In cryptozoology, there are infinite amounts of unfortunate hoaxes that cause perpetual confusion and negative feelings towards those that study animals that are supposedly depicted. Some of these hoaxes are so painfully obvious that it is difficult for us cryptozoologists to not point them out. In this post I would like to dedicate some space to the top 5 most obvious hoaxes in the history of cryptozoology. The particular hoaxes that I am targeting here are those of the photographic kind. A few of these hoaxes literally made me laugh at there transparency.
1. The Cottingley Fairies Photographs of 1917
In 1917, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths took several pictures of fairies that supposedly visited them in their backyard. They claimed that the fairies portrayed in the photographs were completely real and that all inquiries into their validity would end in positive evidence supporting the photos. Sure enough, checks into the reliability of these two girls’ story concluded with baffled investigators. As far as anyone was concerned, the photographs were genuine. One reporter claimed that “these dancing figures are not made of paper nor any fabric; they are not painted on a photographic background”.
Although the two girls had many people convinced of the photographs’ validity the more intelligent analysts new of its status as a hoax, even if the evidence did not back it up. Eventually, Elsie Wright did admit that the photographs were first taken without the fairies and then retaken once fairy drawings were cut out of magazines and glued onto the background. Besides Wright’s testimony, there is yet another bit of information that argues the truth about these photos. All of the fairies look the same, but the proportions are all wrong. Also, the younger of the two, Frances Griffiths, was never actually looking at the fairies, but the camera. I believe that the fairies would be slightly more interesting than the camera taking the pictures.
Despite Wright’s honesty, Griffiths continued to argue that only a select few of the pictures were faked and that one (the photograph above) was real. She could not, however explain why the hoaxed photos of fairies were not all that different from the “real” fairy.
2. The Kasai Rex photograph of 1932
In 1932, John Johanson claimed that he had caught a picture of a tyrannosaurus rex living in the Kasai region of the Belgian Congo. Along with the photograph, he attached the following letter describing his whole experience with the so-called "Kasai Rex":
On February 16 last I went on a shooting trip, accompanied by my gunbearer. I had only a Winchester for small game, not expecting anything big. At 2 p.m. I had reached the Kasai valley (sic).
No game was in sight. As we were going down to the water, the boy suddenly called out "elephants". It appeared that two giant bulls were almost hidden by the jungle. About 50 yards away from them I saw something incredible - a monster, about 16 yards in length, with a lizard's head and tail. I closed my eyes and reopened them. There could be no doubt about it, the animal was still there. My boy cowered in the grass whimpering.
I was shaken by the hunting-fever. My teeth rattled with fear. Three times I snapped; only one attempt came out well. Suddenly the monster vanished, with a remarkably rapid movement. It took me some time to recover. Alongside me the boy prayed and cried. I lifted him up, pushed him along and made him follow me home. On the way we had to transverse a big swamp. Progress was slow, for my limbs were still half-paralyzed with fear. There in the swamp, the huge lizard appeared once more, tearing lumps from a dead rhino. It was covered in ooze. I was only about 25 yards away.
It was simply terrifying. The boy had taken French leave, carrying the rifle with him. At first I was careful not to stir, then I thought of my camera. I could hear the crunching of rhino bones in the lizard's mouth. Just as I clicked, it jumped into deep water.
The experience was too much for my nervous system. Completely exhausted, I sank down behind the bush that had given me shelter. Blackness reigned before my eyes. The animal's phenomenally rapid motion was the most awe-inspiring thing I have ever seen.'
I must have looked like one demented, when at last I regained camp. Metcalfe, who is the boss there, said I approached him, waving the camera about in a silly way and emitting unintelligible sounds. I dare say I did. For eight days I lay in a fever, unconscious nearly all the time.'
There are two reasons for us to assume that this is a complete hoax. The first is that the gun boy that was with him pointed out the elephants that he knew full well they did not have the right gun to shoot. He was not expecting big game meaning that the bull elephants should never have been pointed out. The second is an even larger reason to disbelieve this whole experience. The particular reason I am referring to is the proportions in the picture. First the creature is reportedly 48 feet long. This would make the skull 12 feet in length and the rock it is balancing itself 36 feet tall. The "deep waters" in the report must have been at least 24 feet deep. All these proportions are extremely absurd and should not even be considered.
3. The Yeti Photograph of 1986
The Yeti photograph, taken by a man named Anthony Wooldridge, is a rare breed of hoax. Unlike the other hoaxes listed in this post, this photograph was not an intentional hoax, but an accidental misidentification. Wooldridge had been following a trail of abnormal footprints all day and finally came across what he had determined to be the Abominable Snowman. He watched it for some time and noted its complete lack of movement. What he caught in the photograph was all he saw. Assuming that we had the creature caught on video, the only difference would be the occasional movement of the camera caused by unsteadiness of hand.
Years after the photograph was taken, the public was informed that the picture was genuine, but that the subject was not. In fact, as it turns out, it was a rock that bore a striking resemblance to an unknown hominid. The real offense in this case was misidentification, not intentional hoax. There is really not much more to say beyond that point.
4. The Skunk Ape Photograph of 1997
The photograph in question is much like the Yeti photograph mentioned above, but with one major difference. The photographer that snapped the photo, Vince Doerr, does not believe that the animal in the photograph was real. He puts minimal stock into the reliability of Skunk Ape reports, but he believes that the subject is nothing more than a man in a gorilla suit. He said “I just think someone’s playing games… if I thought it was real, I would have run in there, beat it to death, and sold it to the National Enquirer.”
Those that support the possibility that it is an authentic photograph with an authentic subject argue that it is probably a relative of the orangutan. The theory that it is a Pongid of some sort has often been pondered, but leading orangutan experts have all agreed that it is not and that Doerr is correct in saying that it is a hoax. The question I have been forced to reduce this whole incident down to is ‘what is the subject of the photograph?’
5. The Loch Ness Monster Photograph of 1934
This photograph is definitely the most famous of all of these hoaxes. The unfortunate decision of Lt. Col. Robert Kenneth Wilson to take a hoaxed photograph of what would become the most famous cryptozoological creature: the Loch Ness Monster. The photograph he took was taken on April 19, 1934 and became known as the infamous Surgeon’s Hoax. With a small amount of doctoring, a photograph of a toy submarine became the ultimate atomic bomb for Nessie (the title since given to the Loch Ness Monster). This metaphor has two valid uses in this situation. The first is an atomic bomb of fame and the second of evidence. But the second, unlike the first is not a constructive attribute, but a destructive one.
The fame that was built from the photograph was eventually turned into satire when Wilson admitted to hoaxing the photo. The construction that was built was torn down just as fast through the course of events that ensued after the confession that condemned the Loch Ness Monster to extinction. This unfortunate hoax will need to be forgotten in order to allow the mystery to be solved.
Three of the five hoaxes above are from viable possibilities of actual animals (excluding the Cottingley Fairies and the Kasai Rex). It is unfortunate that Wilson had to produce such a damaging effect on the Loch Ness Monster, but the other 2 are accidents are unintentional in some way. Hoaxes are not as simple to solve once performed and require mending not long after the creation of it. Once they are created there is little chance to turn back. I have chosen this topic in order to discourage potential hoaxers from doing the unspeakable and damaging the repertoire of cryptozoology with a hoax.
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