Fairies are real, says professor

Fairies are a type of mythical beings or legendary creatures usually found in European folklore. They are often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural. Mostly the term fairy is connected to magical moments where good people are protected from malice and other ill effects. In other words, fairies are generally known as human in appearance and having magical powers.

But Prof John Hyatt, a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, has a different perception regarding fairies. He solidly believes that fairies are real and are living creatures. To prove his belief he has forwarded photographic evidence.

He had captured photographs of fairies in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire, UK... Prof John Hyatt, a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University is convinced that he has captured photographs of fairies in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire. John Hyatt has been taking photographs of these winged little creatures for two years now.

Hyatt said that he was shocked the first time he saw the creatures.

"It was a bit of a shock when I blew them up, I did a double take.

"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".

"The message to people is to approach them with an open mind. I think it's one of those situations where you need to believe to see. "A lot of people who have seen them say they have brought a little bit of magic into their lives and there's not enough of that around."

His stunning photographs are now part of the exhibition, called Rossendale Fairies. It will be on show at The Whitaker Museum in Whitaker Park in Rossendale, throughout the spring.

Hyatt admits the creatures he snapped are a long way from the characters depicted in children's stories and hopes his pictures will change people's perceptions of them.

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, "Hyatt says.

John Hyatt insists his photos are genuine and have not been altered in any way.

Meanwhile the professor, dubbed the Fairy Godfather is being inundated with photographs from around the globe whose owners insist capture the mini mythical creatures.

According to the Manchester Evening News he has now been bombarded with magical images sent by fairy-watchers from more than 15 countries. The professor has been touched by the supportive messages and photos taken in Argentina, Finland and France, from others also claiming to have spotted the tiny mystical creatures.

He said: "Many have sent me their photographs and stories of their encounters with fairies. Parents from around the world have thanked me on behalf of their children and themselves. Since the exhibition the images have become an internet sensation and have even been discussed by experts at London's Natural History Museum. John now wishes to open the world's eyes to another phenomenon, which he calls Spirits of The Air.

"There are stranger things in life than fairies, and life grows everywhere," he said.

"These other pictures reveal the hidden, momentary wonders of a simple every day occurrence."

He said he has a photo which was taken of air passing through the pump in his goldfish bowl and eerily the artist has since been sent an image of Lady Macbeth which appears identical to his snap.

John insists his photos are genuine and have not been altered in any way. On the existence of fairies, John said: "People can decide for themselves what they are but the message is to approach them with an open mind.

"Let the world decide for itself.

It is my job, as an artist, to open people's eyes to the wonders through which they walk every day."

Tracing the legend of Red Riding Hood

When going down memory lane one of the haunting sagas that lingers from our childhood is the story of little Red Riding Hood. We remember how an innocent little girl, wearing a red hood goes to visit her grandma along a lonely path and how the big bad wolf who had already gobbled the grandma was waiting for the little Red Riding Hood, wearing the grandma's clothes.

It appears before us like an episode from a film!

Now Dr. Jamie Tehrani, an anthropologist from the University of Durham, UK, leads a research study to trace trail of Red Riding Hood. Dr Tehrani said: "My research cracks a long-standing mystery.

The African tales turn out to be descended from The Wolf and the Kids but over time, they have evolved to become like Little Red Riding Hood, which is also likely to be descended from The Wolf and the Kids.

"This is rather like a biologist showing that humans and other apes share a common ancestor but have evolved into distinct species."

He said: "There is a popular theory that an archaic, ancestral version of Little Red Riding Hood originated in Chinese oral tradition. It is claimed the tale spread west, along the Silk Route, and gave rise to both The Wolf and the Kids and the modern version of Little Red Riding Hood. My analysis demonstrates that in fact the Chinese version is derived from European oral traditions, and not vice versa."

The Chinese blended together Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf and the Kids, and local folk tales to create a new hybrid story featuring a tiger, he said.

This tale was first written down by the Chinese poet Huang Zhing. Dr Tehrani said it was significant that he was a contemporary of Charles Perrault, the 17th century Frenchman whose version of Little Red Riding Hood formed the basis of the familiar Brothers Grimm tale.

Perrault's story was itself derived from an older oral tradition of in France, Austria and northern Italy.

"This implies that the Chinese version is not derived from literary versions of Little Red Riding Hood but from the older, oral version, with which it shares crucial similarities. It is therefore understandable that previous scholars have assumed it to be ancestral to the European tale - but actually it's the other way around," said Dr Tehrani, whose findings appear in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.

He is now applying phylogenetics to other folk stories. Dr Tehrani believes his research could shed light on the migration patterns of humans in ancient time.

Hence the Little Red Riding Hood commonly depicted as pale-skinned and blonde girl has distant relatives in Africa and Asia, research has shown.

These researchers traced the folk tale's evolutionary tree and found links with similar stories as far away as China, Japan and Korea.

Just as humans and chimpanzees share an ancient ancestor, all these tales arose from a common source, experts believe.

The Wolf and the Kids, a story dating back to the first century AD and popular in Europe and the Middle East, tells of a wolf that impersonates a nanny goat and devours her offspring.

Some 1,000 years later the wolf was still cast in the role of the villain, but the nanny goat was transformed into Red Riding Hood's grandmother.

Other branches of the story led to Red Riding Hood variants in Africa and Asia, where the wolf is replaced by an ogre or tiger.

The researchers followed the trail of Little Red Riding Hood using techniques normally used by biologists to group together closely related organisms and place them on a "tree of life" mapping their evolution.

They subjected 58 stories to the process, known as phylogenetic analysis.

The researchers focused on 72 plot variables, such as the characters of the protagonist and villain, the tricks used by the villain to deceive the victim, and whether the victim is eaten, escapes or is rescued.