Pointer to the Circles

Among the earliest investigators to document crop formations in England was Arthur Shuttlewood, a journalist and author who went on to write a number of UFO-related books. In the 1960s and early 1970s such observations within the fields of Wiltshire were treated almost as an aside to the main sequence of events. Far greater emphasis was placed on the abundance of UFO sightings, landings and even alleged alien encounters. Most of these having been recorded in, or in relatively close proximity to the market town of Warminster.


In Shuttlewood`s first book, `The Warminster Mystery` [pub.1967 / Spearman] there are a number of references to these formations. Early in 1966 several 30ft diameter circles were discovered in nearby areas of flattened grass and reed; the blades and stems swirled in a clockwise fashion. In his book, `UFOs - Key to the New Age [pub.1971/Regency Press] the frontispiece comprises four photographs which illustrate a 30ft by 50ft triangular shaped area, two 50ft long furrows and two 12ft long bar-shaped depressions, all of which appeared in Wiltshire corn fields. The triangle, or pyramid depression contained crop described as having been `swirled round in a whirligig style`.


At the same time as these formations were beginning to appear, Shuttlewood was also busy gathering information relating to a mysterious and ultimately unidentifiable source of sound which, to those who experienced it, was invariably accompanied by an invisible field of force. Likened to sonic pressure waves, this attendent noise was similarly described as high-pitched whining or droning, whistling and or loud buzzing. The force exerted an energy equal to a feeling of great pressure bearing down from above on the head, neck and arms of witnesses. One unlucky victim reported that his head had been shaken violently from side to side. Three young children playing beside a stream on a still evening in 1965 were suddenly swept off their feet as invisible forces suddenly pinned them to the vibrating ground. A terrifying whooping wail rose to a crescendo during this short-lived incident. For those inside their homes the visiting shockwave of sound contained sufficient power to rattle windows and even shake the very roof timbers. Shuttlewood wrote that these paralyzing beams of air pressure were also responsible for a growing number of shocked and injured animals, both farm and domestic. The inexplicable death of a flock of pigeons while in flight was another reported incident. The birds having been downed en masse following an alleged contact with this invisible aerial presence.


On a September night in 1965, Major William Hill was driving to his weekly Territorial Army [reserves] meeting in nearby Westbury when the engine of his car abruptly cut out. At that moment its chassis shuddered under the downbeating pressure of aerial vibrations and the headlights flickered dimly, according to Shuttlewood`s account of the event. The Major felt a rolling motion beneath him as the whole bodywork swayed and on stepping from his vehicle found himself `immediately conscious of air vibrations of a violent character which surrounded and beat down on him, and heard a sinister whining and crackling`. Shuttlewood added: `It was on a par with the sounds of high-powered refgrigeration units or deep-freeze equipment,` and after three minutes everything returned to normal.


The county of Wiltshire is awash with military bases even today. Huge tracts of prime agricultural land remain designated as off-limits to the public, in order that war games and weapons testing continue largely unobserved and free from interference. Could the late Arthur Shuttlewood`s `The Warminster Mystery` point the way towards another possible earthly explanation for the agriglyphs [I prefer that word too!] which have steadily, during the course of successive seasons, developed into subtle and intricate revealing messages directed at mankind? However, just how and why the military would wish to play such games is another question -- or two.