A dragonfly the size of a dragon has landed in a farmer's field - in the second astonishing animal-style crop circle to appear this week.
The intricate 150ft insect pattern appeared overnight in a barley field near Yatesbury, Wiltshire, just days after a jellyfish design was mysteriously cut into crops in Oxfordshire.
When the 600ft Portuguese man-of-war turned up near Kingstone Coombes, Oxfordshire, crop circle author Karen Alexander said: 'This is the first jellyfish crop circle in the world. It is absolutely huge - roughly three times the size of most crop patterns.'
Monster: The dragonfly crop circle at Yatesbury in Wiltshire is 150ft long
She added at the time: 'We are looking into the meaning of it, but at present it just seems to have appeared out of nowhere.'
But now the arrival of the dragonfly suggests these two designs may herald a summer of crop circles highlighting environmental issues.
Mrs Alexander's photographer husband, 50, from Gosport, Hants, said: 'Some years you do get themes developing and often you are looking for why this happens.
'It could be to reflect the status of the world at the moment with its financial, political and more importantly, environmental problems.
'I imagine this will not be the last one we will see this summer - and it has already been a busy summer for spotting them as they are well ahead of schedule.'
Crop circles generally appear in July and August but four have already been found this year in barley fields from Wiltshire to Oxfordshire.
Flight of fancy: The dragonfly, like its jellyfish predecessor, may be part of an upsurge of crop circles ahead of a 'cataclysmic' event foretold for 2012, believers think
Last week a 350ft yin-yang symbol was cut into a barley field near Devizes, a crop circle hot spot.
The animal designs are not strictly circles, of course, and are a long way from the simple shapes that appeared in the 1980s and gave rise to the name 'crop circle'.
Some argue that crop circles are the work of artists with access to computers and plenty of volunteers - but enthusiasts say summer nights are just too short to accomplish such complex work secretly.
Portuguese man-of-straw: The jellyfish crop circle that appeared in Kingstone Coombes, Oxfordshire, earlier this week
Something fishy: No one knows exactly how the crop pattern was made
Sceptics might suggest that someone in Oxfordshire is trying to muscle in on Wiltshire's dominance in the crop circle stakes - from April to the September harvest the mystery patterns are believed to bring millions of pounds in tourism to the western county.
But the fact that many appear on ancient 'ley lines' leads others to believe they carry a mystical meaning.
Mr Alexander, who has been studying crop circles with his wife for 15 years, added: 'People believe they will increase in frequency up to 2012 where there will be some kind of cataclysmic world event.'
Military Says No Presidential Authorization Needed To Quell “Civil Disturbances” 2013 05 17 A recent Department of Defense instruction alters the US code applying to the military’s involvement in domestic law enforcement by allowing US troops to quell “civil disturbances” domestically without any Presidential authorization, greasing the skids for a de facto military coup in America along with the wholesale abolition of Posse Comitatus.
The instruction (embedded at the end of this article), which ...
Ancient Maya Pyramid Destroyed in Belize 2013 05 17 An archaeological group says it plans to take legal action.
Despite its small size, the Caribbean country of Belize is known for a few outstanding characteristics: a spectacular barrier reef, a teeming rain forest, and extensive Maya ruins.
It now has one fewer of those ruins.
A construction company in Belize has been scooping stone out of the major pyramid at the site ...
Ginger: A Warming Herb 2013 05 17
Ginger is an Asian herb that is particularly well known to us in the West. Over time, and with trial and error, its stimulating properties and piquant flavor have been integrated into both our herbal “materia medica” and cuisine.
Brewed as an herbal tea, ginger root is particularly helpful for those people who have underactive stomachs and difficulty producing adequate amounts ...
Australian man dead for 40 minutes revived with new CPR machine 2013 05 17 In an Australian first, doctors have used a new resuscitation technique to revive three patients who were clinically dead for up to an hour.
One of the lucky survivors was Colin Fiedler, 49, who was pronounced dead at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, after suffering a heart attack, The Herald Sun reported.
Doctors brought Fieldler back to life using a U.S.-made ...
How a pregnancy test for humans caused a wave of global extinctions 2013 05 17
The deadly fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been wiping out amphibian species across the globe for decades. But how did this global environmental disaster get started? A new study suggests that it came from doctors importing frogs for use in pregnancy tests.
Since the 1980s, amphibian species have experienced a sharp decline in their numbers. Some estimates suggest that 400 or more ...
Military Says No Presidential Authorization Needed To Quell “Civil Disturbances”
Ancient Maya Pyramid Destroyed in Belize
Ginger: A Warming Herb
Australian man dead for 40 minutes revived with new CPR machine 
How a pregnancy test for humans caused a wave of global extinctions