Image courtesy of the 'Sussex
Express' Copyright 2003
Diagram by ALLAN BROWN Copyright 2003
Code: SUSSEX 2003/05
Location: RINGMER, NR LEWES, EAST SUSSEX
Reported: 2 June 2003
Crop: Bearded wheat
Design: 1990s-style pictogram
Dimensions: 200ft approx. total length
Surveyed by: Allan Brown & Andy Thomas, 3 June 2003
REPORT: A rather messily-laid pictogram of circles, rings, lines and
a pentacle has appeared not far from the Cliffe Hill circle of April.
It's general shape isn't terrible, but the lay is messy and there is a
large amount of damage to the stems. We have some suspicions about
it, as its presence was widely announced to the local press with some
cryptic e-mails.
A full report will follow soon.
Report by ANDY THOMAS
Southern Circular Research /
www.swirlednews.com
(C) Copyright 2003
ADDENDUM REPORT:
On Tuesday, two days after having surveyed the lovely Sompting
formation, Andy and I were called out to inspect another appearance beneath
Cliffe Hill, near Lewes (a single circle having appeared in April),
although this field is closer to the village of Ringmer. We walked into
the pattern with a reporter and freelance photographer from the local
newspaper 'The Argus'.
Even before we entered the formation, an interesting chain of events was
emerging. The 'Sussex Express' had also been contacted the previous day,
by a Mr Longman, who had also e-mailed the Argus that morning (ie.
Tuesday). In fact, both newspapers contacted Andy about the formation on
Tuesday morning and a visit was immediately organised. The e-mail to the
Argus, also from a Mr Longman, was sent from a different person's e-mail
address to the one received by the Sussex Express. The fact that a casual
stroller, who purported to have seen the formation from the golf course,
deemed it necessary to contact two different local papers about the event
is in itself strange, especially as he described the shape quite clearly,
although no-one else could see the whole pattern from the hill. The fact
that his name was 'Mr Longman' (The Long Man of Wilmington is a well known
local landmark) was also intriguing, considering the much-documented
association between ancient Neolithic sites, chalk hill figures and crop
circle appearances. However, it was only on inspecting the formation that
these small details were to assume a greater significance.
Our first observation on entering the formation was that the crop had grown
back up very quickly. This was due to the very wet weather and
interspersed spells of sunshine we have been getting over the last few
days. Interestingly, the crop had all lifted back up at the node, with
everything beneath this node remaining flat to the ground. In the other
formations we have visited this year, much of the crop looked like it had
never been laid flat, or if it had done, it had sprung back upright in its
entirety. The actual circles and rings were generally neat, but the
central corridor that joined the main circle to the outlying 'star' was
very poorly constructed. Almost immediately Andy and I started to become
suspicious of what we were finding. A little time spent examining the
downed crop confirmed these suspicions, as many of the stems bore what
looked like the tell-tale signs of lateral board damage, which we had time
to examine at close quarters in last year's 'Levellers' logo made by Team
Satan at Poynings, West Sussex. Crimp marks and breakages were obvious
everywhere. The crop was wrecked in places.
The most telling detail of the formation, however, was not the damaged
crop, but the aesthetic nature of the overall design. Even without the
benefit of an aerial photograph, we could tell this was seriously lacking
in the
indefinable finesse that we normally associate with crop circle design.
This was someone's idea of what a crop circle SHOULD look like, without
ever having spent much time actually studying the geometry of a good
formation. The hexagram star at the end of the formation is extremely
crass, and the sizing and spacing of the circles that sit off the other end
of the formation lack cohesiveness. (Quite apart from the obvious track
marks that meander through the centres of these additions. In this
instance I don't think they were added later by careless visitors.) I
would say it looks strongly like this formation was constructed using a 3ft
wide board.
What we have found in most of the Sussex formations to date has been vastly
at odds with what we found in this scrappy effort. This disappointing work
has not gone down well with the farmer, who came and joined us in the field
while we were examining it. He is obviously upset that his lovely field of
bearded wheat has been unnecessarily desecrated. To this end, the e-mail
addresses and details of Mr Longman have been forwarded to the farmer, who
will, it seems, forward them to the police.
Report by ALLAN BROWN (with minor additions by ANDY THOMAS)
Southern Circular Research /
www.swirlednews.com (C) Copyright 2003
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