A FRENCH author is in Wiltshire studying the county’s mysterious links with crop circles and is hoping residents will be able to help with her research.

Stephanie Martin, 33, who lives in Carcassonne in southern France, had her first book, The Secret Mechanism of the Big Pyramid of Egypt (Le mécanisme secret de la grande pyramide d’Egypte) published last year.

Now her attention is firmly fixed on Wiltshire, where the first recorded crop circle was photographed in oatfields near Bratton, under the shadow of the Westbury White Horse, with the image appearing in the Wiltshire Times in August 1980.

Miss Martin, whose boyfriend John Hurn comes from Bratton, said: “I’ve always been fascinated about mysteries, about the origins of humanity and want to find out about who we are and where we came from and that’s why I wrote my first book about the pyramids.

“I have a friend from Paris who is an engineer and architect and we decided to study the pyramids closer. We are currently filming a 3D animation film based on the book.”

The author, who is staying with her boyfriend’s family in Bratton, is now researching her second book, about crop circles, and has already visited the Barge Inn in Honeystreet, Pewsey, that has a room dedicated to crop circle photos.

The 33-year-old first became fascinated by crop circles at Christmas when she had a conversation with a farmer from Bratton about his experience.

She said: “He told me when he went into the crop circle there was no wind and no noise, but as soon as he walked out the other side he could hear the wind and birds again.

“My boyfriend is from Wiltshire – where I hear that most of these crop circles appear – so I thought I have to investigate.

“I just felt this was another interesting topic I had to write about. Are they man-made, are they the work of the army or are they caused by natural effects? I’m open-minded.”

She has made an appeal to anyone who have experienced crop circles to contact her.

“I’d love to meet or speak to people who have experienced crop circles. I want to know what they felt like when they were in them and whether or not they heard any strange noises, and so on,” she added.

If you can help Miss Martin, who is planning to publish the book in French and English, call 07941 476555.