Documenting the interesting bits of the 2002 season.
 
Number of formations: UK: 108 Worldwide: 217
Country: 108.uk 35.de 20.nl 13.ca 10.po 9.cz 9.us 3.ch 2.nz 2.no 1.lt 1.fr 1.se 1.fi 1.dk 1.sk
 

 
Updated 3rd Sep 2002:
Just as everybody thought the 2002 crop circle season was over, with the combine harvesters rumbling across the fields of Southern England, yet more crop circles were being discovered! This jaw dropper (pictured above) was discovered at Crooked Soley, near Hungerford in Wiltshire on 28th August as the combines crept towards it.
 

 
It's a massive ring which houses what looks like a 360 degree three-dimensional representation of a twisting DNA strand! According to reports there are 1296 squares that make up the grid that the DNA is laid out on and the formations stretched for over 200ft. Interestingly, the formations center is located between tram lines in standing crop, as you can see from the aerial photos there is no trace in the crop, now how did THEY do that?
Photos courtesy: Steve Alexander

Updated 20th Aug 2002:
This vast six petal flower formation which spans nine tram-lines appeared at Nursteed near Devizes in Wiltshire on 11th August.
 
Updated 16th Aug 2002:
With the harvest now upon us, it's crescendo time again across the wheat field of Southern England. The entire crop circle community have been waiting with baited breath for the 2002 season finale. Well, the waiting is over, and we can hear the sound of jaws hitting the ground. The above formations was discovered on 15th August at Sparsholt in Hampshire. You need a bit of time to take it all in, it depicts an archetypal grey alien alongside a disk. Interestingly the formation is situated in a wheat field adjacent to a telecommunications tower. Take a closer look at the interior of the disk, it's actually a spiral. The crop circle community are already suggesting that the standing and flattened segments in the disk might be binary code. To help the research effort can we suggest using this site once you've managed to extrapolate all of the ones and zeros.
Photos courtesy: Steve Alexander, Mark Fussell
 

 
Updated 10th Aug 2002:
These two formations appeared in Wiltshire and Buckinghamshire at the end of July and the beginning of August. The first (pictured above left) was discovered near Avebury Truslose in Witlshire and consists of radial spokes overlaid with four rings of chevron arrows, you can get a sense of the scale of the formation by looking at the people standing in the cenre of the formation. The second was discovered near Dunstable in Buckinghamshire situated in a natural amphitheatre which enables you to get a elevated view of the formation.
Photo courtesy: Andrew King, Tony Kay
 

 
Updated 1st Aug 2002:
These two formations appeared in Wiltshire and Hampshire at the end of July. The first (pictured above left) was discovered at Beacon Hill in Hampshire on 21st July. It resembles the Illuminati "all seeing eye". The second (pictured above right) was discovered on 28th July at Avebury in Wiltshire.
Photo courtesy: Steve Alexander, Colin Andrews
 

 
Updated 28th July 2002:
These two formations appeared in Wiltshire at the end of July. The first (pictured above left) was discovered at Barbury Castle on 24th July. The second (pictured above right) was discovered on 26nd July at Honey Street near Alton Barnes and is a close cousin of this years Stone Henge formation (see below). Interestingly, the formation spirals around a telegraph pole that is situated in the field!
Photo courtesy: Stuard Dike, Matt Williams
 

 
Updated 23th July 2002:
These two formations appeared in Wiltshire during July. The first (pictured above left) was discovered under the White Horse at Pewsey on 17th July and resembles a Nautilus shell. The second (pictured above right) was discovered on 22nd July at South Field in Alton Barnes. It's has four fold geometry and resembles knotted rope.
Photo courtesy: Dereka Dobson, Tony Kay
 

 
Updated 20th July 2002:
With the wheat now maturing this seasons jaw dropper has arrived. This awesome formation (pictured above) was discovered on July 18th at Windmill Hill in Wiltshire which has been host to many spectacular crop circles in the past. We estimate that there are approx 1500 segments in this formation. It must rate as one of the most geometrically complex formations to have ever appeared. There are some people standing in the middle of the formation to give you a sense of scale.
 
Here's what veteran crop circle researcher Colin Andrews had to say about the formation: "...The gem of the season, if not ever. I find myself saying every year now, they just cant get better than this, well I just said it again. It is startlingly beautiful... It still gives me bumps on my arms and helps my mind grow in ways hard to explain."
 
Peter Gersten - who describes himself as a UFO lawyer - was also blown away by the formation: "This new crop circle has to be the most extraordinary planetary pictograph I have ever seen... it is a work of cosmic art".
Photo courtesy: Colin Andrews
 

 
Updated 9th July 2002:
This spectacular formation (pictured above) in wheat which spans over 700ft was discovered on July 4th opposite Stone Henge in Wiltshire, England. The field is due south of the location of the Julia Set formation of 1996. It continues a trend for gigantic formations begun last year with the Milk Hill spiral.
Photo courtesy: Steve Alexander
 

 
Updated 29th June 2002:
A selection of recent formations from (top) Wiltshire and (bottom) Yorkshire.
Photos courtesy: Mick Haywood and Steve Alexander
 
Updated 10th June 2002:
The UKs most recent formation has appeared at the epicenter of the phenomenon in Wiltshire opposite Silbury Hill. The axis of the formation actually points towards the hill. The formation was discovered on June 4th and is in immature barley. The design consists of circles and intersecting circles that create crescents and rings that form a cross.
Photo courtesy Steve Alexander
 
Updated 4th June 2002:
Another day, another formation discovered in wheat. This time down in West Sussex at Sompting near Worthing. Unusually the formation is placed in an urban environment surrounded by houses on either side. The formation is a circle surrounded by a ring with two spiral arms spinning off from the ring with two smaller satellite circles at each end of the arms.
Photo courtesy David Russell
 
Updated 3rd June 2002:
England's first barley formation - which curiously has arrived after the seasons first wheat formation! - was discovered at Beckhampton, near Avebury in Wiltshire on June 2nd. It's the most complex formation to appear in the UK so far this year and brings the total number of formations discovered worldwide to thirteen.
Photo courtesy Steve Alexander
 
Updated 2nd June 2002:
The fourth formation to appear in Germany was discovered at Baden-Württemberg near Sinsheim on May 26th. The formation is in Barley and resembles a maze - all be it a rather badly made freehand one! Sinsheim has been host to several formations over the years and there was a crescent formation in this exact same field in 1998.
Photo courtesy Dirk Moller
 
Updated 25th May 2002:
England's first wheat formation - which it has to be said is a pretty poor specimen! - was discovered at Newton St Loe, near Bath in Somerset on May 23rd. It's a classic simple linear pictogram consisting of three circles of varying diameter centered on a linear pathway with several outlying boxes. The formation is in very immature wheat and consequently the crop is already recovering.
Photo courtesy cropcircleconnector.com
 
Updated 24th May 2002:
The first formation to appear in Barley this year was discovered over in Kassel, Germany near a megalitihic site called the "giant's stone" on 20th May. It's a small formation which stradles a single tram line. The design could best be described as a sun symbol with 12 rays radiating out from a central circle, tying in nicely with its location which was probaly used as an observatory, on the winter solstice you can watch the sun rising between the stones.
Photo courtesy Dirk Moller
 
Updated 8th May 2002:
The circles heartland of Wiltshire has received its first crop circle. The formation which was discovered in oil seed rape (canola) near Beckhampton on May 6th spans 135ft at its widest point. The design consists of a standing circle overlapping a flattened circle which could be read as representing an eclipse, with a couple of smaller 30ft grapeshot circles nearby.
Photo courtesy Pete Glastonbury
 
View Charles R Mallett's fantastic ground shots of the formation over at the cropcircleconnector.com website: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
 

Updated 5th May 2002: Circles are now starting to appear in Germany. The first was a small scale simple dumbbell shaped formation in immature oil seed rape (canola). When it was discovered on 26th April near Kassle (see photo right) the crop was already beginning to recover and spring back up. Photo courtesy Dirk Moller   The second simple formation was also discovered in the Kassel region of Germany in oil seed rape (canola) on May 1st. It's similar in design to the formation that was discovered here in the UK at Soberton in Hampshire and consists of two rings containing small grapeshot circles. Photo courtesy Dirk Moller   There have also been reports of circles in the United States and New Zealand, bringing the total number of circles reported so far this year to six.

Updated 21st April 2002:
It has begun, the 2002 crop circle season is now under way! As per usual it's a sedate start, with a modest 50ft classic formation - a single circle surrounded by a ring, with two standing circles in the ring. It was discovered near Soberton in Hampshire on Friday 12th April. With the mild weather and the oil seed rape in bloom more circles will undoubtedly be appearing over the next couple of weeks... stay tuned!
Photo courtesy Peter Sorensen