DISPUTEDFACES & FIGURES
The Jellyfish
2009 · Kingston Coombes, near Wayland's Smithy · Oxfordshire · England
WHAT IT IS
A jellyfish about 250 m long trailing curling tentacles across a barley field, big enough to be picked out in satellite pictures.
THE ALIEN READING
Celebrated as the icon of 2009, one of the busiest seasons on record, and shared as the work of something that could see the whole design from the air.
WHAT THE RECORD SAYS
No maker has claimed it and no anomaly was recorded. The same summer the Guardian reported that circle makers were taking more and more paid commissions; large figurative pieces were by then their stock in trade.
WHERE IT STANDS
Disputed. No maker has claimed it. Sceptics say people made it; proponents point to what they say people could not do.
STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 5 OCT 2026
THE RECORD
- DATE
- 2009
- PLACE
- Kingston Coombes, near Wayland's Smithy · Oxfordshire · England
- MADE BY
- Unclaimed
- TYPE
- Faces & figures
- TECHNICAL
- Barley · figurative formation about 250 m long and 60 m wide · late May 2009
