This could be one of the most significant discoveries in human history. Or one of biggest hoaxes. John Hyatt, a 53-year-old professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, claims to have taken photographs of tiny fairies in the English countryside. His pictures show tiny winged humanoid creatures floating flying in swarms. The professor is now on a mission to get more and more adults to believe that the fairies are real, and ‘bring a bit of a magic into their lives’.

Hyatt is the director of the Manchester Institute of Research and Innovation in Art and Design (MIRIAD) at the Metropolitan University. He is believed to have snapped the pictures while he was out photographing the Lancashire landscape over the past two years. The photographs are now on display in a special exhibition called Rossendale Fairies at the Whitaker Museum in Whitaker Park, Rossendale. Hyatt insists that they are 100 percent real and not Photoshopped. The pictures have gone viral ever since he released them to the public. People all over the world are quite baffled over his claims, and some are beginning to believe him.

“It was a bit of a shock when I blew them up, I did a double take,” he said. “I went out afterwards and took pictures of flies and gnats and they just don’t look the same. People can decide for themselves what they are.” Hyatt, a former member of The Three Johns punk band in the ‘80s and ‘90s, said that the message to people is to approach these creatures with an open mind. “I think it’s one of those situations where you need to believe to see,” he admitted.

Photo © Professor John Hyatt

Hyatt’s story reminds us of the famous Cottingley fairies that were photographed by two schoolgirls in Bradford, decades ago. 60 years later, they revealed that they had faked the pictures using cardboard cut-outs. But Hyatt says that the creatures he snapped are very different from the fairies depicted in children’s books. “Everything is stereotyped,” he said. “But there are stranger things in life than fairies, and life grows everywhere.”

Photo © Professor John Hyatt

“I don’t believe they are just smaller versions of us and go home and have a cup of tea at the end of the day,” Hyatt pointed out. “And no one is suggesting they have any special powers. From my experience, they were just enjoying themselves and there was a little dance in the sunlight going on. They are just beautiful pictures and beauty can make people believe.”

Photo © Disney

That sounds really nice, but I’m not sure what to believe. Regardless of whether the creatures in the photos are fairies or not, I can’t deny they look like tiny blurry Tinkerbells. At least they look a lot friendlier than the other real-life fairies we featured on OC in the past.

Source: Manchester Evening News