Crop circle ‘tour’ ends in gunfire

UNDER ARREST . . . A man is led away by police. Picture: M&Y PICTURES

AN OLDHAM man has been arrested after allegedly firing a shotgun as tourists visited a crop circle.

Kenneth Wilson (62) is accused of hiding in a tent in the centre of the design before jumping out and firing over the heads of a group of Norwegians.

But the farmer who owns the land at Manor Farm, Allington in Wiltshire, claims Mr Wilson was legitimately shooting pigeons.

The incident happened on Monday, following the appearance of the 300ft crop circle, which is thought to have been of a bird.

Norwegian language school teachers Eva-Marie Brekkesto and Guro Parvanova, of the Norwegian Crop Circle research group, said they were confronted by the gunman.

Mrs Brekkesto (52) told reporters: “When we came into the crop circle formation we heard a gunshot, quickly followed by one more. Then a man appeared shouting ‘get out of the field, you are on private land’.

“He was wearing a camouflage uniform, had a mask on his face, was holding a long gun and was very angry to start with, but then he calmed down.

“We were very shocked by the incident. We are not nutheads, we are civilised, intelligent people who are interested in the crop circle phenomenon.

“In about 75 per cent of cases farmers are okay with us entering their fields in a civilised way but there are some nasty, stubborn farmers who think there is a war going on.”

Mrs Parvanova (59) said: “Being confronted by the man with the gun was surreal and ridiculous. We are harmless.”

The gunman allegedly told them he had been hired by the farmer to prevent people from going into the crop circle.

Farmer Richard Oram said Mr Wilson and his brother, Sid Wilson (64), have permission to use his land to shoot pigeons but he did not encourage crop circle visitors.

He added: “It was all perfectly innocent. Those people (the Norwegians) should not have been out there because they were trespassing.

“I think crop circles are pure vandalism. I reckon each crop circle costs £1,000 in lost grain and damage caused. Not one of the crop circle people have come in to ask permission to walk into the field which annoys us.”

A Wiltshire police spokesman said: “Following reports of a man firing a shotgun into the air, who was believed to have been scaring people away from a crop circle in a farmer’s field, a 62-year-old man from Oldham was arrested for firearms possession with intent to cause fear of violence. He has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.”

The Norwegians have visited Wiltshire for the past 10 years viewing crop circles.