The crop circles of Sussex: Andy Thomas’s short film goes online 25 years on

Twenty-five years ago, Andy Thomas started videoing what would become Circular Sussex, a short film documenting the crop circles of East and West Sussex in the early 1990s. Originally released on VHS, to celebrate its anniversary the film has now been made available to watch on YouTube…

Filmed and produced by Andy Thomas back in 1993 and 1994, and co-edited by fellow researcher Jason Porthouse, Circular Sussex [original VHS cover pictured] documents the crop circle phenomenon at a time when the counties of East and West Sussex in south-east England were receiving many new formations, some striking, others rather rough (as can be seen in the film) – but all of them interesting.

Focussing on the activities of the Southern Circular Research Group, then a branch of the Centre for Crop Circle Studies, this sometimes dream-like and impressionistic 27-minute documentary (made with simple Video 8 cameras) captures something of the halcyon days of enthusiastic Sussex circle-hunting. Although a little quaint and dated in its quality, it offers a valuable window back through time, and along the way there are glimpses of some well-known circle researchers, including Colin Andrews and Steve and Karen Alexander.

Narrated by the late psychic and voiceover artist Paul Bura (who co-wrote Quest For Contact with Andy in 1997), and with music by Andy Thomas himself and his then musical colleague David Swingland, this was originally distributed as a VHS release in 1995 and sold well at conferences and events.

Although Andy has appeared in many TV programmes and video documentaries over the years, this is the only one he ever made himself.  Twenty-five years after filming began, he is happy that Circular Sussex is finally being made available to watch online in 2018!  Just click below to see it: