MYSTERY surrounds the origins of the crop circles that annually appear in Wiltshire. CAMERON RAMOS spent a moonlit night with a three man team who showed how they could forge an elaborate formation in just a few hours

ALIEN creations, complex awe inspiring art or elaborate hoaxes whatever your opinion, crop circles continue to mystify and attract people to Wiltshire from far and wide.

This year there have been 70 reported crop circles in the UK, most around Wiltshire and Bedfordshire.

Circles are usually made in oil seed rape, barley, wheat or oat fields but they have also been made in snow.

Designs range from a simple circle to complex geometric patterns, leading researchers of the phenomenon to believe that extra terrestrials could be to blame.

But 31-year-old Matthew Williams, who was the first person in the UK convicted of criminal damage from making the circles, has set out to prove them wrong.

That's why I am driving down a dirt track at 11pm on a Monday towards Roves Farm in Sevenhampton, near Swindon.

With a full moon high in the sky it was possible to distinguish between the dark silhouettes of objects but not much else as I left my car in search of the circle makers.

After scrambling over a field, and cursing the fact I had not brought a torch, I thought I had discovered my first formation.

What seemed like strange semi-circles had been formed with lines in odd patterns.

I was trying to imagine what it looked like from the air as I traced my way around the perimeter of the field.

I did not hear voices and thought that I had missed the action until I found a sign.

It read The Great Wiltshire Maze so much for journalistic instincts.

Striking out in a different direction I wandered up a muddy track and saw, from a distance an unearthly orange glow and a pale white light.

Checking my back pocket for my Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy so I could translate could you spell that please into all major intergalactic languages, I was mildly disappointed when the orange glow turned out to be Swindon and the white light came from a 26-year-old camper van.

But I was happy to meet the two-man team and their shaven headed leader Matthew Williams, who thankfully spoke English with a Welsh lilt and had a very easy name to spell.

They were ready for action and I got my first glimpse of the design, created by Robert Evans, of Dilton Marsh.

It had been selected from hundreds of entrants to a BBC Radio Wiltshire competition and showed a large circle with six smaller circles on the inside and a further four circles at the centre with the letters BBC down the middle.

It seemed complicated but Mr Williams, who by day works as a computer engineer, reckoned they could have it done in between two and four hours and added it would be quicker than usual because he had a laser.

Ahh, I said, that explains it, would that be a blaster like the one used by Han Solo to kill a few of the imperial guards in Star Wars?

No, he said, it was one that measures angles, and picking up some canes, a piece of wood with a looped piece of string attached, and measuring tape, he set off toward the field of wheat.

With some designs containing more than 200 circles, and only a few hours under the cover of darkness for creation, those in the alien camp can be forgiven for concluding little green men are responsible and not three ordinary guys with a tape measure, a bit of clever geometry and lots of legwork.

But before my very eyes they did just that. Firstly the edge of the field was measured, and using the tramline in the field, they found its centre.

Mr Williams then held one end of the measuring tape, with an assistant standing in the middle holding the other end, and in a side step motion traced out the outer circle.

The same procedure was completed for an inner circle and the space in between stomped by one of the helpers using the wooden plank.

The laser was then used from the centre to measure out where the angles of the outer circles would be formed and then were stomped.

The BBC symbols took time but with bit of maths and clever footwork the results were pleasing, said Mr Williams.

Despite the impressive results of Mr Williams and his team, others remain sceptical.

Since his conviction Mr Williams said he now only creates crop circles where he has been given permission.

But others do not, and remain anonymous to evade prosecution, making it difficult to prove whether man or alien created a particular circle.

And while Mr Williams says there is no evidence to convince him that aliens create circles, he still believes that paranormal activity occurs around them. It seems then that the truth is still out there, somewhere, maybe. . .