Friday, November 15, 2013

Strange But Not True

A recent study found that many people in Iceland still believe in the existence of elves. This article cleverly builds on that fact to create a plausible-sounding story about a missing anthropologist who may have been kidnapped by the creatures and held for seven years. It sounds like a great paranormal tale, with the little nagging problem that none of it is true.

Seven years after she vanished without a trace, a female anthropologist emerged from a mysterious cave where authorities believe she may have been held hostage by real-life elves!

Danish researcher Kalena Søndergaard was stark naked, covered by dust and babbling incoherently when rescuers found her outside a tiny opening in the famous Elf Rock, traditionally believed to house the underground dwelling place of mankind’s tiny cousins.

“She was crouching like an animal and spoke only in a language unrelated to any we know,” said Armor GuĂ°johnsen of the National Rescue Service, which airlifted the 31-year-old survivor to a hospital by helicopter.

“The only word we could understand was ‘alfur,’ an old Icelandic word for elves. On her back were strange tattoos similar to those markings Viking explorers found on rock formations when they settled Iceland in 874, traditionally known as ‘elf writing.’ ”

This is another one of those fake news stories that people sometimes pass around as fact on the Internet. How do I know? Take a look here and you'll realize that photo accompanying the story was taken from an unrelated article about a woman stuck on a cliff after attempting to climb down to a nudist beach in California - which is a long way from Iceland. Now a real story of abduction by elves would be something, especially if it were well-documented. This article just is not it.

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4 comments:

El Articulo Definido said...

I am so intrigued by this story. The place that I found it very clearly noted the blogger as a novelist, and tried to promote his recent novel at the bottom of the piece. The pictures here are clearly from another news story. How many times, however, have news sources used the wrong photo to tell a story, often times because they don't have a photo for the story they're telling? A wrong photo is definitively NOT evidence that something is not true. If you do a search on the "anthropoligist" she was "found" several years ago and there are many references to this woman having gone missing. Was she returned and naked? Not likely, but ... a false photo is no evidence!

Scott Stenwick said...

It's not just the photo. It's also pretty clear that this is a fake from some of the other stories listed on the website:

* NOAH'S ARK FOUND FROZEN IN ANTARCTIC ICE -- With Crew Still Aboard!

* FEW FAIRIES GAY, FOLKLORISTS NOW SAY

* Panties of Peril Stolen -- And Police Warn Thief Could Die From "Curse."

* BOOKSHELF BUILT BY JESUS FOUND!

* LOGICAL EXPLANATION FOUND FOR BIGFOOT: THEY'RE WEREWOLVES, Expert says

Do any of those sound like even marginally credible news items to you?

Unknown said...

Who says "You just can't make this shit up?."

Scott Stenwick said...

In fact, as far as I can tell from the Internet, one of the best ways to go viral is in fact to make shit up - as long as it's the right shit.