Crop Circle at South Harting, nr Petersfield, West Sussex. Reported 23rd June.

South Harting (2), nr Petersfield, West Sussex. Reported 23rd June.

Updated Monday 9th July 2001

On Sunday 1st July we visited South Harting to see the 2 formations below Torberry Hill which had been reported in the last week.

They were not clearly visible from the road so we climbed the hill for a better view. We could see the first formation from the top of the hill, but the second one was barely visible, except for a vague outline of circles. We thought it was possible that the second formation had actually been there at the time the first one was reported and have asked David Russell for copies of his aerial shots taken on Monday 25 June to examine them more closely and see if this second formation is discernible. We then walked back down the hill and as we could see a group of people in the first formation already we proceeded towards it along the tramlines. The barley crop was not laid flat and was not as well defined as some formations. We did find many single bent nodes, which we have photographed. In the centre we saw a piece of ribbon tied to a crop stem and several feathers had been placed around it. We did not take measurements inside the formation. Walking across the formation towards the Petersfield Road, we continued down the same tramline which led us into the second formation. This was in a similar condition to the first formation. It was smaller and consisted of 3 interlinking circles with 4 smaller circles at each intersection. We found several double bent nodes and on the east side observed many shrivelled heads on the crop.

No such effects were seen in the standing crop immediately outside of the formation. We collected crop samples from each formation and photographed these.


Double bent nodes from inside second formation	Bent nodes compared to straight from inside and outside of second formation respectively.	Comparison of shrivelled and normal crop from second formation.

If anyone would like to use the crop samples for further research please contact Lyn Collin via Crop Circle Connector.

Late news: It seems the so-called later addition to the South Harting formation field actually appeared at the same time as the main design. Lucy Pringle photographed it from Torberry Hill the first weekend it was reported and now she has her photographs back she can see both formations present in the same field - thus, both probably appeared the same night as each other and the 'second' formation simply didn't get noticed as it was further over in the field and less visible.

Lucy reports finding a dead crow in the centre of the main formation when she entered the field a few days after its appearance.