Talk:Cottingley Fairies

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[edit] Fairy Proof and Truth

The interesting thing about the Cottingley Fairies is they are an anomaly. When nature can do something, then it does it often when presented those proper conditions. There should be a lot more photographs of fairies. The images are fake, and without more evidence, then the images will remain fake. On a final point, the Cottingley Fairies were drawn by someone who had excellent drawing skills, or knew some trick of photography.

They were copied from book illustrations. --Hob Gadling 17:15, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

That's not an interesting thing, it's just common with hoaxes and crap that isn't real. Interesting would be if this wasn't such an obvious con. Even in it's day the vast majority of people saw through it for the crap it was. Seriously, who can believe faeries aren't discovered or found by expert naturalists, but by little girls who stumble on them. The same people who can't wrap their heads around U.F.O.'s not being found by expert scientists, but they believe every drunk Redneck that has a story of seeing one. That's who. Their will always be gullible people who want to believe in something. Let's just hope they don't breed too prolifically [Monday, 2007-01-15 T 23:53 UTC] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.132.156.26 (talk) 00:21, 16 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Image copyright

It is worth noting the information containeed here -http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/photos/cottingley.html and here http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/permalink/cottingley_fairy_copyright_question/ Jooler 09:54, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

"The re-touched versions of the pictures that are most commonly used today make 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. When viewing the original prints, however, the case becomes less clear."

This is ridiculous. It's a transparent attempt to say that the pictures aren't fake. Is there a source for the claim that the original photos look less fake than the retouched ones? (A modern source, that is--the contemporary assessments of the photos are not considered accurate nowadays.) Is there even a source for the claim that there are any retouched photos? Ken Arromdee 17:13, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

- is it? I took it as an explanation of why it wasn't dismissed as a hoax outright. Which is an interesting question: what lead to the significant belief in the authenticity of the photos? If the claim is true (I have no idea) it is an important piece of information. WilyD 15:05, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Can anyone give a source for the claim about the originals not looking like obvious hoaxes, and an experienced photographer saying that they had moved? PatGallacher 00:03, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

From what I've read: all the photographs are retouched (likely to deal with the fact that they tended to be either over or under exposed). Of course, only one print from the original negative still exists, and it's in terrible condition, so it's pretty much unprovable as to how different the original prints are from the shots that everyone is familiar with. ([1] for a picture of the print in question.) As to the movement claim: Cottingley Connect ([2], same site as that print) contains what is supposed to be a quote from a letter of Snelling's on July 31, 1920, which contains the movement claim. (Although the quote differs from the one in this entry, which means that it's either a different source, or that at least one of the quotes isn't valid.) 156.34.221.174 18:48, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Let's not beat around the bush. If we are going to claim that the fairies look like cutouts because of retouching, we might as well just come out and say that the photos everyone circulates are doctored in order to make real photos look like a hoax. All of the weaselly, unsourced passive voice stuff ("it is believed that") really contributes to the spin factor in this article. 65.87.169.2 17:00, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

eh? I think the point is that it provides an explanation as to why they where believed so widely at the time; because of the lighting issues etc in the originals. --Krsont 16:59, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

The opinion that the originals are different is not neccessarily notable. If it comes from a personal website or forum it should not be here, but if it is an opinion expressed by a published source, it should be sourced. Basically none of this article is sourced, despite external links.66.41.66.213 18:22, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

I think it's a hoax as well. The photos circulated over the Internet definitely make the fairies look fake. However, I looked at a book printed in the 1970s which showed some of the Cottingley fairy photos. What's interesting is that in that book, they must have used an original clipping from the magazine mentioned in the article because the fairies look almost real. I'll try and explain, in the photos on the Internet, they look like cardboard cutouts but in the book I looked at, the photos appeared to be under exposed (not enough contrast). To me, this made the fairies look like they were real and "glowing". Marmalade7777 03:34, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unreferenced

Much of this page is very interesting, especially if true. Various websites have different accounts of which girl said which photograph was faked.Not all of these can be true, and the info here may have come from one of those, not a published source. Likely much of the article is accurate and verifiable, but being that this is a subject of folklore, which is chimeral by nature, much of this article is likely contrary to authoratative published sources on such facts as the condition of the originals, etcetera. 66.41.66.213 18:36, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The confession by both of the women

You can find the full confession of both of the girls (now deceased) on youtube. Type "Fadas de Cottingley - Confissão" for the search criteria.

[edit] Wording

Please see my comment at Talk:Fairy#Wording, which applies to this article, as well as the other. - dcljr (talk) 17:40, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] hint of a POV tone?

As others above have noted, this article reads as though the authors actually believe (or want) the photos to be real. This is not the place for that kind of fantastic bunk. --A Good Anon 05:48, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

I have to agree with this. The article tries to make alot of excuses for the fact this was a hoax. It isn't written trying to explain why it was believed, it's written like it should actually still be believed, which is rediculous. [Monday, 2007-01-15 T 23:53 UTC] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.132.156.26 (talk) 00:09, 16 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Magazine articles

The Unexplained magazine articles referenced in the article can be found in the book Incredible Phenomena - (editor: Peter Brookesmith ISBN 0-85613-623-9), pp124-140 (article authors Joe Cooper and Fred Gettings). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Totnesmartin (talk • contribs) 22:58, 2 January 2007 (UTC).

All of them? I was just going to say that some ISBNs are needed, but if that's true, that solves that. --InShaneee 03:57, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Coming of the Fairies

My school library actually has a copy of this book, so I have some time, I'll check it out and try to expand that section of the article. Zagalejo 20:28, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Re Doyle: The Unexplained mag articles say that Doyle defended the photographs for family reasons - his father was in a psychiatric hospital for claiming to see fairies, so Doyle perhaps felt that by proving fairies to be real he could get him released. But, of course, we need some evidence of this. Totnesmartin 23:14, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm, that's interesting. I'll look into that. I'm still on winter break, so I haven't been to my school library yet, but I hope to make some substantial contributions to this article soon. Zagalejo 19:35, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Uh, yeah, I'm still here. I'm kind of sidetracked with other projects right now, so it might be a while before I actually get started on this. Just wanted to let people know... Zagalejo 16:14, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References added

added some References if anyone wanted to use them in the article (:O) -Nima Baghaei ^{talk · cont · email} 18:34, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Issues

This article has some significant problems, some of the language is very inappropriate an almost seems as it if was copied from an external source. There was a lot of "what it really a hoax?" type stuff, which it inappropriate for a wikipedia article and reads like a tabloid. It seems to have a lot of original research much of which is uncited, which further implies that it may be copied from other sources. I've trimmed off a lot of the poor language but the article is still stuck with some of it and needs a re-write in my opinion SGGH ^speak! 10:19, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Furthermore, as per MoS, wikilinking every day words like grammar school and cousin is unnecessary. I've culled a lot of the original research but there is undoubtedly a lot left. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia not a sensationalist magazine article. SGGH ^speak! 10:31, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Obvious Copyvio

Please see this version: [3] and note the "Captions" section, where it mentions pictures that were never in the article. Also notice the mention of "page 65". This was obviously a cut and paste job that should have been immediately reverted but wasn't. I recommend taking the article back to [4] which is just before the first edit of the plagiarizer: [5]

P.S. And seriously, any time you see someone add a huge amount of text all at once...just revert it. 99.9 percent of the time, someone is cut and pasting from non GFDL-compatible content. 70.20.175.189 05:03, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Most reproduced?

"Her photograph with the dancing fairies has been described as the most reproduced photo in history..."

I've heard the exact same claim made about the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima. What's the source for claiming this is? Was the claim supported at a time, but not any more? Or is the claim just a subjective guess (precise figures are probably nearly impossible to track, but one can make an estimate based on how often the photo is seen). If a notable source claims this, that should be cited... and if more sources disagree than agree on this assertion, than it should be presented as a minority view. 75.70.123.215 (talk) 11:21, 10 January 2008 (UTC)