South East Essex is not known for its crop circles - aside
from the presumably man-made examples of recent years at
Rettendon and nearby North Woodham Ferrers. In February 1993,
however, I have become aware of what seems to have been a classic
crop circle appearing in the then rural district of Eastwood
during the summer of 1964. It was brought to my attention by Gwen
Brooker of Eastwood after she came across my book The
Circlemakers in a local bookshop. Gwen dropped me a line and
this led to an interview with her and her husband John on
Wednesday, 24 February [1].
Our chat in the comfort of the couple's home lasted for some
hours and as it progressed I realised that both Gwen and John
were mature, articulate and sincere people not prone to flights
of fancy. Furthermore, they are also known to me through a mutual
friend, Gwen Horrigan of Leigh-on-Sea, who can confirm the
couple's integrity. Since 1962 the Brookers have lived in
Rayleigh Road, Eastwood. Today it is a busy main road linking the
town of Rayleigh with the A127 arterial road at Kent Elms Corner,
but in 1964 it was still a pleasant country lane bordered by
avenues of trees and looking out across cultivated fields
belonging to nearby Cockethurst Farm.
Each morning and evening Gwen or her husband would walk their
young dog - a cocker spaniel named 'Sally' - along the side of
the fields lying beyond Rayleigh Road and nearby Snakes Lane,
both of which contained only a handful of scattered houses and
cottages. Some 300 yards along Snakes Lane was Cockethurst Manor,
a late Tudor house surrounded by trees and owned by three elderly
sisters who employed the services of a farm manager.
One clear morning in late July 1964 Gwen took the dog for its
usual walk. After entering Snakes Lane she left the road and
strolled along the eastern edge of a field containing near-ripe
wheat (and no tractor tram-lines). On reaching the bottom of the
field she came to a small, fast-running brook, beyond which was a
further field of ripe wheat. Here Gwen turned west to follow the
field's northern edge. Some 150 yards further on, as she drew
level with an old oak tree on the opposite side of the brook, her
eyes picked out a large circular area of flattened wheat on her
left-hand side, estimated at around 40 feet in diameter (OSGR TQ
85008863). It was symmetrically perfect and swirled in an anti-
clockwise direction. Gwen recalls it was located some ten feet
beyond the edge of the field and there seemed to be no visible
sign of entry from the footpath. Furthermore, she was convinced
it had not been there the previous evening when she and her
husband had last walked the dog, meaning it must have appeared
overnight.
Her gaze at this extraordinary sight was broken by the sound
of her dog barking loudly. Glancing down she saw it was looking
directly at the crop circle, its shackles raised, as if agitated
by something unseen among the corn.
The dog continued its incessant barking for some minutes and
although nothing could be seen, its peculiar reaction was one of
the factors that convinced Gwen that she should not enter the
circle. She also decided that stepping through the corn would
only result in further damage to the crop, so instead Gwen pulled
the dog away and continued her brisk walk.
On arrival home Gwen informed her husband of the flattened
circle of corn. He confirmed it had not been present when they
had both walked the same footpath the previous evening and
mulling over the possibilities, Gwen suggested that the crop
circle might be the result of a 'saucer' coming down. Such an
idea was, of course, a wild stab in the dark, particularly as
there has been no reports of UFO activity either in the area or
in the local newspapers (see below). Gwen was herself a believer,
however, as a school-friend of hers had encountered some form of
unidentified object in Southchurch Hall Park, some five miles
away, during the mid-1950s.
Unconvinced of the 'flying saucer' theory, John accompanied
Gwen back to the crop circle that same evening. Once again the
dog was in tow, although this time the animal did not respond to
its proximity. John forced an entry into the area of flattened
corn and, despite his memory being a little hazy, he seems to
recall that the nearer he got to the centre the more the
flattened wheat appeared to be unduly 'bleached', as if the
stalks' moisture had been 'evaporated by heat'. Indeed, John
feels that the actual centre was totally devoid of any stalks,
and remarked on the fact that the earth appeared to have been
'scorched', as if 'blasted' from the middle outwards. He too
confirmed that there had been no sign of any human entry from the
footpath running alongside the brook and so concluded that he was
probably the first to enter the circle. John became totally
flummoxed by its presence, having never seen anything like it
before.
During the interview John pointed out that in 1964 there was
simply no interest in the subject of UFOs. What's more, the
location in question was fairly remote and, to the best of his
knowledge, was only frequented by people out walking their dogs.
For this reason he could see no reason why any local youths
should want to create such a thing.
After leaving the circle the Brookers returned home, perplexed
by their discovery. Gwen did telephone a few friends to inform
them of the circle's presence, but none seemed intrigued enough
to want to visit the site. One of these friends, a woman named
Janet Phipps, told me she recalled Gwen ringing her about the
'saucer' nest and was easily able to work out the year in
question.
The wheat field where the crop circle appeared in 1964 was one
of the many cultivated each year by Cockethurst Farm. The whole
area was entirely flat with no hills within at least three miles
of this location: it is also devoid of any known ancient sites.
Curiously enough, Gwen recalls that 1964 was the last time the
field containing the circle was used for wheat crop. The
following year it was left fallow and within two years it had
been sold to the local council. It is now a football field
attached to the nearby Eastwood Schools, situated opposite Gwen
and John's home in Rayleigh Road.
During my interview we adjourned to the playing field at the
centre of the mystery and here Gwen pointed out the position
where she came across the circle in 1964. Interesting features
that should be noted is the proximity of running water within 10
to 15 feet of the crop circle (which Gwen intuitively feels is
important in some way) and the large oak tree on the opposite
side of the brook. Some 150 yards south of the position are east-
west running electricity cables strung between low pylons.
Unfortunately Gwen cannot recall whether these were present in
1964. However, they are certainly present on the OS map for
1968-69, meaning they were very possibly in position four years
earlier.
Gwen has spoken of ghost stories attached to various buildings
in the fields around Eastwood, but none of these lie within half
a mile of where the crop circle appeared, so cannot be associated
with its presence. There was also talk of a witches' coven
setting up in a nearby building, but this was finally pin-downed
to the late 1960s, early 1970s; not earlier.
The only other curious fact concerns Gypsies who would come
from all over Britain to this area during the months of June/July
each year. Here they would take part in an impromptu music
festival before going their own ways again. However, their
rallying point was close to the Woodcutters Arms public house in
Leigh-on-Sea, which is more than a mile away from where the crop
circle appeared, so I see no justification for linking them with
its presence.
It seems reasonable to suggest that Gwen Brooker's dog may
well have reacted to something unseen inside the crop circle, a
feature already common to crop circle lore. A prime example is
Colin Andrew's account of his family dog's violent reaction to
its approach to the Kimpton ring on 29 June 1987 [2].
Essex UFO investigator Ron West claims that after the appearance
of the 1989 single circle at Littly Green in mid-Essex, the
nearby farmer's dog barked incessantly for the entire three weeks
it was present [3]. What's more, whenever the
animal escaped from the garden it would race across to the circle
and begin digging at its centre.
In Chapter 10 of The Circlemakers I suggest that such
responses are compatible with the idea that animals can respond
to inexplicable ultrasound emissions. Similar reactions have been
noted at ancient sites where anomalous ultrasound emissions have
been recorded.
With the Littly Green case in mind, it is important to
remember that dogs respond to dog whistles not because they like
the sound they produce, but because they want to seek out the
source of the noise; animals will often jump up in an attempt to
snatch the whistle from their owner's hand if the sound is
continued.
Ultrasound monitoring has been included in the ORGONE93
project.
The 1964 crop circle lies close to an east-west running brook
and consultation with a local geological map shows some
potentially interesting features about this location [4].
The brook at this point marks the juncture of five separate
geological stratas; these being alluvium, brickearth, loam (river
brickearth), London Clay, sand and gravel. Quite what this means
I cannot say but it may have some bearing on the porosity of the
sub-surface levels deemed by some to have a relationship with the
appearance of crop circles [5].
Gwen Brooker informs me that the water tables beneath the Kent
Elms area of Eastwood are very unstable and that when a bridge
was constructed across the A127 arterial road, many local houses
became flooded owing to the displacement of sub-surface water.
1964 is important in crop circle terms as it was the year
before the sudden growth in popularity of the UFO phenomenon,
following the rise of interest in the Wiltshire town of
Warminster. From Christmas Day 1964 onwards for some years there
was a steady increase in alleged UFO activity reflected in media
interest during this very same period. It climaxed with two
national UFO 'flaps', one in 1967 and the other in 1973. Both
years produced record amounts of reported sightings as can be
determined from the many pulp paperbacks that appeared on the
subject during the early to mid 1970s. Therefore, if the Eastwood
circle had appeared, say, after 1964 then it might be suggested
that it was the result of local and/or national media interest in
UFOs. As it stands, the circle occurred during a period of no
local reported sightings and very few national stories on the
subject of UFOs.
The archives of Southend Central Library contain press
cuttings on UFO sightings from the 1950s to the present day. The
earliest of these was clearly a fireball mistakenly identified as
a 'flying saucer' in a news-story printed in the Southend
Standard of 3 December 1953 and entitled 'Flying Saucer or
Shooting Star?'. There were no more reported sightings in the
local media until 16 March 1966 when the Southend Standard
ran a news-story entitled 'Mystery in the night sky'. It
concerned a 'deep, pulsating glow of orange in the shape of a
parachute' watched for what appears to have been some time by a
Mr William Dowler as he drove along the A127 arterial road
towards Southend during the late evening of Thursday, 10 March.
'It was moving about in the sky as though trying to study the
ground', said Mr Dowler. 'As I passed Kent Elm(s) traffic lights
it suddenly went out'. Kent Elms Corner, Eastwood, is no more
than 300-400 yards from the position of the 1964 Snakes Lane crop
circle. The news-piece claimed that Mr Dowler and 'several other
car drivers' and a Police motor-cyclist 'slowed to watch' the
aerial anomaly.
Intriguingly enough the next known sighting, reported in the Southend
Standard of 2 November 1967, also featured the Kent Elms
Corner. A Mr Edward Rouse of Hullbridge watched 'a huge object
with flashing lights hovering above trees at Kent Elms Corner,
Eastwood' during the evening of Saturday, 29 October. He too was
driving along the busy A127 arterial road towards Southend when
he spotted about '500 yards' away 'a ring of fluorescent light'
that dipped below the tree-line at one point before returning as
'a red, flashing light'. He had earlier witnessed what he
believed was either the same or a similar object in nearby
Rayleigh.
Confirming my above statement about the interest in UFOs
spreading only after the advent of the Warminster phenomenon of
1965 onwards, the news-story claimed: 'This is the first report
of an unidentified flying object in the Southend area since last
week's spate of sightings in the south of England'. It doesn't
say where in the South of England, but there is a good
probability it was a reference to Warminster. There were no
further reported sightings in south-east Essex until 1971.
Although I cannot vouch for the authenticity of either report,
I find it intriguing that the only two sightings recorded in the
Southend area during the 1960s occurred within a few hundred
yards of the 1964 Snakes Lane crop circle. I can also confirm
that no mention of 'flying saucers' was made at all in the Southend
Standard between May and September 1964, virtually
eliminating a motive for the creation of a 'saucer nest' by local
youths during this same period of time.
My own research has shown crop circles to be merely part of a
much larger phenomenon connected with both time and space,
reflected in other unusual events and incidents of either a human
or meteorological nature. Such peculiar anomalies and their
association with the paranormal are known as fortean phenomena
(after Charles Fort, their first chronicler).
With this in mind I scanned through all editions of the
Southend Standard, south-east Essex's only newspaper in 1964,
looking for seemingly-unconnected events that might have some
bearing on the presence of the Snakes Lane crop circle.
From the beginning of June to the end of September the
following incidents caught my attention:
- Saturday, 18.7.64. At the height of a heavy storm on the
morning concerned police at Ghyllgrove, Basildon (5 miles from
Eastwood), watched 'a huge bowl (ball ?) of fire' run down the
northern side of Brooke House. A tree was also reported to have
been struck in nearby Pagel Mead [6].
- Saturday, 18.7.64. Just hours after the violent storm a fire
mysteriously destroyed the 1820 church of St Gabriel in Pitsea (4
miles from Eastwood). Police were at a loss to explain how the
fire started [7].
- Thursday, 20.8.64. Around 3pm a freak whirlwind came off the
Thames Estuary and struck the home of Mr and Mrs Ronald Sunshine
of Atherstone Road, Canvey Island (4 miles from Eastwood). It was
described as 'a swirling funnel of air' and was accompanied by a
noise likened to 'a jet aeroplane ... going to land'. It vanished
as quickly as it appeared leaving wide-spread damage to the house [8].
- Saturday, 22.8.64. Pitsea and Vange were plunged into
darkness for nearly an hour after the electricity supply
mysteriously failed. 'Something happened to our 35,000 volt
system' a spokesman said [9].
- Sunday, 23.8.64. Around 9.30pm an unnamed elderly woman in
Rayleigh heard 'four sharp raps' on the front door of her
cottage. On peering through the window she saw a hooded figure
staring up at her from the base of the steps, described as 'a
tall man dressed in black ... wearing a dark hood'. The dog
instantly reacted by jumping up at the window while a 'man
friend' ran out into the street, only to find that the figure had
vanished from sight.
The woman told the Standard that after the door-step
intruder had disappeared her 'daughter sat in a chair as if she
was paralysed'. She had no idea who the hooded man might have
been and said that no one bore a grudge against either her or her
family [10].
Rayleigh is no more than 3 miles from Eastwood. I suspect a
logical explanation to this extraordinary incident, but one is
tempted to think of the Grim reaper sketch in Monty Python's film The
Meaning of Life !
Whether any of these quite separate incidents were related to
the 1964 crop circle might never be known as we have no actual
date of occurrence. However, they were well worth recording,
anyway.
I have found no likelihood of the Eastwood circle being of
man- made construction, although the possibility of a hoax can
never be ruled out. I am also drumming up interest in the local
media in the hope that I can draw out others who either saw the
crop circle or know something of its manufacture. Until such
times as any further information comes to light, this particular
example must remain a mystery, for which reason it is
unquestionably an important addition to our gradually-expanding
data-bank of pre-1980 British circles.
1. A tape recording was made of the
interview. Full details of the witnesses' address and details are
on file.
2. Collins, A. The Circlemakers, ABC Books, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, 1992, pp 94-95.
3. West, R., Essex UFO Research Group,
1989.
4. See Geological Sheets 258/259,
Southend and Foulness, HMSO. 5. Grist, B. The Cerealogist,
No.
5. The Aquifer Attractor, pages
18-19.
6. Southend Standard, 22.7.64,
page 16, Basildon slip- page.
7. Ibid., as above.
8. Ibid., 26.8.64, page 32,
Canvey-Rayleigh slip page.
9. Ibid., 26.8.64, page 18, Basildon
slip-page.
10. Ibid., 26.8.64, page 32,
Canvey-Rayleigh slip-page.
Many thanks to Andy Collins for allowing us to reproduce this
previously unreported case - yet another articulate recollection
of a crop circle from the pre Doug and Dave era - and yet another
case which just doesn't exist if you believe the claims of the
official skeptics movement. Yet again we have a historical case
which features just a small single circle about 40 feet (13
metres) across. Now I do have one or two doubts here, eg the
circle was very close to the edge of the field, and the reaction
of the dog could have been because someone was crouched down
inside the circle. Furthermore we have the possible presence of
electricity transmission lines - a feature we have repeatedly
noted at known hoax sites because hoaxers believe that UFOs are
supposed to hover close to transmission lines to steal
electricity. And finally there is this alleged gypsy association
- perhaps Gypsies were involved in circle-making thirty years
before the "travellers" began their antics in deepest
Wiltshire ? And although Andy stresses that there was little
media interest in UFOs in 1964 the Charlton crater episode
happened only 12 months before - a UFO event which made many
national newspapers throughout most of the previous summer. Could
it be that some UFO hoaxers decided to create "proof"
that the spaceships had landed - just as the United Bureau of
Investigation did 25 years later in Wiltshire ?
Of course now that there are so many groups of hoaxers on the
loose it is very easy to become a great sceptic. Really this is
just idle speculation on my part, we may never know if this was a
man-made hoax or something else. The evidence is here, it is up
to you dear reader to decide ! Thanks again to Andy.
