Readers of the "Indian Summer edition" of the CPR
International Newsletter will have read Colin Andrew's
description of an event which took place on 21st July 1994 at
Alton Barnes involving two single-rotored helicopters and
(allegedly) an anomalous ball of light. A video sequence of this
event was shown at the UFO/crop circle conference held in
Cwmbran, Wales on August 13th. During the event, two helicopters
appear to pay special attention to a team including the Great
Colin Andrews and some of his new-found American friends. This is
how Andrews describes the event in his newsletter :
"Everyone who visited England this year [1994, PF] will have witnessed the extraordinary level of military helicopter activity in and around the crop circles. One of the most dramatic of these occurred the 21st of July [sic] when 8 people, from the U.K., France and the U.S.A., were accompanying me on one of our research trips.
Our experience began as we were travelling along the Lockeridge to Alton Barnes road, a minor road overlooking East Field at Alton Barnes. It was midday when we stopped at an overview location to view the "Eye" formation (Fig 4.). The moment our van stopped, out of nowhere appeared two army helicopters coming through the fields directly at us. They were decked out in high-tech. aerials and fully equipped with cameras, personnel and technological instruments. You might be wondering how we could possibly know what was inside the helicopter and all I can say is that this helicopter, with it's [sic] large whirling rotary blades, stopped no more than 65 feet from our heads. It was quite easy to see what was in front of our eyes ! In turn these two aircraft "buzzed" us, beating the nearby hedgerow into a frenzy against the side of our vehicle. On one occasion one helicopter moved across the road, almost hitting the hillside of 'Adams Grave' as it hovered with the blades no more than 2 meters from the side of the hill. This was no accident, it was precision flying by the best U.K. military pilots. When we re-entered our van, travelling further down the road, the helicopters followed on the other side of the hedgerow.
I was finding it hard to accept that this was anything less than harassment, especially as we watched several researchers in the formation being buzzed by one of the helicopters. One person in particular was carrying a pole and camera along the tramway into the configuration. When he was about 150 feet into the field, one of the helicopters broke away from us and swooped over his head, forcing him to duck and lower his pole. I was born and raised in this area and have been researching for 11 years [sic !!], yet I have never seen anything like this behaviour before. We felt as if we were unwelcome and were being moved out of the area."
So, at least in Colin Andrews' mind, the Evil Government
Conspiracy has been exposed for all to see - a clear case of
government "harassment" to keep civilian researchers
away from the hallowed East Field - the primary focus of the
invading alien forces. It seems that we were all wrong and at
long last Andrews' claims - the most sensational claims made in
nearly 2,000 years of human history - have been proven beyond
doubt !
I don't think anyone watching my bootleg copy of Andrews'
video would disagree with Andrews' description of the apparently
threatening behaviour of the two helicopters involved in this
event. At the start of the video sequence viewers hear some
frightened voices as Andrews' friends cower inside their van. The
camera-man captures this terrifying moment when filming through
the front windscreen and side window. Overhead a large helicopter
is hovering menacingly low, its downdraft thrashing the van and
adjacent hedgerow so violently that the team's van is rocking
from side to side. With some difficulty the team's camera-man
exits through the back door of the van to film a second
helicopter hovering close-by over the East Field. Again it is
difficult to disagree with Andrews that the intent of the pilots
involved appears to be threatening and aggressive.
As Andrews states, the second helicopter then hovers
dangerously close to the steep cutting between the roadway and
Adam's Grave, its rotors coming dangerously close to the ground.
It is this part of the video sequence which really astonishes me,
because the helicopter is hovering only a few feet above a public
road. Any high-sided vehicle moving along this road would surely
have run straight into the helicopter, causing a fatal accident
for all involved !
As the video sequence runs on, both helicopters move behind
Adam's Grave, but the sound of their rotors can still be heard.
Then one of the helicopters makes a low pass over East Field, the
fuselage angled menacingly towards the ground as if in attack
mode. We see the helicopter fly low over someone walking up the
tramlines towards the viewer, his pole swiftly lowered in fear !
Then, as this helicopter peels away towards the far side of East
Field, a second controversial event takes place in the vicinity
of Woodborough Hill, to the south of the Alton Barnes to
Lockeridge minor road (at OSGR SU 115622). Andrews describes what
happens next :
"Perhaps the reason why we might not have been wanted can be seen in the following events. The second helicopter flew away across the field, leaving us unattended for the first time since we arrived. It moved rapidly across the field, to the South [sic] of the formation and just north of Woodborough Hill, and stopped as if under command to do so. Presently we saw what looked to be a small flashing light blinking just below and in front of the hovering helicopter. In size and reflective quality it resembled the object seen and filmed by Steven Alexander in an adjacent field back in 1990. As we watched, the helicopter slowly approached the pulsating object. When the aircraft reached a point directly in front, the object blinked out and re-appeared behind the helicopter. Within moments the helicopter began to back up until the object was again infront [sic] of it, and very close !"
Unfortunately, the original film of this event is in NTSC/PAL
format and Andrews had difficulty transferring this into UK
format prior to his lecture. For this reason my third generation
copy of this film fails to show the "object" filmed by
Andrews' colleague. However, I have been assured by colleagues
that the object is, in fact, merely a flashing light, something
Andrews makes clear in his more animated description of this
event during his lecture. What Andrews forgot to mention in his
lecture is that the "object" is actually hovering above
a crop circle - proof positive not only that alien forces are
responsible for the pattern but also that the military are
closely monitoring the liens' activity !
According to Andrews, both helicopters then regrouped and flew
away towards the Upavon Military Base.
Andrew's written description of an "object" rather
than a "light" is really very misleading because this
perhaps subconscious error obscures a very plausible explanation
for the event. However, to portray this event in a more balanced
light, our old friend Erik Beckjord can be heard interrupting
Andrews' lecture to suggest a plausible explanation for the UFO !
Beckjord suggested to Andrews that the UFO was merely the
reflection of light on a row of plastic bottles tied to an
adjacent hedgerow to scare birds. During his lecture and in his
written description of this event Andrews suggests that this
explanation is not tenable because the bottles were not at the
right location for such an effect to occur. Beckjord quite
sensibly suggests that the bottles have been blown away from
their original position by the downdraft from the helicopter !
In his newsletter Andrews adds that the "pulsating
object" actually moves out of the hedgerow to a point behind
the helicopter and that the "object" does not behave as
if it were merely the reflection of plastic bottles caught in the
helicopter's downdraft. Andrews interrupts Beckjord's insistence
that the "object" can be rationally explained by
offering to discuss Beckjord's explanation after the end of his
lecture, safely deflecting the one dissenting voice in his
otherwise spell-bound audience.
Andrews' treatment of this case is highly instructive, because
his curious decision to alter a pulsating light into an object
helps to mask what is really happening whilst helping to
perpetuate the alien-crop circle myth invented by Andrews and his
colleagues at Flying Saucer Review. This is really a
classic case of someone not being able to see the something right
"in front of their eyes" because they have already
decided that UFOs are alien-controlled devices and this colours
everything they experience.
The entire helicopter-UFO sequence is impressive not just
because of the very real fear of the people involved but because
it accidentally combines all the primary motifs in the alien-crop
circle mythology invented by the FSR team. These motifs
are :
- the threatening government conspiracy to keep the awful
Truth about the circles from the public (as represented by dark
menacing helicopters);
- the fact that the event occurs at the most important focus of
world "cereology", the hallowed East Field at Alton
Barnes; and
- the involvement of an unworldly UFO which hovers between
objective consensus reality and the twilight zone that man cannot
enter or control.
Taken at face value this would be impressive evidence of
Andrews' alternative world view, one where the governments of the
world keep the awful truth about the alien presence from the
public by concealment, deception and even threats. Fortunately,
Andrews' fantasy world does not exist. Instead, back here in
consensus reality, there are explanations for UFO events which
Andrews simply cannot comprehend.
At the end of his lecture Andrews alleges that he is intending
to visit representatives of the Ministry of Defence to discuss
this harassment and the UFO. In his newsletter Andrews states
that a "well-known American researcher" Ron Russel
arranged for him to meet with the Chief of Staff of U.K. Land
Forces, "Commander Vyvyn" at Land Forces Headquarters
(based at Erskine Barracks, Wilton, Salisbury, Wiltshire).
Strangely, Andrews then contradicts himself by stating that
"I have subsequently spoken with the commander by telephone
and he has offered to view the video and provide answers to some
of our many questions." Unfortunately for "Commander
Vyvyn" Andrews has already decided what the outcome of those
questions will be - "At this time, the video is in his hands
and we await the response. It is of course possible that he will
tell us we walked into a military exercise, although why that
would be happening on civilian land is questionable." As
Andrews promises to report back to his readers in his next issue
it will be interesting to see how Andrews deals with
"Commander Vyvyn's" response.
At the request of one of my subscribers I decided to launch my
own investigation into this event. On December 4th I wrote to
"Commander Vyvyn" at Land Forces HQ asking him to
respond to Andrews' allegations. Unfortunately I knew that
"Commander Vyvyn" would probably be too busy to reply
as Land Forces HQ was co-ordinating the British Army's
involvement in the Bosnian-Serbian conflict and a possible U.K.
withdrawal. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a
very helpful reply from Major W.N. Aldridge, MBE, RRF, the
Military Assistant to a Major General Vyvyan (note correct
spelling) dated 12th December 1994. In this letter a number of
points emerged.
Alton Barnes actually lies within a military low flying area
within which all aerial activity is agreed and co-ordinated with
the Civil Aviation Authority. Within this area CAA rules, in
respect of low flying, do not apply to military aircraft. For
this reason military helicopters can fly as low as they like and
hover "within the dictates of reasonable behaviour and
sensible airmanship". According to Major Aldridge this area
is known as LFA 1A and it is bounded by Salisbury Plain, Devizes,
the M4 and the A34. This low flying area was created at least
twenty years ago, well before crop circles started appearing in
such large numbers.
According to Major Aldridge he was unable to definitely
establish where the helicopters involved came from. However, he
was almost certain that they came from the School of Army
Aviation at Middle Wallop and at the time would have been flown
by highly qualified Helicopter Instructors from the School and
'commanded' by Student Aircraft Commanders. At the time the
students would have been practising drills for conducting
reconnaissance patrols against a well-equipped enemy - tactics
which require the close use of ground and vegetation; hence the
low-flying. Major Aldridge states :
"On the subject of harassment I assured Mr Andrews of the safe handling of the aircraft and that any undue interest paid to his party was likely to be the result of natural interest generated by his filming activities. The fact that this particular area in question is one of the most heavily used low-flying areas for helicopters in the UK, and, incidentally, one from which there are very few complaints, might explain why Mr Andrews had reasonable confidence in such activity occurring. A close study of the conversation when one particular helicopter was approached from the rear might suggest that the pilot could not have, reasonably, been expected to know of Mr Andrews' party's exact location".
Major Aldridge points out that the pilots involved would have
been highly competent instructors and that he was assured that
the kind of flying shown on Mr Andrews' video was perfectly safe.
He subsequently spoke with Colin Andrews on 19th October by phone
and explained to him that given the quality of his video footage
it had not been possible to identify the precise helicopters
involved. However, he did note that contrary to Andrews' claims
the helicopters shown on the video were normal aircraft and were
not brimming with equipment and personnel in the manner that
Colin Andrews initially suggested. According to Major Aldridge
training helicopters carry much less equipment than aircraft from
a front-line regiment. Major Aldridge continues :
"Apropos the matter of interest paid to crop circles by British Army helicopters. I explained to Mr Andrews that this is certainly not the result of any specific directive. Army aircrew general[ly] keep track of their location/position by using prominent ground feature[s]; a crop circle would provide a unique reference when moving about a (simulated) battle position."
Readers may be forgiven for a few chortles here. I must admit
that I find it difficult to accept that during the earlier part
of this event the low-flying helicopters were flying with
"reasonable behaviour and sensible airmanship" above a
public road. Admittedly the surrounding land is owned by the
Ministry of Defence but above a public road surely CAA rules
still apply ?
A more important issue concerns the identity of the
helicopters involved. Readers may find it surprising that Colin
Andrews seemed peculiarly familiar with where these helicopters
allegedly came from, a claim which Major Aldridge contradicts,
despite being unable to positively identify the helicopters
involved from Andrews' video. This does seem a bit odd. However,
there is more to this than meets the eye.
The day following this encounter, Andrews gave a lecture at
the Cricklade Theatre, Andover, alongside UFO author Tim Good and
upcoming cereologist Reg Pressley. During a strangely hesitant
presentation Andrews claimed that the UK military were
"monitoring" the crop circle researchers. He went on to
allege that a few years previously he had been abused and
threatened by the CIA in Andover High Street [not Alresford High
Street, sorry], who had subsequently offered him a "large
amount of money" such that he would "never have to
worry again". According to Andrews he feared for his own
safety. Like the hero in all good spy novels Andrews claims that
he was subsequently contacted by members of the Thatcher
Government via reporters from national newspapers (!!).
Apparently Andrews was told that the CIA had gone "out of
bounds" and that they had ignored their instructions by
threatening him. Andrews claims that he was told to watch
advertisements in national newspapers to receive coded
instructions from the Thatcher government !
Now it would be very easy to be cynical with this event but we
have to admit that at this stage we cannot be conclusive about
the true status of the alleged "harassment". Your
Editor wonders, for example, whether Andrews hoped that such an
event might take place, because the Alton Barnes/Beckhampton area
does seem to be frequented by numerous small helicopters -
perhaps the entire event was merely a coincidence ?
To take a more cynical view it would be unkind to suggest that
what took place was a deliberately "staged" event in
which Andrews knew precisely what was going to happen. However,
it is true that Andrews appears to have held inside knowledge
that these were army helicopters (as opposed to Navy or RAF
helicopters), that they were from a nearby base (rather than from
any other base) and it seems a bit of a coincidence that he
already had a video camera loaded and ready for filming as his
team entered the area. Given Mr Andrews previous involvement with
military personnel (eg at Operation Blackbird) such a scenario is
not beyond the bounds of possibility.
Despite these factors Major Aldridge volunteers the
information that the Alton Barnes area is a "designated
military low flying area" where normal flying rules do not
apply to military aircraft. This fact demonstrates that many of
the low-flying inquisitive military activity claimed by the
cereologists is nothing extra-ordinary at all - at least not for
an area less than 10 miles from the northern edge of Salisbury
Plain, one of the largest military training areas in Britain.
Cynics might ask themselves why these self proclaimed
"experts" failed to establish this fact in their public
proclamations and writings back in the late 1980s when crop
circles were first reported from Wiltshire in large numbers and
the military cover-up theory was first widely promoted by the
flying saucer believers ?
Major Aldridge suggests in his letter that the "unusual
pulsing light" filmed by Andrews and his colleagues is
"merely the reflection of the underbody stroboscopic
anti-collision light, possibly on a piece of flint, metal, glass
or water". Here we see how Andrews' misappropriation of a
pulsating light into a pulsating object obscures a highly
plausible explanation - one which even Erik Beckjord almost
guesses ! Early in the video sequence we see that both
helicopters have flashing lights located in the centre of the
underside of their fuselages. These lights appear to flash once
every second. Unfortunately my video of this event is too grainy
to show the "pulsating object" reported by Andrews but
my guess is that this "object" is flashing at the same
rate as the anti-collision light on the underside of the
helicopter. Since the helicopter was flying less than 100 feet
above the ground during the UFO sighting and since the pulsing
light moves at the same time as the helicopter moves this seems
to be an admirable solution. Once again it is sad to see that in
his rush to discover something absolutely astonishing Andrews
failed to consider such an explanation before publicly claiming
that the light was really something unexplained and inexplicable.
We look forward to seeing Andrews publish further details on this
case to determine this conclusion one way or the other.
The "harassment" of Andrews and his colleagues is
probably nothing more than a coincidence, the associated UFO
sighting is almost certainly explicable. No doubt in the next
year or so we can expect to see a more sensational interpretation
of these events without the slightest reference to potential
explanations in some best-selling UFO book - perhaps in Colin
Andrews' next book The Signs of Change, or in another
disturbing Tim Good book where George Wingfield is allowed to
deceive huge numbers of people by denying them access to the
evidence. The Crop Watcher looks forward to exposing the
"alien delusion" which will be perpetrated to hide the
basic facts about these events.
