An Introduction to Modern Skepticism
By Eric McMillan

II: Famous fabulous photos

Many of the best-known incidents investigated by skeptics have involved supposed photographic or film evidence. One of the earliest was in the first part of the past century.

In 1920 two British girls became famous for claiming to have photographed fairies cavorting in the woods of Cottingley Glen. One of the big supporters of the legitimacy of these photos was none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. 

However, today few would be taken in by this early photographic trickery as the "fairies" appeared two-dimensional and lit unrealistically. Researchers have since found in periodicals of the time the dancing figures that were apparently cut out and, with wings attached, were posed for the camera with the girls.

Today, with computer image-editing software, hoaxes are much more sophisticated. 

The chilling photo at right appeared all over the Internet. Dated September 11, 2001, it is supposedly a view from the Observation Deck of the World Trade Center seconds before the building was hit by a plane. Shadows, perspective and fine details seem perfect. However, the photo is a known fake as the Observation Deck of the building was not open on that fateful day.

This illustrates one reason why photos are not considered compelling evidence. Over the years skeptics have worked to uncover the truth behind photos of allegedly extraordinary phenomena. Among the most popular have been UFO pictures. Many supposed flying saucers have been exposed as hub caps and other spherical objects thrown into the air and photographed by hoaxers. Lights in the skies have been revealed to be planets (most commonly Venus), advertising airplanes, flare-carrying balloons, ground lights reflected off clouds and other mundane phenomena. 

Here is a particularly interesting example, because the alleged incident did not take place, as usual, in some obscure rural setting but right in the capital city of the United States of America. A photo apparently showed a squadron of lights hovering over the Capitol building (first picture below).

In the second photo I've coloured the "UFOs" yellow to make them more easily seen in this low-resolution reproduction. I've also highlighted in green a block of lights on the street in front of the Capitol building at the bottom of the picture. In the third photo, I've taken that block of lights, placed red dots on the most prominent lights, and turned the block upside down next to the lights in the sky. Notice anything unusual? Skeptical investigators noted the pattern of lights on the street was nearly identical to the lights "in the sky". The obvious conclusion was that the supposed UFOs were reflections in the camera lens of the street lights. This is not surprising, since no one seemed to notice with their naked eyes the UFOs visiting the nation's capital.

Dubious photos aside, there has been absolutely no physical proof of extraterrestrial visitation to earth. In the nearly six decades of UFO claims and research, not a single scrap of spacecraft material, alien bodies, unidentifiable blood or DNA, or devices supposedly implanted in abductees has ever been produced and verified. Skeptics do not necessarily rule out the possibility of such evidence being found in the future, but to date compelling evidence simply does not exist.

It hasn't always been so easy to discover the truth behind photographic "evidence" however. Some of the most controversial pictures have been of shy, but famous, creatures unknown to science. 

For example, some of our favourite monsters....