No, Circle Makers Are Not Grassing On Each Other
‘Mike Farrow’ recently posted an article on his website relating to expectations for the 2026 season. He raises something we heard a lot at the end of last season: the idea that circle making teams are reporting each other to the police. He writes:
Any new formation created this year carries a different kind of risk. Not the old risk of a farmer’s torchlight sweeping across the barley or the distant hum of a patrol car. No, the danger now comes from within the community itself. Rival camps ready to report each other to the authorities out of spite rather than principle. Ironically, the chance of being betrayed by another circle maker is now greater than being caught red‑handed in a field.
We’ve been puzzled over this one since we first heard it referred to at the back end of the 2026 season.
We do not know of any active circle makers who have reported other active circle makers to the police. In fact, it seems an extremely dumb thing to do.
Think about it:
If you’re planning to make something in a field whilst knowing you will subsequently be reported to the police by another set of circle makers, because you’ve done the same thing to them, then you are probably going to stay at home. You know there is a strong chance you will be approached by the police after the other team make that call.
In other words, it makes no sense for circle makers to squeal about others to the police as it’s just inviting trouble. Any circle maker who does such a thing is a complete idiot. As such, ‘Farrow’ is right when he suggests this could strangle the phenomenon from inside through the creation of a chilling effect.
So where has the suggestion that circle makers are grassing each other up come from? It’s possible someone has simply made it up for attention and sympathy, or is feeling paranoid, though crossed wires could be responsible due to things written here in 2026.
Last year, we twice mentioned that Dorset Police had received complaints about the Cerne Abbas hoax. That knowledge did not come from or involve circle makers past or present.
The first reference we made was clear; the farm estate reported the crop circle to the police:
Bad news — at least for Ten Watt — is that the farm estate was extremely unhappy the last time Hine and co. targeted their fields to put down a rather crude representation of the female genitalia. This time, they’ve headed straight to Dorset Police, as the above press release shows.
The second reference we made was more obtuse:
Far be it from us to condone anyone who snitches, but we have been informed by a number of individuals completely independent of this website that the ‘law of f*** that guy’ has come into play.
Who are we referring to with this second point?
As we said at the back end of the 2026 season, there are ‘plenty’ of people who have an issue with circle makers. Among the makers are individuals who talk openly about what they have made or plan to make, occasionally reminiscing or sometimes posting construction plans. Such talk tends to occur in publicly accessible Facebook groups (or on equally visible profiles) and has been happening for years. These environments are watched by croppies as well as stakeholders and affected parties from rural communities, including farmers.
It isn’t circle makers snitching on other circle makers here. The solution comes from outside.
If there’s something to be taken from this sorry situation it’s that any circle maker needs to abide by the old rule: plan in silence, work in silence, leave the field without making any noise and then stay silent about what they have made. It would make life easier for everyone. Indeed, as ‘Mike Farrow’ states in his article:
‘The old tradition was simple: make it, walk away, say nothing. A code of silence that protected the mystery. So what went wrong? When did silence become impossible?’
