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Boxley, near Maidstone, Kent. Reported 17th July. Image: Mike Mahoney © 2005. Meanwhile, the BBC missed another opportunity to at least define the phenomenon as an unknown quantity when it featured yet another human team making a crop circle. This was in a TV series, broadcast in July and presented by David Dimbleby, look- ing at the influence of the British landscape on artists down the ages. Again, the plankers were presented as, in effect, the only component of the mystery. However, for all this scepticism and rhetoric, interest in the crop circles remained high, with large numbers of cerealogical visitors and tour groups roaming the fields of Wiltshire and beyond. The Glastonbury Symposium, for instance, the longest-running of all the croppie gatherings, sold out faster than any previous year, and the summer managed to support at least four big circle-related events within just weeks (and in some cases days) of each other. One of the most complex designs of the year was the astonishingly detailed mandala found not far from the famous white horse of Uffington in Oxfordshire on 13th August. This formation contained elements of many of the summer's themes all in one, almost as a summing-up of the season. There was a final flurry of ingenuity towards the end of August—in particular, an ornate scarab beetle-like emblem at Alton Priors on 21st August, and a very accurate display of nothing but hexagons at Cherhill the same night. These were the last formations at the time of writing. There were about 70 crop patterns in the UK this summer— fewer than in some years, more than in others, and pretty much on a par with last year's 77 figure. Meanwhile, other countries received their fair share of ingenious glyphs, too. However, in several countries including Germany, the circle-makers seem to have gone back to basics this year with sim- ler glyphs on the whole—the one exception being a German pic- togram in the style of the famous 1990 types. In Italy, Poland and even Russia (where scientists have apparently declared that crop circles are the result of "lightning strikes", according to their media), they seem to have delved into more complexity. But there is no question that England remains the heart of the phenomenon, where its finest works continue to be etched in the fields. Thus the crop circle phenomenon—with all its mysteries, paradoxes, controversies and quirks—continues unabated, and the journeys of the mind kicked off by the inner questioning inspired by the glyphs continue to take many people to new and unexpected places in their lives and thinking. Long may it reign—at least until 2012... oo Watlington Road, near Chalgrove, Oxfordshire. Reported 22nd July. Image: Andrew King © 2005. About the Author : Andy Thomas is one the world's foremost crop circle researchers and has written five books on the phenomenon, including Vital Signs, considered by many to be the definitive guide (see http:/Awww.vitalsignspublishing.co.uk). A new edition of this book is being prepared for 2006 publication. Andy is also editor of the influential Swirled News website, http://www.swirlednews.com. He can be contacted by email at info@swirlednews.com. East Field, near Alton Priors, Wiltshire. Reported 21st August. Image: Steve Alexander © 2005. Crop Circle Research Contacts : = Steve Alexander: http:/www.temporarytemples.co.uk/ = Colin Andrews (CPRI): http:/Awww.cropcircleinfo.com/ = Crop Circle Connector: http://www.cropcircleconnector.com + Dutch Centre for Crop Circle Studies: http://www.dcccs.org * Lucy Pringle: http://www.lucypringle.co.uk/ + Freddy Silva: http://www.lovely.clara.net - Busty Taylor: http:/;www.busty-taylor.com * Andy Thomas: http:/Avww.swirlednews.com = Paul Vigay: http:/Awww.cropcircleresearch.com NEXUS +55 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2005 www.nexusmagazine.com