Cottingley Fairies

The children took a total of five photographs between 1916 and 1920 of what appeared to be fairies dancing. The photos showed the fairies as small humans with period style haircuts, dressed in filmy gowns, and with large wings on their backs. One picture is of a gnome, about 12 inches tall, dressed in a somewhat Elizabethan manner, and also with wings.

Examination of the pictures today shows that the fairies look like paper cutouts, having a flat appearance, with lighting that does not match the rest of the photograph. Even the waterfall in the background appears to be taken at a slower shutter-speed than the fairies, which are sharp and clear. At the time, however, the photos were viewed by many as evidence of fairies, most notably by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famed author of Sherlock Holmes.

Harold Snelling, an expert in fake photography said, "These dancing figures are not made of paper nor any fabric; they are not painted on a photographic background—but what gets me most is that all these figures have moved during the exposure."

The cousins remained evasive about the authenticity of the pictures for most of their lives, at times claiming they were forgeries, and at other times leaving it to the individual to decide. In 1981, in an interview by Joe Cooper for the magazine The Unexplained, the cousins confessed that the pictures were fakes. Frances maintained that the final picture taken is genuine, however, and both girls have claimed that they saw fairies but were unable to take pictures of them.

The girls said that Elsie had drawn the fairies from a book called Princess Mary's Gift Book by Arthur Shepperson.

Two 1997 movies, Fairy Tale: A true story, starring Peter O'Toole and Harvey Keitel, and Photographing Fairies with Ben Kingsley were based on this event.

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