Madonna On A Garage Door?



It's been a few months since we've run a post on a mysterious image of Jesus or the Madonna appearing like a vision before incredulous evangelical Americans.

If Jesus and Mary have been making unscheduled appearances across the US of recent, we haven't heard about them.

But we've found another one.

400 or so people who gather in front of a garage door in Pennslyvannia to watch a sunbeam cast a somewhat vague image of Madonna think they are witnessing something special, perhaps even miraculous :

To some, it's an image of the Virgin Mary that has appeared at 6 p.m. each day since Aug. 15 -- the day of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. To others, it's just a reflection of light from the setting sun.

The crowd in the street grew as 6 p.m. neared -- young and old, children and the elderly, believers and skeptics.

''Yeah, we're waiting for Jesus,'' Evan Ponter, an 11th-grader at Minersville High School, told someone who had called him on his cell phone.

Dozens lined the sidewalk facing the garage where the image is said to appear, others packed balconies and rested on lawn chairs. Hundreds more stood in the street, closing it to traffic while drivers on side streets slowed down to try to figure out was going on.

''There she is!'' shouted Tim Heckman, founder of the Coal Region Ghost Hunters, who's doing his first investigation in Minersville.

He said he detected spikes in electromagnetic fields and energy that spirits use to manifest themselves. He said the coal region is a hot spot of paranormal activity because of the tragedies that befell coal miners decades ago.

''There has to be a reason,'' said Yolanda Demcher of Minersville, who was surprised to see so many young people in the crowd. ''There has to be a reason.''

She speculated that the purpose of the appearance might be to draw young people back to their faith, to church and to prayer.

Nine-year-old Adrian Datte of Pottsville, who had bought a video camera with his Holy Communion money, gently touched the bright and blurry image.

''It's like, like it's weird that it's here,'' he said. ''Like it's really interesting to see. I think it's something like a ghost or a spirit or Jesus.''

You see what you want to see. Or what you need to see.