The Case of the Cottingley Fairies.
Day Christmas 1920 the magazine "Strand Magazine" published an article by Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) which set out the surprising discovery of photographs of fairies and the ensuing investigation conducted by Doyle and Edward L. Gardner (one man, according to Doyle, calm, balanced, quiet, and eccentric or illuminated).
Both were members of the Theosophical Society (a sort of "modern religion" based on spiritualism) where they had knowledge of the existence of the photographs.
Apparently, two girls (ten and sixteen years) of a small town in northern England (in the article hiding both their names as the place, but then know that it was Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright , Cottingley) had managed to photograph some of these small magical beings.
Case (and photos, of course) became famous, and both critics and the (somewhat limited) supporters cast their arguments in the columns of newspapers.
research, the article and the subsequent debate on this issue ended up resulting in a book written by Conan Doyle, where he covered the back in the preface to the book warning the reader that:
[...] " This story is not an allegation of specialist convinced of its authenticity, but a mere collection of facts whose interpretation may accept or reject the reader" [...]
But, indeed, himself I was absolutely convinced it was all true, and it shows in each page.
According to Doyle, all evidence pointed to the veracity of the facts: The girls and some family members were interviewed first by Gardner and then by Doyle himself, concluding that they were honest people and educated. The photos were examined by experts, who could not find evidence of manipulation. Research is devoted to seances that corroborated the facts. It even sent an expert clairvoyant who confirmed that he also saw the fairies. They were given another camera (with the plates sealed in secret) to the girls who used to make new pictures of fairies.
The evidence that could point against were ignored (to some extent unconsciously) or even transformed into arguments: The fairies that look "flat" and without volume, for example, was attributed to the ectoplasmic matter of which are made.
Surprisingly, one of the things that were most observers suspect was a fairy appeared crowned with a small hat to parisien. " Too modern and too French for a British fairy lovers. The case was, as usual, a chain reaction of people around the world who claimed to see fairies. Dozens of people sent letters to Doyle (who also appear in the book) to recount their experiences. Even fairy began a taxonomy that distinguished between "national rates" of the tale.
The result of all this was that Conan Doyle earned more derision than recognition.
No fue hasta muchos años más tarde, cuando ya el tema estaba bastante olvidado, que unas ancianas Frances y Elsie confesaron que todo había sido una broma y que, cuando llegaron serios hombres adultos a investigar el asunto, se asustaron y no tuvieron más remedio que continuar con el engaño. A pesar de todo, Frances Griffiths (la menor) insistió toda su vida que, aunque las fotos eran falsas, ella había visto las hadas.
La 'trampa' de las dos niñas no estaba en los negativos ni en las fotos, sino en las "hadas" mismas; éstas no eran sino simples figuras de papel bien recortadas y colocadas para la foto.
