A MYSTERIOUS crop circle has been spotted in a tiny English hamlet founded by medieval order the Knights Templar.
The spiral-shaped pattern carved into the ground near Coventry, West Midlands, was noticed by a historian researching the fabled military group.
The hamlet of Temple Balsall was part of the land the knights obtained as rewards for great acts of bravery in the Holy Land Crusades across Europe.
It became their headquarters more than 1000 years ago.
Bizarrely, another intricate crop circle appeared in the same area in 2011, less than a kilometre away from the latest find.
Chris McCauley, who made the discovery, told the Coventry Telegraph: “I was looking at Temple Balsall trying to locate the hall of the Knights Templar.
“I was looking at the map and noticed something quite distinctive in the landscape; it appears to be some kind of spiral.”
He looked online to find out what it was, but could only find the story of the other local crop circle from 2011.
“Since I was unable to find any record of this marking, and the fact that it hasn’t even been acknowledged or reported as a crop circle, I can only hope that this may be a genuine undiscovered archaeological feature.”
The 2011 pattern depicts an eight and 16-pointed star around a central sun, alongside pyramids and oval-shaped ‘helmets’.”
Many believe it has spiritual, scientific or religious meaning, with 16 being the number of karma in the Bible, and eight the symbol of infinity.
When it was discovered, locals said police had banned people from visiting the field, near an old RAF base, and that internet posts about the circle were mysteriously deleted.
WHAT ARE CROP CIRCLES?
Crop circles are flattened patches of grain such as wheat, barley and maize that appear without explanation.
They can simply be circles, or can appear in complex geometric patterns.
The earliest mention of a crop circle dates back to the 1500s. A woodcut from the time showed a “mowing devil” making the pattern.
Conspiracy theorists believe crop circles are created by aliens, while scientists say most are probably man-made.
Some crop circles may also be caused by freak weather or by animals. In 2009, Wallabies were found breaking into Tasmanian poppy fields and creating “crop circles” as they jumped around.
The term was coined in the late 70s after a series of pranks by Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, who said they were inspired by the Tully “saucer nest” case in Australia, where a farmer found a flattened circle of swamp reeds after observing a UFO.