Cottingley Fairies
In 1917, teenage cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths were staying with their aunt in Cottingley, a village in England. While exploring the area by themselves, the girls took five stunning photographs that appeared to show themselves in the company of fairies. The pictures created a fire-storm of controversy.
Sir Conan Arthur Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was the most famous person to be taken in by the photographs. Doyle was already a believer in psychic phenomena and quickly hailed the pictures as genuine. In 1920, he wrote a magazine article about the photographs, leading to widespread exposure for Frances and Elsie's pictures.
Others noticed several problems with the photographs. Some of the fairies had contemporary clothes and hairstyles. Not to mention that they looked suspiciously like they were made out of paper. ..
Both Wright and Griffiths stuck to their story for many years. In 1983, they finally admitted to the hoax in a magazine interview. The fairies had been cardboard cut-outs propped up with hat-pins. However, both still claimed to have seen fairies and Griffiths even insisted that the fifth and final photograph was genuine. Griffiths died in 1986. Wright passed away in 1988.
Today, it seems obvious that the “fairies” in all of these pictures are just paper cut-outs. The girls were certainly clever in the way that they posed the fairies and took the photographs. But how could so many people have been fooled at the time?
One theory is that the believers were desperate for something inspirational in the wake of World War I. Many people longed to believe in something fanciful and magical after four years of horror. The Cottingley fairies filled an emotional void.
Seems bizarre that Conan Doyle should be fooled when he was responsible for that famous Sherlock Holmes quote..
How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?