Part-way through the construction of the formation, there was a powerful burst of light; we all stopped, looked around, and after a bit of head scratching continued the formation. This was followed soon afterwards by an identical burst of light. I later described the experience as analogous to having a flash gun let off in my face, with the light momentarily blinding. Unfortunately, Ned's recording equipment was switched off at the time of the flashes, as he was helping us craft the formation.
Later that same week, Rod and I were out making another formation in the same area. During its construction in heavy rain, we both witnessed a series of bright flashes. Unlike the previous all-encompassing bursts of light, these emanated from behind the bushes at the edge of the field, and were accompanied by a loud crackling noise.
We carried on, assuming that it was some kind of electrical equipment, perhaps shorting out due to the heavy rain. I returned to the site in daylight to try and locate the source of the flashes, but found only trees and bushes.
Once more during the same week, I was out circlemaking with a friend in the same locale. After four hours in the field, as the formation was nearing completion, I was suddenly overcome by a strong sense of foreboding... shortly followed by a similar burst of light. Not wanting to chance a meeting with the source of the flashes, we left. I decided to make that my last formation of 1994. Earlier this year, we took another journalist out with us. During our conversations we described the flashes of light to him, but Andy initially seemed unconvinced. This is what he later wrote in his article for The Face magazine:
"About thirty minutes before, John had turned to me as we were a few feet away on the outer ring, 'Did you pick out that flash,' he asked, excitedly. 'No,' I told him, wondering if he was trying to spook me. Ten minutes later John asked again, nothing. Now I'm pacing the other side of the ring on my own and I get one. A bright flash that seemed to emanate from the back of my own retina. From nowhere at all in fact. I ran to where John is standing. 'You saw that one?' 'Yeah,' I say, though saw isn't the right word. Ten minutes later I pick up a second."
The moral seems to be if you want to see something weird while making circles, take a journalist with you!