I had a similar incident with my mum. She is very intelligent & switched on, so imagine my upset at having to break it to her about the Youtube videos of Erwin Saunders "Wilton's Pixies"...

It was heartbreaking as she was so excited someone had caught them on camera & could prove they existed. She kept texting me asking me if i'd watched it yet.

I had to explain that no part of it made me believe it was real, and that people out there do actually create fake videos. for fun.

It was a sad day which made me feel what is probably comparable to telling a child the tooth fairy is really their Dad...