I was actually able to spent a little extra time in England in 1996 which meant that I could adopt better protocols based on the previous years' results. The availability of flights- actually, make that the unavailability- made overhead analysis very hard. As if by design, it turned interesting aspects of the research were discovered instead at ground level.

As expected, the Windmill Hill triple Julia (J) showed up the watershed nicely, even thought it was 48-hours before we could shoot it from the air.

On the ground, the stems showed a nice burst of uneven heat dispersion, even after 36-hours. It was interesting to note that this time, the crop was shot when it was very mature. This has serious implications for infra red film: where as last year the crop was immature and showed up as red if normal, this year it would appear as yellow because it had stopped growing. Therefore, any bursts of red would indicate that something had augmented the plant's normal growth cycle. In photo K, you can clearly see that the Triple Julia was manipulated.

At the same location a week later (L), the heat levels had greatly dissipated and the plants were reverting to their normal pattern.

The same results were found at Chiseldon (M); both formations at this site lay along a clearly defined section of where a burst of heat appears to have increased in the plants.

At ground level (N and M.a), the plants showed an incredible burst of infra red, possibly due to our presence within just 12-hours of its appearance.

Now compare the same position a week later (M.b), under identical circumstances. Much reduced activity.

And now for the fun part- the Olivers Castle snowflake crop circle. I was very fortunate to have been one of the first people at the site the next morning, so that some form of uncontaminated evidence could be secured. This aerial shot (P) was taken around 7 AM, hence the mist (the halo is from the sun. But it shows, nevertheless, that there has been no watershed disruption consistent with genuine formations.

At ground level, the formation was disappointing for such a new arrival. The ground shots in fact reveal that there has been no disruption of the plants' heat structure (P.a), as was the case at Chiseldon and Windmill Hill. In fact, the only red in the picture is from a healthy weed.

It is important to note that these results are not conclusive by any means. That would require frequent photographic documentation of many formations over a period of at least two months. Every year. Sadly, unless I find a wealthy benefactor who is willing to accommodate me for that amount of time it just won't be possible to do. The alternative is for other photographers to get involved so that results can be pooled (although personally I wouldn't mind the first alternative!).

Images and text © Freddy Silva 1995, 1996