CAPTURING THE COSMIC SPIDER 

HACKPEN HILL and its small white horse, is a favorite location for many crop circle enthusiasts. This range of hillside has seen many spectacular events over the years, mostly in recent years. This huge formation was no exception, residing below the slopes of Hackpen, the Crop Circle Connector team found themselves in a web of intrigue.  

A very intriguing formation indeed! These were our thoughts as we walked into this unusual design below Hackpen Hill. From the first initial thoughts, it would appear we have a stylized representation of a spider within its web.  On further analysis of the design, based on other designs we have seen in the area. The obvious to me would be either the Yin & Yang formation of 2002, or perhaps the Avebury Trusloe formation from 200.  The last crop circle to appeared in this same field was on 18th August 1997, the formation was named 'The Strange Attractor'.

Its very much a general expectation to see similarities from formation to formation, especially when a running theme is taken place. This type of style within the design has been carrying on for a few years, but this particular pattern appeared to have a message in my book. It certainly stirred something inside of me, and it wasn’t the contents of my pack lunch! No, this was a design that had power and presence in the landscape.   

Hackpen Hill is situated on the way out of the Avebury area towards Swindon. It’s a lovely spot, with commanding views over the downs, so you can see for miles around on a clear day. But you certainly didn’t need to look too far on this occasion, as the formation dominated the landscape below, in a field which hasn’t seen many formations in the past.  

On the ground the formation I felt was quite neat. The surrounding 32 circles were well constructed, with a number of different centers inside of them. The larger circles towards the middle, were very well constructed, with tuft centers in a number of them. The overall quality was very good, and this was evident when the first aerial shots of the formation came through.  

This formation was one of the neatest I have seen in the general area this year, with a nice atmosphere, and in the golden sunlight, it really is a beautiful location.  

Report by Stuart Dike