Nexus - 0806 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page 63 of 84

Page 63 of 84
Nexus - 0806 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Berwick Bassett, near Avebury, Wiltshire. Reported 9th June. Photograph © Steve Alexander 2001. a campaign of emails, leafleteering and further circlemaking. The creation of several man-made formations for either research purposes or TV shows hardly helped matters. The fact that some high-profile circle researchers were themselves involved in sponsoring some of these projects sat badly with many enthusiasts, and some were critical of their methods, proto- cols and uncertain motivations, questioning their conclusions. The making of a well-executed direct copy of a 1995 astronomical crop design for a UK film production (for a fictional story) further shook the faith of some, though to the discerning the differences were clearly apparent and it lacked the important subtleties which had so distinguished the original. Despite the subterfuge exercises, there seemed to be a resur- gence of interest in the crop circles from the realm of film and television, with no less than five camera crews from around the world filming video, TV and movie documentaries, following "croppies" around in fields, pubs and conferences. The results of most of these will presumably surface in 2002. But away from the circus that habitually surrounds the UK crop circle scene, other countries received formations of their own to explore with rather less stressful intensity. Germany scored high- est with 10 (at the time of writing), each as elaborate as many of their UK counterparts but each with its own flavour. Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, Serbia and Poland also reported several new crop glyphs. The Netherlands, which had seven formations, has meanwhile become the focus of attention for important scientific work into the circle phenomenon. The US-based BLT Research, led by Nancy Talbott, which has done much to promote Dr W. C. Levengood's studies of biological anomalies inside circle-affected crops, has continued its investigations into circular appearances and their links with balls of light in The Netherlands—and in par- ticular with a young man in the Amsterdam area who seems to attract such phenomena. Their findings have found his stories to be true. Meanwhile, Dr Eltjo Haselhoff has been conducting his own studies into physical effects and the link with aerial light phenom- ena. He has become, after Dr Levengood, only the second person to have a scientific paper on the subject of cerealogy published in the peer-reviewed journal Physiologa Plantarum. (A layman's version of his paper can be found at www.swirlednews.com.) Dr Haselhoff found himself part of an intriguing mystery while Knap Hill, near Alton Priors, Wiltshire. Reported 5th August. Photograph © Steve Alexander 2001. Newhouse Farm, near Acton Turnville, North Somerset. Reported 5th August. Photograph © Steve Alexander/Karen Douglas 2001. Gog Magog Hills, near Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. Reported 25th July. Photograph © Steve Alexander 2001. 62 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com OCTOBER —- NOVEMBER 2001