2007: Phyllis Bacon’s Fairy Photo

On September 8, 2009, newspapers in England ran a story about a woman named Phyllis Bacon who claimed to have photographed what she believed to be a fairy.

        The actual photograph was said to be taken sometime in 2007. Bacon took the picture of her backyard in New Addington, near Croydon, in South London, England, quite at random at the time; she wasn't even looking through the camera at the yard when she took it. She was chatting with relatives in her kitchen after dinner, and had held the camera at arm's length out the back door to photograph the yard. The figure in the photo was only noticed afterwards.

        For months she searched the internet for possible explanations, such as butterflies, moths, or beetles flying into the frame... but she couldn't find a good match for what she photographed. She also hesitated to share the picture for fear of "being branded 'nutty'."

        Bacon was quoted as saying: "I used to like fairy stories as a child, but I can't claim to have ever seen one before or since. Looking back, I think there was a fungi fairy ring in the garden at the time I took the picture, but I don't really know what to make of it all. To be honest, I don't know what it is and I'm keen to listen to anyone's suggestions. But until someone can tell me otherwise I'm going to go on thinking it's a fairy." [quoted from Daily Mail Online, Sep. 8, 2009]

Consider the Source...

        Some stories just have to be taken at face value, and its up to the individual to believe it or not... but it does need to be noted that the Daily Mail, source of the website this story premiered on, has a history of spicing up news stories with new fake details, or just plain inventing stories.

        They've gotten so notorious for it, as a matter of fact, that as of February 2017 the web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia has stated it will no longer accept the use of the Daily Mail and related sites/publications as information sources for their online articles! Fair warning.