Crop Circle at West Kennett Long Barrow, Wiltshire

[luke]

i used to visit this area loads as a kid, just down the road is this huge man made hill called silbury hill ( the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in europe and one of the worlds largest ) and over the field where this crop circle is is this old stone age burial chamber thing

theres a lot of places like that around wiltshire and all down that way, stone circles, burial chambers, big chalk drawings of people and horses etc - the english versions of the nascar lines

edit - if you're are interested in that kinda thing ( old burial chambers etc, not crop circles ) check http://www.themodernantiquarian.com - apparently the book of the same name is really good as well

[alan1254]

Its the Dutch police again!
http://couchtripper.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=4676

[faceless]

Forget crop circles - now we've got a mysterious SHEEP circle
25th January 2008

There were strange goings on at the farm today when a flock of sheep made their own version of a crop circle. About 100 of the woolly creatures formed an orderly ring - baffling the farmer and passers-by. But after hearing the roar of the boss's tractor the animals scattered like a group of naughty schoolboys.

Photographer Russell Bird, who captured the amazing scene, said:"I was quite taken aback. I couldn't believe what I was seeing," he said. "I did see a dog worrying sheep nearby beforehand and the dog ran off round the hedge in a different field, so I don't know if they were discussing that."

Bizarrely, he then spotted another circle three fields away, but was unable to take a picture with both "formations" lasting around 10 minutes before dispersing. Estate agent Mr Bird added of the scene in Kington, Herefordshire: "They moved around inside and were almost filling the gaps in. The only reason this circle came to an end was that the farmer came in with a tractor and some food."

Since the event he has been searching for an explanation but those experienced in working with sheep say Mr Bird could be disappointed. Farm manager at Herefordshire College of Technology, Dan Seaborne, said: "I just think they've been fed with dry feed in that shape - you can get snacker feeders now and you tow behind a quad and it drops pellets on the ground. I would imagine that's what's happened." He added: "I think there was a chap in Yorkshire who spelled out 'will you marry me' to his girlfriend in sheep by putting feed down."

[faceless]

Easy as pi: Astrophysicist solves riddle of Britain's most complex crop circle
Daniel Bates
18th June 2008

It is - by any calculation - a creation stunning in its ingenuity. Carved out in a barley field, this 150ft wide pattern is said to be a pictorial representation of the first ten digits of Pi, one of the most fundamental symbols in mathematics. Believers in extra-terrestrials could argue it was made by mathematically-minded aliens on a field trip to Earth. But whatever its origins, the experts say it is the most complex crop circle ever seen in Britain.

The pattern appeared earlier this month near Barbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort above the village of Wroughton in Wiltshire. Initially, crop circle enthusiasts were stumped as to its meaning and even a number of experts said it was 'mind-boggling'. Then retired astrophysicist Mike Reed saw a photograph of it and made the mathematical link. He said the crop pattern 'clearly shows' the first ten digits of pi, which - as many will remember from their schooldays - is used to calculate the area of a circle using the formula Pi r squared.

Mr Reed said: 'I noticed a photo of the Barbury Castle pattern. It shows a coded image representing the first ten digits of Pi - the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up. The little dot near the centre is the decimal point. The code is based on ten angular segments, with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.' After working out the sequence, Mr Reed produced the accompanying diagram. The image is an example of what is known as a fractal, or geometric pattern.

Fractals have been a staple of crop circle designs for many years, the most well known being the Mandelbrot Set or the Julia Set, which appeared 12 years ago in Avebury Trusloe, Wiltshire. Lucy Pringle, a renowned researcher of crop formations, has the largest database in the world on the phenomenon. She said yesterday: 'This is an astounding development - it is a seminal event.'

Although numerous-individuals have come forward over the years admitting they had been making crop circles, many people still believe the rings are linked with the paranormal or civilizations in far-flung galaxies. As yet, no one has claimed responsibility for the Barbury Castle circle.

Although it appears complicated at first glance, the puzzle does make perfect sense if approached logically and taken step by step. The coded image depicts 3.141592654, the first ten digits of Pi. How is it done? Firstly, the diagram is divided into ten equal sections (a bit like a dartboard, or a cake sliced ten ways) because there are ten staggered edges located at strategic points around the crop circle.

To help understand how this is arrived at, look again at the photo above and imagine a giant ruler being aligned with the edges (ignore the tractor lines, which were there before the circle was created). That sets the basic framework. Next, each number in Pi is represented in the diagram by a corresponding number of coloured blocks. Beginning in the centre with the arrow marked 'Start', the first number, three, is represented by three red blocks from clockwise. Follow this round and this takes you to the decimal point, which is depicted by a small circle in the barley. The number after the decimal point is one, represented by one green block.

The same pattern continues for each of the numbers - four purple blocks, one orange, five blue, nine yellow, two purple, six red, five green, then four dark blue, followed by three circles, or dots, acknowledging that Pi is infinite.

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[HandoGod]

Some cool stuff there, thanks Those designs are cool! Wonder how long it took the farmers to make 'em? hehe

[major.tom]

That sheep photo has to be staged, unless they're communicating with the aliens.

[faceless]

Walker discovers 10ft-wide, spinning frozen arctic circle in British waters for the first time
David Derbyshire
13th January 2009

We'd need a compass and a pencil, or a piece of string and a steady hand. But all nature needed to draw a perfect circle was a bend in the river. This disc of ice, which measures 10ft across, was spotted in Devon during last week's freeze, swirling on the River Otter near Honiton. It was spotted by Roy Jefferies who was out walking his dog.

Ice circles are known to appear in the Arctic, Scandinavia and Canada,
but this is thought to be the first seen in Britain. They occur at bends in the river where the accelerating water creates a force called 'rotational shear', which breaks off a chunk of ice and twists it around. As the disc rotates, it grinds against surrounding ice - smoothing into a perfect circle.

Mr Jefferies was so amazed by what he saw that he called friend Graham Blissett, who has a keen interest in phenomena of this kind. Both men were amazed by the slowly-rotating 10ft-wide and perfectly circular phenomenon which was stationary in the current. It was about 6ft from the bank near where a stream joined the river.

Mr Blissett said such discs were 'very, very rare' and he had never heard of one forming in England before. 'I couldn't believe it when he told me,' Mr Blissett said. He grabbed his camera and raced to the river, where he captured photographs of the ice disc. 'I saw the most perfect circle of ice about 6ft from the edge of the bank,' said Mr Blissett. 'It was about 10ft in diameter and, on timing it, we discovered it was completing a revolution in four minutes and ten seconds. The air temperature at the time was sub-zero and the weather had been bitterly cold for the past week.'

Mr Blissett said such discs usually varied in diameter but some in Sweden had been recorded at more than 600m wide.

[faceless]

600ft jellyfish crop circle found in Oxfordshire field
A 600ft jellyfish pattern has appeared in a barley field in Kingstone Coombes, Oxfordshire, in what is one of the most intriguing crop circles ever seen in Britain.
02 Jun 2009
telegraph.co.uk

The vast pattern appeared in the field last week and experts are claiming it to be the first of its kind in the world. Karen Alexander, a crop circle expert, said: "We have seen butterfly and bird patterns in the past, but this is the first jellyfish crop circle in the world. It is absolutely huge - roughly three times the size of most crop patterns and extremely interesting. People have been aghast at the size of it. It is a complete monster. We are looking into the meaning of it, but at present it just seems to have appeared out of nowhere."

Crop circle theorists known as 'croppies' - believe the patterns are created by UFOs during nocturnal visits, or caused by natural phenomena such as unusual forms of lightning striking the earth. But it has been proven the patterns can be easily created artists. Last year a crop circle described as the most complex ever to seen in Britain was discovered in a barley field in Wiltshire. The formation, measuring 150ft in diameter, was a coded image representing the first 10 digits, 3.141592654, of pi.

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Good job!

[faceless]

UFO alert: police officer sees aliens at crop circle
A police officer contacted British UFO experts after seeing three aliens examining a freshly made crop circle near Avebury, Wiltshire.
By Alastair Jamieson
20 Oct 2009
telegraph.co.uk

A British police officer contacted UFO experts after seeing three aliens examining a freshly made crop circle near Avebury, Wiltshire. The sergeant, who has not been named, was off-duty when he saw the figures standing in a field near Silbury Hill, and stopped his car to investigate. However, as he approached the 'men' – all over 6ft tall with blond hair – he heard "the sound of static electricity" and the trio ran away ''faster than any man he had ever seen''. The officer returned to his home in Marlborough, Wiltshire, and contacted paranormal experts and told them he had spotted a UFO. Wiltshire Police has refused to comment on the incident, saying it is a ''personal matter'' for the officer involved.

Crop circle researcher Andrew Russell, who is investigating the bizarre sighting on behalf of the officer, described the moment his sighting was made. He said: ''At first he thought they were forensic officers as they were dressed in white coveralls. He stopped his car and approached the field. 'The figures were all over 6ft and had blond hair. They seemed to be inspecting the crop. When he got to the edge of the field he heard what he believed to be a sound not dissimilar to static electricity. This crackling noise seemed to be running through the field and the crop was moving gently, close to where the noise was. 'He shouted to the figures who, at first, ignored him, not glancing at him. When he tried to enter the field they looked up and began running.

''He said; 'They ran faster than any man I have ever seen. I'm no slouch but they were moving so fast. I looked away for a second and when I looked back they were gone. I then got scared. The noise was still around but I got an uneasy feeling and headed for the car. For the rest of the day I had a pounding headache I couldn't shift.''

The bizarre incident occurred on the morning of July 6 this year as the police officer was driving. The officer claims the three figures were examining a crop circle, which had appeared several days earlier, when he stopped his car and began walking towards them. However, the mysterious beings disappeared when he ''looked away for a second'' and he contacted UFO experts after witnessing other paranormal activity.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: ''The police officer was apparently off duty when this happened so we have no comment to make because it is a personal not a police matter.'' Crop circle expert Colin Andrews, who investigated the incident alongside Andrew Russell, said he is ''convinced'' by the police officer's story. He said: ''I am quite convinced the officer had an experience that day and one that we have not fully explored. 'I think with the unusual movement of the being and the poltergeist experiences there is too much additional information to say that is something in nothing.''

[Stones]

[luke]

[Stones]

[faceless]

A crop circle measuring some 300 feet diameter has appeared in a field of oil seed rape near Wilton Windmill in Wiltshire. Lucy Pringle, crop circle researcher and author said: "I believe it contains binary. Working from the centre outwards, people are suggesting it has a connection to Leonhard Euler's theorem e^(i)pi+1=0 which is thought to be one of the most beautiful theorems in mathematics. Historically over the years, crop circles have been associated with diatonic scales (white notes on the piano). These diatonic scale frequencies are encoded in each segment of the crop circle and can be played on the piano. This is a unique formation incorporating both music and mathematics and is similar in importance to the famous 2008 Barbury Castle Pi event"

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mmmm, pi...

[luke]

[faceless]

Mysterious new crop circles at UFO capital of Britain in Wiltshire
Nearly 200 crop circles have appeared in just one formation not far from Warminster, Wiltshire, known as the UFO capital of Britain.
June 30th 2010

An amazing 193 crop circles have appeared in just one formation in Wiltshire. The circular 90m (300ft) design, believed to represent the passage of the Moon and Sun, contains 193 rings, including six key circles and a seventh in the centre. Crop circle expert Karen Alexander said: ‘This is the most complex circle so far this year.’ The formation, near the village of Mere, is the first in the area since 1997.