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CROP CIRCLES IN 2000 |
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Wouldham, nr Rochester-upon-Medway, Kent. Reported 22nd May.
Updated Monday 5th June 2000
Diagram Graham Tucker Copyright 2000
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Click on thumbnails to enlarge
Images Janet Tucker Copyright 2000
Kent has another formation, but don't get too excited folks, because we have a few doubts
about it. We've decided to report it though, because it appears to have a few more pluses
going for it than minuses.
We believe we're reporting a formation, in young oats, that's around 3 or 4 weeks old. It's quite
noticeable that the internal crop has recovered well as most of it has sprung back up.
It's placed in a field opposite the driveway leading into the beautiful 15th century Starkey's
Castle, almost alongside the footpath that runs the entire length of the field. Where it's
precisely parked earns itself lots of 'Brownie Points', for it's situated close to the ancient
Pilgrim's Way (again!) and a nearby tumulus.
We didn't enter the formation, and don't intend to. Apart from the fact that we don't have the
farmer's permission, we are mindful that if we did enter it we would seriously damage some of
the crop's recovery.
We've almost ruled out 'Designer Art' created by board-stompers, because of the fact that the
internal crop has clearly recovered. But despite that, there is never a hard and fast rule that
can be applied here, because young crop is quite malleable, and as such recovers well from
taking a bit of a bashing.
(Quote by Charles Barley:- "Ere, talkin' of plankers, why don't they try & make circles in GM
fields?")
Is it lodging? Well if it is, it's certainly very orderly (although lately it has been hit by storm
damage). Lodging has only appeared in this area over the past 2 weeks, and obviously we
checked the rest of this massive field and found none.
What is interesting here is that the shapes appear as regular triangles. The diagram shown
here shouldn't be regarded as accurate, but it'll give you some idea. The large triangle is (as
far as I'm able to estimate) approx. 30 feet across from base-line to apex. The photos were the
best we could get, we were soaked to the skin in the pouring rain, are we dedicated croppies
or just insane?
Set in a very quiet area, we didn't find it too surprising that it has remained undiscovered.
Seen from the road it could easily be dismissed as lodging. We only spotted its shape
through field glasses, 2 miles away from the other side of the River Medway.
We are either looking at another Kent formation or we're not ... but whilst the jury might remain
out on this one, with triangles being the theme running so far this year, seeing triangular
shapes kind of swings it, as far as we're concerned!
Reported by Janet & Graham Tucker - Medway Crop Circle
(sketch - Graham photos - Janet)
( Are we looking at the 3 pyramids of Giza?) M.J.Fussell
UPDATE #1
Have just taken a second opinion on the Wouldham formation(?). Tom Baker has had a good
look at it from all available angles and thinks this one could well be lodging, so perhaps Janet
and Graham's first impressions have been validated. As the crop is growing quite quickly we may
have to consider the possibility of wind damage in this case...
Joyce Galley (Kent CCCS branch)
UPDATE #2
Since returning from Ireland and finding that the weather locally has calmed down a bit, we
decided to check it out one more time. Acting upon a hunch that where it's placed could be on
an alignment, we set off up the public footpath, opposite Starkey's Castle, armed with dowsing
rods.
We really didn't know what to expect, but it was kind of surprising to find that the formation is
bang on a three-line ley! The energy lines enter the formation from a north-easterly direction,
derived from an alignment with a church in Frindsbury, nr Rochester, slicing through ancient
Temple Manor, Strood, (once the property of the Knights Templar) and crossing the River
Medway at Temple Marsh. The 950 year old church of All Saints, Wouldham, that is just half
a mile down the road, is also situated on it.
Also we found a small grape-shot circle, that we hadn't noticed on previous visits (Why didn't
we find this before?). It's about 14" across and is situated near the formation, amongst the tall
grass verge, adjacent to the track - amazingly it's not formed in the crop but in the tall grass!
It's a gently laid swirl, that when dowsed gave us an astonishingly positive cross-over! (Is it a
recent arrival? ... If it came down along with the formation, why is it still displaying such strong
energy?)
Okay, we believe we have found some more positive evidence to support this as a formation,
but this should still not be regarded as rubber-stamping a seal of approval.
Graham Tucker - (MCC)
