Updated 22nd June 1998
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All images by John Sayer Copyright 1998
A field Report by Stuart Dike
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Copyright 1998 Sharon Mason
On a rather showery spring day, I arrived at
Weyhill at around 1.45pm on Monday 27th April. Knowing that Oil Seed Rape is extremely
messy, with its powdery pollen I entered the field with full waterproofs. Some friends had
gone in a couple of days before in wet weather and found that a change of clothes would
have been a good idea. I love photographing Oil Seed Rape, but its not an enjoyable crop
to be in too long. The weather of the passed week was very wet, so taking a lot of camera
equipment
was not a good idea.
On entering the field, the rape itself was atleast 6ft in height in places. The tramline running parallel to the side of the field was very difficult to walk, many of the plants were growing over the tractor tracks, and heavy mud was making progress towards the formation a task.
The two groupings of circles are situated almost half way down the field, over to one side, close to the edge of the field were a footpath runs the entire stretch. My arrival at the location was some 8 days after the event, so a few tracks are now visible from people entering the field from the footpath.
I entered the single circle first, with the
adjoining small groupings merging with the main circle. My first reaction was one of
disappointment, as many stems were now heavily damaged from people walking around the
circle. The circle was now over a week old, so this had to be taken into consideration. It
was too late to give an accurate report on the floor construction, the walls around the
circle were very clean cut, but the plants are now starting to recover. However, looking
at the plants more closely there was evidence of some bruising on the stems themselves,
and a small amount of plants were snapped about one
third up the stem.
The second groupings further up the field resembling an eclipse, or some planet conjunction had a very similar appearance to the other circle. The floor construction was rather messy, again evidence of visitors was plain to see, so I cannot report on the condition of the lay.
The location of these two separate groupings came as a surprise as many people within the crop circle community would agree. Indeed the Crop Circle Connector didn't expect anything until atleast May, as the weather has been extremely poor for springtime in England. This event is the earliest we have ever witnessed for the first crop circle to appear in England. The location is also interesting, as the field has a number of houses overlooking it, so if anyone made this, it would have made their life very interesting indeed.
As I left the field, I decided to knock on a few doors to see if I could retrieve anymore information on these circles. As I was walking back to the car, I met the son of Hazel and Mike Balpitt walking down the adjacent track. He told me I should go over and have a word with his parents, as there were indeed the couple who first spotted these circles.
Hazel and Mike Balpitt have lived in their house overlooking the field for some 35 years. Hazel has seen all different types of crops grow with the field, and being a amateur photographer the sunlight on Oil Seed Rape was hard to resist to capture on film. On the Saturday (April 18th) Hazel noticed that the field was looking particularly gorgeous with the evening sunlight shining on it, and wanted to take some further shots for her records.
The night of April 18th was dry, no rain had fell, but the field was still extremely wet from a very inclement week. At 7.15am Hazel drew back the bedroom windows, and to her amazement these circles had appeared. That Sunday morning Hazel decided to investigate, but the tramlines leading down to the circles were almost impossible to walk. NO footprints were present from walking down them, and there was no sign of entry. The plants were in good condition, there was no trace of bruising, and very little breakage on the stems. (I can confirm this from viewing Hazel's photographs) A dead rabbit was also found by Hazel, not actually in the circle, but just outside, there might be a connection here, but we are not sure. (Editor: The Rabbit must have been removed when I entered the field).
Hazel has always wished for circles to appear in her favourite field, her wish was granted from the CircleMakers, and she even told me, that they could have been a gift. Many times has this story arisen from people who have wanted to see crop circles appear in their favourite location,
A field Report by John Sayer
Oil seed rape. Discovered Sunday, 19th. April 1998. The southern and northern parts being 108' apart, could be considered separate formations.
Average diameters: northernmost - "bottom" - (c/w) circle 16' 6"; largest adjacent (a/c) circle 86'; next (c/w) 24'; then 12' (a/c); and 6' (a/c) ring with 1' standing centre. Southern formation: Large (a/c) ring 6' wide, 116' diameter; partial (a/c) circle 60' diameter; small (a/c) ring 4' wide, 72' diameter; central (a/c) circle 60'.
(John Sayer: Global Circles Research/The Cereologist)
Crop Design Discovered at Weyhill, Near Andover, Hampshire - England.
No tracks, No broken plants, Heavy rain.
I have today interviewed Mrs. Hazel Bulpitt, a resident of the small village of Weyhill, near Andover, Hampshire, England.
Late on Saturday afternoon, April 18th, she commented to her husband that the light falling on the beautiful yellow flowers in the field opposite, was spectacular and that she should take a photograph. This she did. The field of yellow rape was very mature and more than two feet in height.
That night it rained and as she looked into the same field from her window on Sunday morning, she noticed a large crop circle design. It continued very wet all day and so it was not until Monday (20th) she ventured into it, even then she managed to get very wet indeed. She noticed that there were NO TRACKS and NO BROKEN plants. She discovered a large circle surrounded by two rings, with three smaller circles connected very nearby.
The local newspaper (Andover Advertiser) are planning to publish an article on Friday this week.
During August 1991 a very spectacular but simple design was found at Weyhill, by Busty Taylor. On that occasion residents nearby heard a strange humming sound coming from the field.
Colin Andrews - President of CPRI (USA office, April 22nd)
UPDATE
I have just been talking further with the
family who discovered it and Busty Taylor who has flown over for photo's.
There are actually two formations in the same field, and both appeared during the same
night. One consists of two single ringed circles, which over lap, creating a figure of
eight design. The largest ringed circle is approximately 100 feet across, the smaller
around 50 feet.
The second formation consists of four circles forming an arc, looking like thought
bubbles. This formation is familiar to us, appearing for the first time in 1992 and
several times through 1994. The largest circle is 80 feet dia down to the smallest of just
8 feet.
Busty Taylor has secured aerial photographs and they show clearly defined edges which are
impressive. I thank Busty for sending me this latest information.
We hope to have the farmers permission to carry out a full fluxgate magnetometer survey
soon.
Colin Andrews - President of CPRI (USA office, April 23rd)
Images from the Weyhill formation by Busty Taylor
