300ft crop circle stuns expert

The huge crop circle appeared at Houndean Bottom and experts said its deceptively simple design hides some highly thought out and complex geometry.

The design has a skeletal structure with more of the crop left unflattened than not.

It looks like six crotchets revolving clockwise round in a spiral wheel.

Local expert Allan Brown is a graphic designer and studies the geometry of each crop circle which appears.

He said: "With a crop circle that is not obviously man-made I almost always find out something new from the design.

"It looks like a beautifully simple design and it is on one level but when I started drawing it I realised it hid some very complex geometry. It is very ordered and very consistent throughout.

"However, all the construction points you need to make it are there so it could be man-made. But, if so, it is extremely impressive to have done it in one night and without any damage to the crop.

"The intelligence used has an overview and ease with maths and geometry that is quite breathtaking."

When someone tried to create something like this, the end result was almost always very busy and complex-looking.

He said: "But one after the other these crop circles appear. They are the most awesome displays of landscape art and they go entirely unauthored."

Another local expert Andy Thomas analysed the crop circle.

He said it was similar to the wheel part of a famous design at Barbury Castle in 1991, except much larger.

The circle has been created in barley which, according to Andy, was messier than wheat because it stood up again more quickly.

He said in this design there was no overt crimping or damage on the stems - one of the first tell-tale signs to look for in a hoax, where the crop is marked as it is pushed down by hand or using a rope or implement.

It is not the first time this field has been "visited". In 1990, three circles in a triangular configuration were discovered and in 1991 two circles appeared.