Pi-eyed at new crop circle

10:53am Friday 20th June 2008

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AMERICAN tourists, mystic gurus and hoards of hippies have been making the pilgrimage to a possible alien landing site near Barbury Castle.

Crop circle enthusiasts believe the circular formation found near Wroughton is the genuine article - and is one of the most mathematically accurate crop circles ever seen.

Boffins have concluded the shape of the flattened barley stems represents the mathematical constant Pi.

But the couple who discovered it are more sceptical.

Jon Antoni, who owns the café and campsite at Barbury Castle, stumbled across the 150ft formation early one morning.

In the two weeks since then, their business has been booming with people travelling from far and wide to have a closer look.

Jon's wife Ann said: "We have had lots of business from it. People have been coming up from all over.

"We have had American tourists, a big group of Hindus and there was some kind of guru, with long robes and lots of followers.

"I'm sure there will be even more to come. With the solstice this weekend there will be a lot of people sat in it when the sun comes up."

Ann said she could not make up her mind about what caused the spiralling design.

"It appeared overnight but nobody saw a thing. There were campers here and that amount of activity without anyone noticing seems odd.

"My boys came back from nights out at different times during the night and didn't see anything.

"Barbury Hill is a well-known place for lovers. It's a bit like lover' lane, but no one heard or saw anything.

"But I just can't understand it. If people did it they would have to be extremely busy, then surely they would have something better to do with their time?

"If it was aliens, then why did they decide to make contact with some circles in a field?"

Crop circle expert Francine Blake, from the Wiltshire Crop Circle Study Group, is convinced Barbury's latest attraction is not man-made.

"It has very precise mathematical proportions. It would have been almost impossible for someone to make it so accurately. The barley is very delicate, but not a stem was damaged, it was all just gently bent.

"We got the measurements and had a mathematician look at it until he realised it was Pi. We don't know how it was formed. It happened very quickly. The stems had been heated, like they had been microwaved and cooked slightly.

"We know it's meaningful. We know it is a new interesting formation but we don't know where it came from.

"It is very exciting."

Retired astrophysicist Mike Reed worked out that the pattern showed Pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter, after seeing a photo of the field.

But mathematician Mick Dams thinks the numerical accuracy is more reason to believe it was created by humans. Mr Dams, section leader of A-level maths at Swindon's New College said: "The more mathematically accurate it is, the more convinced I am that it is hoaxers, probably Oxford University maths students.

"There are some cases of atmospheric pressure causing circles, but nothing with a complicated mathematical explanation like this.

"I'm still impressed and it looks beautiful.

"It is an impressive piece of artwork, but as far as it being aliens or positive energy, I seriously doubt it."