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Windmill Hill, near Avebury, Wiltshire. Reported 18th June. (Image © Francine Blake/Wiltshire Crop Circle Study Group 2000) resigned yawns of researchers who have seen and survived all this before. The pronouncement by veteran circle researcher Colin Andrews—that he now believes the formations are man-made in 80% of cases, the rest being caused by natural magnetism— achieved much publicity for the phenomenon but was met with cynicism and indifference by some sceptics and believers alike. As no official paper has yet been produced for scrutiny, this latest assertion remains just another theory until the necessary evidence is put forward. The notion that people are responsible for creating such a large proportion of formations has been severely challenged by many researchers who point to a lot of details which suggest otherwise. However, the notion that human hoaxers are responsible for at least a certain quota of crop glyphs seems now to have been wide- ly absorbed by the crop circle community without too much harm—some considering that, for good or for ill, what man-made formations there are simply add to the overall mystery and interact with the landscape in their own way. Many formations, though, continue to defy the idea that humans could create such complexi- ty and beauty without error in conditions of darkn The generally accepted masterpiece of the year was certainly the breathtakingly fantastic pattern which arrived at Avebury Trusloe on 22 July. A staggering series of standing and flattened diamonds, splayed outwards in a containing circle, gave the impression (perhaps ironically, given the Andrews pronounce- ment) of particles held in magnetic fields. Despite the inevitable distracting claims of authorship, made by the usual egocentric "artists" in one newspaper—as ever, without a scrap of evidence to support them—even seasoned researchers were open-mouthed in awe at this show-stopper. But the show didn't stop there, for another astonishing pattern demonstrating similar mathematical principles appeared at Woodborough Hill on 13 August. Perhaps the event that best illustrated just how far the phenome- non has come in the last 10 years was the very unusual formation which occurred at Everleigh Ashes on 19 July. In 1989, the cere- alogical world had got a tiny taste of the developments which would rock it to its young foundations the following year, when the last formation of that season, at Winterbourne Stoke, was found to be a circle split into four quarters of linear crop lay instead of a conventional swirl. The Everleigh Ashes formation of 2000 saw four such quartered circles aligned as a Celtic cross orbiting a round barrow, which made up the central component of the pattern. On the antique mound itself, the grass had been East Kennett, near Avebury, Wiltshire. Reported 2nd July. (Image © Steve Alexander 2000) = UKox Image Woodborough Hill, near Alton Priors, Wiltshire. Reported 13th August. (Image © Steve Alexander 2000) Avebury Trusloe, near Avebury, Wiltshire. Reported 22 July. (Image © Steve Alexander 2000) 62 - NEXUS OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2000