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GEOMETRY IN THE GRAIN CROP CIRCLES OF 2004 GEOMETRY GRAIN THE CROP CIRCLES 2004 Dramatic and complex new designs emerged in the English fields during the 2004 crop circle summer, defying the plankers and debunkers and standing out for their beauty and strangeness. fter an abruptly premature end to last year's crop circle season in early August, there was a faltering start to the 2004 crop formations—at least in England, the traditional heartland of the mystery. By the middle of June there were far fewer numbers than expected for that time of year, and there was a general feel- ing amongst the research community that the phenomenon, whatever its source or intent— still absolutely unknown—was on a go-slow. Statistics from other countries also seemed depressed compared with showings in recent years. Germany, which in 2003 almost rivalled the UK in terms of circle numbers, only produced around 20 formations in 2004, while countries such as the USA, Canada, the Netherlands and Italy, which had all been blossoming areas in recent years, only managed about 10 formations each throughout the whole year. As far as the UK was concerned, a revival in impetus finally arrived in mid-June with the appearance of several intriguing and complex designs to match many of those seen in previous years. By the end of August, around 60 formations had been recorded. The first significantly dramatic design of the season came in the form of a large double spiral at Fort Nelson, Portchester, Hampshire, on 11 June (figure 1). The two thin, perfect spirals reminded some of the infamous "ET and disc" formation of 2002, which included a binary message notched into a similar spiral. The decoded message was a warning, beginning with: "Beware the bearers of false gifts and their broken promises..." The resemblance between this and the two new spirals suggested to some that we were being invited to carve our own binary reply into them! In the event, this didn't happen; though the thought did spark some communication experiments later in the season—led by Jack Sullivan and Martin Noakes, who flashed binary messages into the sky with some interesting results (see article at http://www.swirlednews.com). The traditional centre of the phenomenon, Alton Barnes in Wiltshire, then produced its latest masterpiece on 20 June in the form of a bizarre but beautiful glyph, resembling perhaps some kind of strange musical instrument (figure 2). Its oddness put some people off, but the fluidity of the lay inside and the complete lack of damage to the stems (in a year in which white creases on stems were widely decreed to be a sure sign of human circle-making) revealed it as a highlight of the year. Six days later, another extraordinary design of similar quality arrived at nearby Milk Hill, this time resembling what was rather crudely termed a "bee" by some—a winged emblem atop an apparently insectoid body (figure 3). Others pointed out its closer resem- blance to the ancient "winged caduceus" symbol. Its geometric properties were incredibly complex, as uncovered by geometer Allan Brown. As the list of bold patterns in the crops began to lengthen, some formations in particular stood out. One of the longest, a vast string of circles and crescents which arrived at Windmill Hill, Avebury, Wiltshire, on 17 July, measured over 800 feet in length (figure 4). Meanwhile, a square within a circle, resembling Islamic geometric art, appeared at Savernake Forest, Marlborough, Wiltshire, on 28 July and impressed many with its optical illusion qualities (figure 5). At West Kennett Longbarrow on 30 July, a quadranted labyrinth within an eight-pointed star began a new style for the crop circles (figure 6), while another square design of smaller squares and dots at Lewisham Castle, Aldbourne, Wiltshire, on 6 August turned out to signify "a rendition of the Magic Square representing the Moon's movements, a 9 x 9 square in which the sums of the diagonals, the rows and the columns each add to 369", according to Geoff Stray, editor of the influential website http://www.diagnosis2012 (figure 7). With the year 2012 in mind, the crop formation that most caught the public attention in 2004 was undoubtedly the so-called "Mayan" design which appeared over two consecutive by Andy Thomas © 2004 Swirled News Southern Circular Research 3 Old House Courtyard Southover High Street Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1HT, UK Websites: http://www.swirlednews.com http://www. vitalsignspublishing.co.uk Swirled News Southern Circular Research 3 Old House Courtyard Southover High Street Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1HT, UK NEXUS +53 by Andy Thomas © 2004 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2004 www.nexusmagazine.com