Elves and fairies surround the girl. How could a photo from a hundred years ago fool Conan Doyle?

Are there really fairies and elves with wings in the world? What did the British think 100 years ago when they were faced with five photos of elves taken by two little girls?

They said that since there were pictures and the truth, there was nothing else to say. Even the novelist Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was so convinced that he even wrote a book called "The Coming of the Spirit". 》.

The innocent little girl was surrounded by dancing elves

Time went back 100 years, and on an ordinary afternoon in 1917, a couple lived in the small town of Cottingley, Yorkshire, England. Sisters, 16-year-old Elsie and 9-year-old cousin Francesca, walked briskly to play in the woods beside the creek behind the house, not forgetting to take away their engineer father's camera when they left.

The father looked at their backs, told them to pay attention to safety, pay attention to the camera, go home early, and then went back to do their own things.

Half an hour later, the sisters came back, threw the camera to their father, and asked him to develop the photos they had just taken, saying that they had met the little fairy.

A small town in England

The father smiled and shook his head, not taking it seriously. Little girls are always full of innocent fantasies, and such things happen every day.

But when he developed the photos in the darkroom, he really found several winged, translucent elves with fairy spirits surrounding the girl.

The first photo

This is the first photo. Behind the little girl is the gurgling stream behind the house. She is holding her chin, smiling, and looking straight ahead. , and on the tree trunk in front, there seemed to be four elves with butterfly-like wings fighting.

The first photo was taken in June, and in September, my father discovered the second photo.

Second photo

This is the second photo. There is a little dwarf elf on the grass with funny looks and legs. He is coming to the little girl's hand. The girl greets it with a smile. , the two seemed to have known each other for a long time.

There were five such photos one after another. After being brought to the Theosophical Society by his wife in 1919, it caused a sensation.

Quite vivid

Mysterious photos, generally considered to be real

Now that we have PS everywhere, we look at these photos from a God’s perspective The photo is definitely fake at first glance. Even a layman can tell that there is something wrong with the lighting and that the elf is too stiff.

But the photography technology, imaging technology, and printing technology 100 years ago are far inferior to today. Moreover, Kodak Company has identified it and believes that there is no sign of forgery. Photography experts also said that the negatives are completely authentic and the prints are completely authentic. No modifications were made during the process.

How can a child lie? This does not exist in fairy tales. At that time, the British thought that the photos were real and the elves were real. This beauty was worth remembering. They called these elves "Cottingley fairies".

Among them, the one who has the most trust and even fanaticism is a famous figure? Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. His thoughtfulness is different from ordinary people, but he is willing to be manipulated by these two little girls. "Cheating" must be done to death.

He is a spiritualist and believes in the theory of elves and ghosts. After learning about this incident, he went to visit the sisters and wrote with emotion after returning:

"Photo The dancers above are obviously the legendary elves. Their appearance brings magic to every deep mountain and valley. During any walk in the countryside, we may have romantic adventures. "

Ghosts

Sixty years later, the truth came, Conan Doyle was dead

In 1983, 60 years had passed since the photo incident. By this time, Conan Doyle had already brought "the world's real People did not stare at the fact that "there is an elf" sleeping forever. True or false is not that important, healing people's hearts is more meaningful.

Francis, a 9-year-old girl at the time, now a white-haired old woman, told the truth in an interview with reporters: The photo is indeed real, but the elf is a girl from a book called "Princess Mary" by her cousin. Copied from the book "The Gift".

Cut it out from this book

My cousin is very clever. She drew small wings on the characters, cut them out, took them to the woods, found a good position and fixed them with pins. , and then took the "supernatural contact" photo.

But the old lady still insisted that she and her sister had seen real elves in the forest.

Westerners love elves

This world is often not beautiful, with wars, diseases, and misfortunes.

In the 1920s, Britain had just experienced World War I. The war had brought pain to people across the country, so people would place their hopes on seemingly "ethereal" illusory things.

Meeting elves and flower fairies is every girl’s dream. The little sisters’ “prank” was not malicious and did not bring trouble to society. On the contrary, they are beautiful and even better. Elves and fairies have brought spiritual comfort to many people.

Will there be Thumbelina~

Nowadays, the sisters’ hometown of Cottingley has been turned into a fairy theme park. The Fairy Festival is held every year, and many people with fairy dreams Adults and children come here because they might actually meet an elf that only they can see.