3. The Cottingley Fairies

Around the 1920s, photos were seen of two girls, France Griffith and Elise Wright, posing with what appeared to be fairies. These photos were considered to be consider some of the most widely recognized photos that existed. Not until 1978 were the photos declared fake by James Randi when he noticed the resemblance of the fairies to a drawing in a book titled Princess Mary’s Gift Book. In 1981, Elise Wright admitted that they were fakes and were sketched off drawings from that book.