Crop Circle Nirvana

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latest news and updates

i wish that every day was like nirvana....

Picture Credits On This Page
(from top):

Uffington, Oxfordshire, 25th July 2008.

Photograph courtesy of Peter Sorensen.

Avebury, Wiltshire, 19th April 2008.

Photograph courtesy of Peter Sorensen.

Westbury, Wiltshire, 14th June 2007.

One of our favourite 2007 designs.

Photograph courtesy of Peter Sorensen.

Morgan's Hill, Wiltshire, 18th May 2007.

Photograph courtesy of Peter Sorensen.

Rape field, Buckinghamshire, May 2006. Shame there isn't a circle in it. Note the very prominent BOL hovering above the field. Photograph by Crop Circle Nirvana.

18th August 2008
Thank heaven for the internet; we missed this feature on More4 News so it's good to be able to watch it whenever we wish.

13th August 2008
Well we weren't wrong in thinking that the Waden Hill formation (see 26th April news below) boded well for the 2008 season; the crop circles have been coming thick and fast this year, some of them rather rubbish but most of them exemplary, all interesting in their own way, and providing what we think has been the best season for a good few years.

The overwhelming majority of this year's formations have been in Wiltshire. We wonder how much this is to do with Wilts' fecund fields, how much that a circle not in Wilts would not be made note of, how much any person / force making a circle knows both these things.

One formation which wasn't in Wiltshire, and which we think is of particular note, is this one (pictured right - image by Peter Sorensen) which appeared very close to Weyland Smithy in late July. Why do we find this circle so notable, you ask?

Firstly, the curious way that it's been largely neglected despite the fact that it's big (Joe Croppie good formation denominator A) and complex (Joe Croppie good formation denominator B) and geometrically eloquent (Joe Croppie good formation denominator C) and suggestive of what is to come (Joe Croppie good formation denominator D) and probably references 2012 or eclipses or something (Joe Croppie good... okay, now we're being flippant), and but a few seasons ago would have been a contender for formation of the year. We're not sure how big it is overall; we'd guess c.350' to c.400' from tip to tip, the majority of which is flattened. Count the circles; there are 241 of them. Only Milk Hill 2001 - at 409 circles - beats it (it's true, of course, that the Windmill Hill July 1999 formation - at 288 circles - also beats it on a strictly numeric level, but we'd class that as 288 grapeshot, which we don't think is quite the same).

The other - and for us far more significant - thing about this formation is something that appears to have pretty much gone unnoticed. It effortlessly presents a total revolution in crop circle laying out. Formations of this style - myriad circles delineating a pattern - always have underlying pathways joining the circles. Whether you deem them construction lines or guider-paths put there by the circlemakers to point the way through the formation (a curious perspective that seems to be still held by few but Michael Glickman), both 1996 Julia Sets, the Milk Hill 2001 formation, and myriad other formations have them. This one doesn't. This formation has no underlying pathways whatsoever. Every circle is free-standing, yet still they all lock together perfectly.

The 2008 season will continue, of course, and we expect more circles to be dropping into fields as you read this (unless you're slack and reading this in September, in which case only stubble and best wishes remain). We've not had a finale yet by any means.

Meanwhile in CCN site news, we're very pleased to have finally lured Poppy Amersham out of 'Poppy Amersham is unwell'-style retirement to give us a substantial - more than twice the length of the original - revision of the article Ask Poppy. PA is promising us a similar "100% more genuineness!" revision of the infamous Hold On A Minute, which we'll post as soon as we have it.

PA was last seen heading up the Kennett & Avon, shaven-headed and surrounded by a private army and mumbling something about snails and straight razors and 'the horror', so it may not be soon.

26th April 2008

The first UK circle of the 2008 season was reported in oilseed rape at Waden Hill, Avebury, Wiltshire, on 19th April (ground shot, right, by Peter Sorensen).

Though the first ground report (from Charles Mallett) stated it was messy, it seems to have been generally well-received. We personally think it bodes well for the coming season.

It might also be worth pointing out that season-openers tend to be fairly sedate affairs, tucked away from sight; a 180' design (which is big for oilseed rape) slap in the middle of crop circle ground zero couldn't really be much more conspicuous if it tried. We're looking forward to seeing what the fields have to offer up next.

Lucy Pringle's aerial pictures of the Avebury formation can be found here.

25th February 2008
Herewith a round-up of some of the cerealogical news that has come our way in the last month or so.

It would seem that Swirled News has closed shop for the foreseeable future; their latest update (1st February 2008) reads in part "Due to work, life and all sorts of other amazing and concerning things in the world that need attention, Swirled News isn't currently active as a news service. However, it is a very valuable source of archive information." We hope that doesn't mean that the SCR team - and in particular Andy Thomas - have retired from crop circle research. We've always enjoyed their contributions and think cerealogy will be a poorer place without them. If it's time for them to move on to other things, of course, then we wish them well in their future endeavours.

Things are looking up for Colin Andrews, though, with the apparent forthcoming release of the Circular Evidence "widescreen movie". You can view what is described as a 'promo trailer' here, though it looks more like a pre-production reel to us, and the film's official website appears to still be seeking investors. We look forward to seeing the finished film, if indeed there ever is a finished film.

The Canadian Crop Circle Research Network have revamped and relaunched their site. We have a certain respect for these guys; they just get on with their research and, in general, don't bang on about it. Which makes a change.

Bert Janssen has also launched a new website, called Crop Circles and More, described as "a quantum leap forward in crop circle research. CCaM adds new dimensions to the mysterious crop cirlce [sic.] phenomenon. It opens the doorway to the 'bigger picture' of crop circles by displaying the interconnectiveness of space (location, shape, geometry) and time (years and dates) of crop circles and much, much more. This website will in the end bring us much closer to, or possibly give us, the final answer to the crop circle mystery. Every one of you is needed to find this answer." What doesn't get mentioned in this blurb, however, is that being part of "this answer" will cost you 30 euros a year. Which doesn't mean that in effect Janssen is asking you to pay for the privilege of doing his research for him, of course; that's just being cynical.

While we're on the subject of Bert Janssen, in our net-rovings we recently came across a report from 2001 of him and (then partner) Janet Ossebaard, amongst others, scaling Silbury Hill and climbing down the hole caused by the then-recent collapse to examine the interior (read about it here). This may be old news but we've never seen it before and have to say we agree entirely with the writers of that article and consider it a very stupid thing to have done. So what do they find? Secret chambers (which had already been examined and catalgued by archaeologists), apparently significant measurements and compass bearings (though exactly why these are significant isn't explained) and the inevitable photographs of orbs (though considering the combination of dust, damp, poor lighting conditions and flash photography, we'd be far more surprised if they didn't get orbs on their photos). It's also possible that their entry into the hill caused the second, much larger collapse. Yes, we know this was a while ago but it was a terrible and irresponsible thing to have done and they should be thoroughly ashamed. Outside of its archaeological significance Silbury Hill is a site of great awe and beauty and should be left well alone. Never mind Matthew Williams and his crop circle prosecution; why were't these imbeciles also prosecuted for criminal damage?

30th January 2008
We've given the whole site a (slight in some parts, substantial in others) re-design. A further update is imminent, with new articles and the like.

15th June 2007

The formations are piling up so fast you need wings to keep above them.

This example (right) is from Westbury, wiltshire, 14th June 2007 (photograph by Peter Sorensen). Westbury hasn't had a circle in years. It's nice to see the old haunts still being visited, good to see that somebody remembers the lineage.

For the latest circles check out the usual sites; Crop Circle Research, Crop Circle Connector etc.

2007 is shaping up to be a great season.

6th June 2007
Darren Francis has revised his report of the East Field and Yatesbury circles, to include more pictures and additional commentary. Click here to read it.

5th June 2007
Old-skool CCN correspondent Darren Francis has sent us a field report of some of this year's Wiltshire formations. View it here.

We've also revised our Stunted Crop At Garsington report with details of a 'ghost' in the same field from 2006.

20th May 2007
Since this is our first update in over a year, we've given the whole site a bit of a spring clean. We've re-worked pretty much every page on here, including most of the features, so even if you've read them all before have another look.

The 2007 crop circle season is already underway, with four UK formations and fourteen elsewhere in the world as we write this. The most recent, at Morgan's Hill, Witshire and reported on 18th May in barley, is pictured to the right of this text (photograph by Peter Sorensen). We don't doubt that more formations will be gracing fields near or far from you in the coming days and weeks; click here for the latest action.

We also note that crop circles have infiltrated myspace. Have a look at Crop Circles UK and, if you've got a myspace page, send them a friend request. We understand that they, too, intend to post regular updates on the UK crop circle season as it unfolds.

Stealing an idea from Crop Circles UK, we've added a new feature called Videos.

10th May 2006

Those of you who've been feverishly checking the 'latest formations' sites will know that there are, as we type, still no UK circle reports. This has led some worried croppies to speculate that maybe there won't be any circles at all this year, but we personally suspect that it's just a matter of time. It will, however, make 2006 the latest-starting season since the 1980s.

Be patient; if by this time in June there still aren't any circles, that's when we should start worrying.

25th April 2006
The rape in the UK is now in bloom, but if you want to see 2006 crop circles you need to go to Australia, where a grass formation appeared in March in Conondale. We doubt it'll be long before the first UK reports come in, however.

In other non-UK news, Andreas Muller writes about a number of circles that have allegedly appeared in Africa here. Shame there aren't photographs to support any of it.

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