and geometry. The general view is that this year’s English formations touched the high thirties. I drew thirty-two of them and as usual they are up on my wall (2) where they will stay, as a daily resource and reminder, until next season.

2. Some drawings of 2018 formations

NUMBER AND GEOMETRY

A cursory and definitely unscientific scan of the Number and Geometry of the season shows that there were four Threefold formations, three Fourfold, four Fivefold, five Sixfold, one Sevenfold, one Eightfold, one Ninefold and three Twelvefold. This, I repeat, was a rather fleeting analysis but it is enough to give the flavour. Interestingly, Sixfold is solidly in the lead; something emphasized by the fact that the first, Willoughby Hedge 8th May (3), and last Pancake Plantation 19th August (4), formations of the year were Sixfold. The season was unquestionably bookended by six.

3. Drawing of Willoughby Hedge 8th May 2018

4. Drawing of Pancake Plantation 19th August 2018

TWO RECURRING IDEAS

For many years I have been preoccupied, indeed obsessed, with the idea that the Circle phenomenon’s intention is (among a multitude of other things) to communicate. The language is of course symbolic and enigmatic; the circle authors are – above all – brilliant teachers who understand that we, the pupils, should be stretched. It will be a long time before we fully grasp the aim and meaning of their tremendous project.

But through all this their constant reiteration of two themes has been reliable and undeniable; the Squaring of the Circle (or as I pedantically prefer, the Circling of the Square) and their repeated exploration of the five pointed star, the pentagram as a symbol of humanity.

5. Buckland Down 25th May 2018

6. Buckland Down circles the square

THE CIRCLING OF THE SQUARE

I have written extensively on this subject in my piece The Square Recircled 26th July 2015 and I would direct interested readers to that. Two examples of CtS from this season are Buckland Down on 25th May (5) & (6) and Allington on 21st July (7) & (8). Both the photographs and the diagrams demonstrate that, while each formation has clearly retained its own nature and spirit, it has been conscripted, like many crop circles before, to precisely embody a Circled Square. How is this repeated so perfectly and seemingly without effort year after year?

7. Allington 21st July 2018

8. Allington circles the square

THE (OFTEN DISTORTED) PENTAGRAM

If the Pentagram is the Star of Life and also, for the Circle Authors, an emblematic representation of humanity (9), interpretations of the circle messages are clear. Both the Bythorn formation of 5th September 1993 and the Bishops Cannings formation of 13th July 1997 showed perfect pentagrams upside down, that is pointing South. This suggests that Man, humankind, was badly oriented, the wrong way up. But the geometry of these formations indicated generously that the stars could be simply reoriented to imply that we were once more standing on our feet. Locations for correctly repositioned stars were prominently available. This idea was amplified in my blog of 10th April 2017, Phive Pointed Star.

9. Man in Pentagram

If Bythorn and Bishops Cannings pentagrams can be read, by their upside down-ness, as a comment on Mankind’s dysfunction, then the subsequent distortion of the stars took it further.

In East Field on the 21st May 2000 an extraordinary feat of geometrical deftness appeared (10). Though it had five extremities like a pentagram, it was clearly based on the skilful reimagining of an equilateral triangle. I could be wrong (please correct me if necessary) but I believe this was the very first reconfigured crop circle pentagram. That it appeared in East Field, Alton Barnes, seen by many as sacred crop circle ground, accentuates its intended importance in the crop circle narrative.

10. Drawing of East Field 21st May 2000

The composite illustration (11) shows two recent examples of warped pentagrams. The lower left is a formation at Rollright Stones on the 5th August 2017 with the detail silhouette of a warped pentagram above. Similarly the lower right shows Hackpen 1 on 9th June 2018 with a drawing of an individual star above. In the case of Rollright the four pentagrams were substantially similar while Hackpen had two distinct pairs.

11. Composite image of distorted stars

The Hackpen Hill formation (12), the first of three at this important site, embody both the warped pentagram and the Circling of the Square.

12. Hackpen Hill 19th June 2018 circles the square

DECAPITATED PENTAGRAM – HEADLESS MAN

The crop circles of 2000 displayed an overwhelming interest in the number 29. Several formations referred to it and I was intrigued. 29 does not appear significantly in any of my numerology books and nor could learned colleagues enlighten me.

The simplified, working formula for π, Pi, is twenty-two over seven, 22 divided by 7 or 22/7. This produces a number close enough to the “real” Pi to be of use for most practical applications. It was clear that the idea of “divided by” might be difficult to register in a field of crop. But what if 29 implied 22 plus 7? 22 + 7! Much easier! Pi is the key, the constant, to the Circling of the Square. The hypothesis was confirmed for me by the realisation that the Windmill Hill formation of 2000 (another twenty-niner!) arrived on the 22nd July, 22nd of 7. Think about that.

The lovely little Silbury Stars formation (13) of 24th July 2000 had six small five-pointed stars; a total of 30 points. One star-point, the northern one, was conspicuously broken off and led me to enthusiastically include the formation in my 29 group.

13. Silbury Hill 24th July 2000

And now, looking back, I see the Silbury Stars (14) & (15) might been a bleaker signal: perhaps it suggested that our behaviour was mindless if not brainless!

14. Silbury Hill showing broken northern triangle

15. Headless man in Pentagram

MIRACULOUS MARTINSELL HILL

The Martinsell Hill marvel (1) & (16) & arrived on the 7th July although there are suspicions that it was there earlier. I call it “miraculous” and “a marvel” because I cannot recall having seen as perfectly organised, as brilliantly executed a crop circle as this.

16. Martinsell Hill 7th (?) July 2018

1. Martinsell Diagram

Once again, we have to ask the eternal questions. Who conceived this? Who imagined this? Who devised it? Who designed it? Who did the drawing?

I knew immediately that this was an important formation. The more I studied it the more profound it appeared. And while I worked on the drawing I stared, repeatedly, at the photos and videos of the formation itself. I stared, inch by inch as I drew it, at this elaborate and precise assembly to find an error, a mistake, a tiny fudge. I found nothing. It was meticulously made.

As a piece of design it is a work of genius. To use, and to so faultlessly fit together, immaculate pentagrams of four different sizes is a prodigious achievement. Consider for a moment any adjoining pair of whatever size. They consistently, and unassertively, connect point to point. There is no wasted space and nothing is left over.

I connected the five points of the major central star with a red line (17).

17. Martinsell Hill with Pentagon

This creates a pentagon. Look how perfectly three stars fit into the space between the pentagram and the pentagon and also the space between the arms of the star.

It took three days of intense concentration to draw and every hour offered revelations. I was lucky to be assembling my diagram on a computer because each of my errors (and there were many) could be rectified. Computers are more forgiving than wheat fields.

THE STAR POINT

For illustration (18) I have separated the upper, top or “northern” point of the main Martinsell star. There are four sizes of pentagram in the formation which here, going from large to small, are labelled A, B, C and D. A yet smaller invented star E in pink is added to emphasize the fractal nature of the formation.

1. One point of Martinsell Hill

Martinsell Hill presented one star of size A, one of size B, ten of size C and sixteen of the smallest pentagram, D. There were 28 pentagrams of which only one, B, was laid and made as a single unit. There were 135 separate standing isosceles triangles (19). The isosceles triangle has two equal sides and, if the prime angle between those two sides is 36°, then the relationship between them and the third side is the recursive Golden Section or 1:0.618.

19. Isosceles triangle

Martinsell Hill 2018 is a masterpiece of historic importance; it goes, for me, into the top ten formations ever, if not the top five!

Since Bythorn in 1993 and Bishops Cannings in 1997 the Pentagram, in a variety of configurations, has played a significant role in the crop circle story. If my hypothesis regarding the Circle Authors’ use of the pentagram as an emblem representing humanity (and I accept that for many this might be a stretch) then this is one of the most optimistic  memos we have yet received. There have been numerous formations over the years disposing, arranging and grouping the beautiful pentagram star in a breathtaking number of ways but the radiant Martinsell Hill is unsurpassed.

It is an irony (or is it?) that in the early ‘90s the importance of the pentagram in the crop circles was first drawn to our attention by the venerable John Martineau. Martineau – Martinsell. What a coincidence!

I have added colour to the opening image (1) to emphasise the way the garland of smaller pentagrams weaves around the arms of the mother star.

Balance and harmony. Order and precision. Grace and beauty.

ETCHILHAMPTON: THE RETURN OF “ENERGIES”

In the early ‘90s it was a regular occurrence for people to be “zapped” by crop circle energies. Not every formation did this and certainly not every individual was affected. Reports of zaps have diminished during the last few years; many people would say that the “energies” are still there but we have become used to them.

It would be too easy to dismiss these reports as subjective, over-excited New-Age nonsense but the formation at Etchilhampton, 10th August, (20) confirmed what many had noticed during the 2018 season: the energies appear to be back.

20. Etchilhampton 10th August 2018

I am unable now to visit crop circles and I have to rely on news from friends, colleagues and visitors. There was a remarkable increase the number of people reporting the energy they felt in numerous formations. Among these were the little-visited Winterbourne Bassett (14th July), the lovely Allington circle (21st July), the Hackpen Hill formations and, in particular Hackpen 3 (29th July).

The energy in the Etchilhampton formation (10th August) was remarkable. It was described by a long-term researcher as “the strongest and most persistent she had ever experienced.” Diagram (21) shows the precision of the underlying triangular geometry.

21. Etchilhampton showing triangular structure

We should be grateful to the farmer, Mr Edwards, who freely allowed visitors into the field and, while harvesting, spared the formation or as long as possible.

EARLY MORNING AT MARTINSELL HILL: MALICE IN WONDERLAND

Very early on the morning of 7th July 2018 a select group arrived at Martinsell Hill to photograph the beautiful formation there. I use the word “select” because this was the latest example of the control and censorship that the Crop Circle Connector exercises over information and photography of crop circles.

Many of us were bewildered by the fact that, though the Connector stated, “reported 7th July”, there were three Connector-favoured photographers at the site extremely early on the 7th. Nobody else was informed or present. How did they know? How could this happen?

I offer a suggestion and if I am shown to be wrong I will apologise unconditionally: I propose that the Martinsell Hill Crop Circle arrived on the 6th and was known to the Connector and held secret by them until the first images were captured early the following day.

Returning to that morning’s events: a collaborator and friend of the Connector (whose name I have sworn never to speak or write again; let’s call him Thug) spoke to the farmer and, after assuring him that this important crop circle was man-made (a foul lie) claimed that he knew the person who did it (another obvious falsehood). They say if a Hoax Claimant’s mouth is closed, he is briefly breathing through his nose; if it is open, he is lying.

The farmer, a decent man, upset by the commotion, promptly cut it out. This short but vital incident perfectly illustrates the two problems that now cripple research into the crop circle phenomenon.

What an outrage! This conspiracy and also the unnecessary destruction of this historic formation ensured that (a) the Connector got their “exclusive” (b) this amazing crop circle was lost to visitors and (c) disapproved photographers were summarily excluded.

It also ensured that the real date, which for many of us is significant, will now be forever questionable. Shame on them!

THE FIRST PROBLEM. CONNECTOR – A LOSS OF INTEGRITY

I first met Mark Fussell and Stuart Dyke in 1995. Over dinner they told me of their plans to establish a crop circle information website. Back then, I did not even know what a “website” might be but I was impressed with their enthusiasm, integrity and above all their commitment to the circles. They turned their interest into the Connector which soon became a valued and noble world resource.

But tragically the last years have witnessed the dilution – indeed the loss – of their initial ethical vision. What was at first conceived as a virtual Journal of Record, a free resource for the world, has become, over the last decade or so, an unprincipled Tabloid, seeking “scoops”. They started to hang out with a bad crowd and are now obsessed, incomprehensibly, with posting the first image of a new formation at whatever cost. Information about new events is often withheld and kept secret until the Connector has acquired the first shot from an acceptable photographer.

Did it not occur to the Connector that their close association with hoaxers, deceivers and debunkers would pollute their reputation and their brand? Did they not notice? Support of irrelevant activities (sand circles?) again with infamous hoax-claimants did little to redeem them.

I believe that the Crop Circle phenomenon is of profound importance to the world and its denizens. For years the Connector has (while providing a service) benefited substantially from the crop circles. They are in a position of privilege and many people look to them for reliable information. To regain any semblance of integrity or respect they must now be seen to dissociate themselves from hoaxers and scoffers.

THE SECOND PROBLEM. THE FARMERS’ CONSENSUS

The Martinsell Hill morning event should be contemplated. It throws a searing light on two problems of our current predicament. Firstly, the ease and consistency with which the hoax claimants lie and, secondly, the mindless speed with which their hollow deceptions are accepted.

I have studied the crop circle phenomenon for nearly thirty years and during that time I have met many Wiltshire farmers; all practical men of common sense. How could it be that they have fallen so completely for this obvious confidence trick?

Do they know that over 7,000 crop circles have been recorded in over 60 countries? Have they ever paused to look, really look, at what lands in their fields? There can be no doubt that, for the busy farmer, a circle and its invasion by visitors is a distraction, an irritation, and even a curse. The easiest (and most thoughtless) reaction is to blame “vandals”. We might as well accuse the Tooth Fairy!

For the moment at least the Crop Circle phenomenon is inexplicable. Those who claim they have an answer are either fools or liars. After more than a quarter of a century it would be reasonable to assume that it will not go away.

There is a beautiful free exhibition at Honeystreet near Alton Barnes. Every farmer should feel obliged to see it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Photography: Steve Alexander, Jane Barford, Nick Bull, Steven Miller
Diagrams: Michael Glickman, Ofmil Haynes Jr
Web Design: Anthony Lovell de Souza
Consiglieri: Jineen Cronin, Frances Grey, Gary King, Margie
Kolchin, Albert Lamb