Photographic proof fairies exist?

[Nyra]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/pictured-fairies-caught-camera-lecturer-3341433

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Okay so, being the glass half-full kind of girl I am, I was super excited to come across this because well....everyone needs a little magic in their life!   I am very much aware of the fact that these are more than likely just little bugs that happened to be caught a special way in the photo's, but wow don't they really look like fairies?!

So my question to you (aside from do you believe this)  is what would you do if it turned out that fairies were real?  Would this completely shake up your world and everything you believed in? or would this simply be a confirmation of something you've always known?

[Florence]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaXpbCoUFxg

... sorry, I pretty much had to.

On topic, obviously, I'd need A LOT more proof than some possibly doctored (even if the photographer claims otherwise; as House said, people lie) to buy that fairies exist. I mean, don't get me wrong, it'd be pretty cool if they did, but its the sort of farfetched claim that requires some pretty heavy proof to back up. If it was proven they did exist... huh... I dunno, guess I'd be pretty damn curious about it, because magic, yo. I mean, its a pretty extraordinary claim, so I'm not really sure how I would react. It's kinda like asking someone how they'd react if an alien landed in their front yard and knocked on the door to ask for a cup of sugar. It's just... yeah...

I think I'd most likely go into the scientific field of... Faeology? Fairyology? ... Fairy science. I can only imagine the absolutely crazy advances in science we could accomplish from studying real goddamn fairies.

[Nyra]

Lmao!  Florence I must admit, I had the exact same thought and image in my head!

[Oniya]

I think I'd most likely go into the scientific field of... Faeology? Fairyology? ... Fairy science. I can only imagine the absolutely crazy advances in science we could accomplish from studying real goddamn fairies.

'What'd you expect fairies to do?'
'I thought they did nice things, like... like granting wishes.'
'Shows what you know, don't it? '

[Serephino]

If it was proven, I wouldn't be surprised.  I like to believe almost anything is possible.

[Florence]

'What'd you expect fairies to do?'
'I thought they did nice things, like... like granting wishes.'
'Shows what you know, don't it? '

One of my favorite movies <3

[Empyrean]

It would be awesome if proven true. Hopefully we'll know more soon. :)

[ThePrince]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8kYrIWu14E

[Kane]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This isn't it. Furthermore, if those were 'actually fairies' then we would have to start defining what fairies are. Would any small creature with wings, resembling human in shape, be a fairy? Do they need to be sentinel? Or would a fairy have to be an immensely powerful magical creature?

Either way, if fairies were to be proven real, well, I really don't know. My reaction would depend on what kind they actually were. I'll take the leap to assume we'd be speaking of magical fairies. If they were the wish granting type, I would probably be quite thrilled. If they were the nasty type, then I guess I'd blame the damn fairies for any misfortune I had

Anyway, my question is: Why is it whenever there is 'proof of' Loch Ness Monster, the big foot, Jabba the Hut, or the Black Knight from the Monty Python's Holy Grail, the picture is always incredibly blurry?

[Florence]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This isn't it. Furthermore, if those were 'actually fairies' then we would have to start defining what fairies are. Would any small creature with wings, resembling human in shape, be a fairy? Do they need to be sentinel? Or would a fairy have to be an immensely powerful magical creature?

Either way, if fairies were to be proven real, well, I really don't know. My reaction would depend on what kind they actually were. I'll take the leap to assume we'd be speaking of magical fairies. If they were the wish granting type, I would probably be quite thrilled. If they were the nasty type, then I guess I'd blame the damn fairies for any misfortune I had

Anyway, my question is: Why is it whenever there is 'proof of' Loch Ness Monster, the big foot, Jabba the Hut, or the Black Knight from the Monty Python's Holy Grail, the picture is always incredibly blurry?

Don't you know? That's their natural habitat. Your typical monster/alien/mythical creature prefers to dwell just out of focus or in grainy photographs, and only appear in person before lone drunks in the middle of nowhere.

[Dhi]

A discovery like that would thrill me as a scientist. It would be an opportunity like the first naturalists to study the Americas, Madagascar, the deep ocean, the Papau New Guinea crater, or life on another planet. The difference would be that the doors of discovery would not just be limited to a lucky few. As someone who already has the equipment, expertise, and experience to study tiny creatures, I would be in my element. Foundations would be writing me grant applications.

Does this defeat the purpose of finding something magical, to define it in scientific terms? Not for me, no. Our world is even more magical when I do understand it.

[mj2002]

So my question to you (aside from do you believe this)  is what would you do if it turned out that fairies were real?  Would this completely shake up your world and everything you believed in? or would this simply be a confirmation of something you've always known?

The problem with the story is that it can't be real. (Magical) fairies stop being magical once they have been discovered. 'Magic' as a phenomenon is not possible and as such, magical fairies can't be real either. As soon as something is claimed to be magic and is observed to be real, it's not magic any more. If it's real, then that simply means our understanding of reality needs to be adjusted. If they seemingly break the laws of physics with their magic, it automatically means our understanding of these laws is incomplete and need to be reevaluated, because you can't break physical laws.

Of course, every sane person knows this is either just a vague picture of mosquitoes or something that has been graphically altered. As Kane argues, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Vague images like this dont cut it.

[Oniya]

However, discovering that our views of reality need to be adjusted is a pretty exciting prospect.

[Sabby]

With the ease and availability of photo editing software, I don't think 'photographic proof' is really a thing any more. Hell, we've been getting fairy pictures since the invention of the camera, and they were done with cardboard and string. I'm pretty sure a half competent Tumblr user could slap together a convincing fairy picture in about a half an hour.

[Florence]

However, discovering that our views of reality need to be adjusted is a pretty exciting prospect.

I agree with this... though in all honestly, I feel like this is almost definitely not real.

I'd like to think it is, but... as people have said. A random picture of glowy little critters does not equal proof when someone can boot up photoshop and have 'proof' that they rode a unicorn across the White House lawn within a half hour.

[Oniya]

A random picture of glowy little critters does not equal proof when someone can boot up photoshop and have 'proof' that they rode a unicorn across the White House lawn within a half hour.

Humph.  Of course that's not real.  Secret Service would be on your ass before you got past the vehicle blockade.  That horn is a dangerous weapon!

[Sabby]

Secret Service doesn't prepare for magic, and that's exactly why we'll see a Presidential assassination attempt from a Minotaur before a disgruntled citizen.

[Oniya]

Ah, but they wouldn't be seeing it as magic.  They'd be seeing it as some nut riding in with a three-foot pointy-thing.  Whether or not a unicorn could exist wouldn't enter their heads.

[Dhi]

I believe the author that it isn't doctored in post.

[Sabby]

I believe the author that it isn't doctored in post.

Why?

[Retribution]

Well aside from the Kim Harrison like quality that makes me smile I guess the biologist me has to bust some bubbles.

They appear to be mayflies or midges and the camera angle is taken against the rising sun thus over exposure giving the impression of glowing. Yeah it is a cool pic that made me smile but alas they are just bugs.

[Nyra]

Thank you all for taking interest in this topic, I am pleasantly surprised ^_^   

I am of the mind that there are things in this world that have yet to be discovered, be they magical or not. The human mind is a slippery place and our perception of things is not always accurate but rather a product of our brains trying to come up with the correct answers to the puzzle that is our world. 

Everyday our brains take in an amazing amount of information and discard an amazing amount of information that it assumes we don't need or that doesn't pertain to us directly. 

I consider it highly possible that magical creatures or fairies would be able to use this in order to keep themselves hidden.  I mean,  everything that we come upon we kill, dissect and experiment on in the name of research and understanding. Course now I'm edging into conspiracy theories. 

[Dhi]

I'm confident that those are beetles, rather than mayflies or midges, but otherwise yes. I did not want to ruin the fun, and I still don't, so I'll refrain from explaining how they are beetles. I think anybody who already thought the picture was not fairies doesn't need to be armed with an in depth analysis of why, and anybody who does believe that they're fairies doesn't need to be patronized.

[Mathim]

Given that they're thought to only belong to the realm of myths and legends, you'd have to start asking yourself, what other such creatures and phenomena exist and why aren't there proofs of them too? It opens up a big can of worms even if it DID turn out to be true. Like being all selective-y such as the first season of True Blood. It's like, "Okay, vampires are real so what else, in the entire myriad of fantasy, is also therefore real?" There's such an enormous gamut of fantastic creatures that for only one to be 'real' is as unlikely as Earth being the only planet with life on it.

[Oniya]

Well, the coelacanth and giant squid were considered 'myths and legends' until actual bodies were found.