- During 2001 the area surrounding the Gog and Magog hills
in Cambridgeshire became something of a hot spot for crop circles. A number
of technically amazing designs arrived there that caused quite a stir in
the crop circle research community. But one in particular that appeared
last summer struck a deep chord with me. In fact I was so drawn to it that
I easily overcame any reluctance to drive the 200 hundred miles in sweltering
July heat to reach the site.
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- With its overtly feminine, angelic form it quickly became
known as the "Angel", and after a few hours drive and a climb
up the low Gog-Magog hill it became still more obvious why. Even from a
distance I felt that I was looking at something distinctively different.
There was a marked sense of purity and honesty about this formation that
I had not experienced for some years in crop circle research. How much
of my impression was affected by the locale remains a question. The Angel
and other recent arrivals in this geographical area seemed a world away
from the more familiar locations of Wiltshire and Hampshire; both of which
now seem to be spiritually diminished as a result of bitter dissension
and rivalry amongst researchers. Have the genuine Circlemakers sought
more hospitable environments for their part in intercommunication?
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- Pondering this question I made my way into the field
and down the parallel lines running through the crop, which led me directly
into the formation. As I reached its edge I stood for a few moments taking
in all its majestic beauty and harmonious proportion; the whole formation
appeared seamless and precise with a razor sharp finish to all the edges
of the standing sections.
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- I was looking at a flattened circle of wheat (237 ft
diameter) within which sat two very dense crescents of standing crop. The
largest of the two crescents had (approx.) seventy very thin pathways like
rays of laid crop running through it, creating an impression of a broad
Egyptian style necklace (which was another image ascribed to the Angel
design). A slender tracer path separated the two crescents encircling and
defining the head and arms of the Angel. Had this ring of flattened wheat
gone down first to define this aspect of the event?
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- As I walked within the central areas of the formation,
I observed many subtle aspects in its construction that were not apparent
from the aerial photos. All the laid crop areas were finished to an amazing
standard, as if the whole thing had been carefully crafted with nothing
harsher than a fine tooth-comb. In various parts of the formation perfectly
healthy poppy flowers in full bloom were growing up between the laid wheat
stems. This feature gave one the impression that whatever was responsible
for the creation of the formation had absolute respect for other living
things. It would have been decidedly easier to flatten the entire area,
but the delicate poppy flowers were left intact.
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- The seventy slender pathways were also perplexing. Each
one was (approx.) six inches wide and all but one ran perfectly straight,
as was no doubt intended. One very odd thing about these paths was the
way the wheat had been laid down to create the narrow incisions. Rather
than being flattened down to or just above the ground, the plants looked
as though they had been laid down very gently with the aid of a swirling
wind tube or wave. One could see by peering down any of the paths that
the stems were taken from one edge and curled around to rest on the opposite
side of the standing crop. It was an intriguing detail that I had never
seen before in any of the hundreds of formations I,ve visited.
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- In all, the Angel was clearly an inspirational and mysterious
happening.
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- Aerial photos by Steve Alexander Ground shots
by Charles Mallet
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