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Image Peter Sorensen Copyright 2000

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The Celtic cross at Milton Farm is a classic formation from the late 1980s with a radical innovation never seen before -- the inclusion of a sacred site within it as the principle component of the design. It is surely one of the most interesting crop circles of this, or any other year.

I was very lucky to receive a call from a woman who lives in the area, who looked out here window early in the morning on July 19th, and saw it about half a mile away. 

Nick and I drove there within the hour, and we were probably the first researchers there. There was one obvious walk line, but it was too gross to have been made by anyone who loves crop circles -- croppies or hoaxers! More likely one of the other residents of the farm had been there very early in the morning.

What we found was an awesomely beautiful Celtic cross, or "quintuplet set" as they are also called. This design, which hasn't appeared in England since 1992 (as far as I know), consists of a ring with four satellites surrounding a central circle -- like the five dots on dice. But instead of a central circle, there was a bronze age round barrow, or tumulus in the middle. This relationship to a sacred site has never been seen before!

The four breathtakingly beautiful satellites are also remarkable in that their crop is laid in four directions within four quadrants (some liken this to a swastika -- but that's a very crude analogy).  These satellites are small versions of a circle at Winterbourne Stoke, Hampshire that amazed everyone back in 1989. As one flies around above the formation, these quadrants alternately reflect and absorb the sunshine, putting on a brilliant display!

The encompassing ring is laid in two directions, the inner part going clockwise, and the outer going counter-clockwise. I didn't measure the formation, but I'd estimate it to be approximately 250 feet in diameter. There is also a 20-foot diameter simple circle about a thousand feet away to the north.

Of course it is the round barrow that is the most wonderful feature of the formation. It is about 60 feet in diameter, and covered with stinging nettles. The nettles at the top are laid in a small clockwise circle with a standing tuft in the middle. There was a giant, seven-foot tall Cow Parsley (a flower which in the States is called Queen Ann's Lace) in the center. But I hear that the flower is now gone -- no doubt plucked by some very spiritual croppie who just had to have it, no matter if everyone else is deprived of its beauty. (The removal of standing plants and/or soil from the centers of circles has been going on for years. I think this is EXTREMELY selfish vandalism. These circular gifts from the Goddess -- or ET, or whoever -- belong to all Humanity.) 

WARNING: There are large, deep badger holes in the barrow, camouflaged by the plants, and one could easily break an ankle stepping in one! 

Surrounding the barrow and within the encompassing ring of the Celtic cross is a circular tractor tramline, which contributes greatly to
the aerial view of the design. 

Adding to the beauty of the experience on the ground are thousands of poppies in the field. Many, utterly undamaged, are in the flattened
crop as well. Poppies are extremely fragile, and their petals easily fall off if subjected to any violence.

Ron Russell and Dr. Simion Hein from Colorado's Midwest Research, who began taking electrostatic meter readings of crop circles last year,
visited the site on the first day and report meter readings three times higher in the formation than in the surrounding crop. By comparison, the Milk Hill "Rose Window" meter readings were virtually flat on the first day.

After a very slow start, this summer is suddenly getting VERY good!

Peter