Window On Salvation

A few months after moving into their house in Jesup, Georgia, in 2005, Gregory and Deborah Sapp noticed a crack in a garage window. Before long it began to look like an image of the Virgin Mary. They took the window out and moved it to their bedroom, where it sits today. But since they think they should share it with the public, they started a website named Visions of the Virgin Mary, where you can learn about the window and see photographs of the window, but if you want to see a streaming video of it you have to subscribe. Five bucks for one day, $10 for 30 days, or $20 a year. No one ever said salvation was free.

Pressing Religious Concerns

No sooner had Janie Guerra, a pants presser at Comet Cleaners in Harlingen, Texas, returned to her station after lunchtime prayers than she noticed a familiar image on the press head pad. “I pick up the pants and I see the Virgin Mary,” she says. Store owner Buddy Fischer didn't want to sell the press pad, nor turn it into a shrine and have the store flooded with pilgrims, so he printed up copies of the photograph Guerra had taken with her cell phone, handed them out, and kept using the press. Before long the image faded. “I had to,” he says. “I had 700 pairs of pants to press."

A Chip Off The Holy Block

When a group of students at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Burlington, North Carolina, came inside after hearing thunder during soccer try-outs, teacher and coach Nancy Evans saw what looked like a sticker on the wall that looked like the Virgin Mary. When she got closer she realized it was chipped paint, probably caused by a ball that had been bounced against the wall or a chair scraping against it. Principal Sal Trento agreed, as did many of the students, though one described it as "a fish with an antler." The wall is scheduled to be repainted, though before it is Principal Trento plans to have an art teacher make a tracing of the chip for posterity.

Spreading The Word

Claire Allen of Ystrad, Rhondda, South Wales, was making toast for her youngest boy Robbie when she opened a jar of Marmite and on the underside of the lid saw an image of Jesus. "It wasn't a new jar, but I’d never noticed that before," she says. Her other children and husband agreed that it looked like Jesus so they went public with it. "I often see Jesus’ face in a lot of things I do," she says. "And there are a few times I can think of when I've seen the face of Jesus in a window. But he’s never appeared in my food before." Especially not in a jar of Marmite.

Cheeses Priced

Dan Bell of Preston Hollow, Texas, and his wife Sara were heading out of town on a trip last week when they decided to stop in a gas station for road snacks. Sara had eaten most of the Cheetos when she noticed the one left in her hand looked like a praying Jesus. A quick fried to a crackly crunch Jesus with a missing right arm. They've nicknamed it "Cheesus" and are keeping it in a plastic box while they decide its fate.

Trial By Fire(place)

It was Easter Sunday and Connie Lopez of Refugio, Texas, was crying and praying in her dining room. When she looked up she thought she saw an image of the Virgin Mary in a stone above the fireplace. "It wasn't there in December when we were decorating it," she says. She was called inside and forgot about the image until April 19 when fellow parishioners came over for a spaghetti dinner and one of them saw it. Since then more than 200 people from at least 26 Texas cities have dropped by to see the stone. Some see Jesus, other angels, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or the pope. Viewing hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, at 406 Ymbacion St., Refugio, Texas.

No Bologna. Salami.

For 20 years Nancy Simoes of South Florida has been frying salami for her family's breakfast. Until now it's just been, well, fried salami. But recently when cooking three pieces, she flipped the first one over to see a perfect letter "G" burned into it. When she flipped the second piece it had an "O on it. The third a "D," though it looks a lot like the "O." "Never before has there been anything on it," she said. "It's just been fried salami." Now she's trying to decide how best to preserve the G-O-D salami—glass case or Zip-Loc bag. No word on what brand it was, but since she's Catholic it's a safe bet it wasn't Hebrew National.

Gimme A Break, Gimme A Break...

On Good Friday, a reader of the Dutch website NU.nl was on the way to work when he took a bite of his KitKat bar. As he was about to take another, he looked down and noticed the image of Jesus Christ in the layers of wafer and chocolate. He stopped and took it to work, where he showed two colleagues who agreed that it indeed looked like Jesus. No word on whether he finished eating the candy bar or not.

Hot Off The Griddle

While cleaning a griddle at the Las Palmas restaurant in Calexico, California, last week, a chef looked down to see what appeared to be an image of the Virgin Mary on the metal. The next day the Rev. Gerardo Fernandez of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church confirmed that the image was indeed a likeness of the Virgin. The griddle has been taken out of the kitchen and put on display in a storage room which the restaurant's manager says will be renovated so people can continue to check out the griddle for free. So far more than 100 people have dropped by to view the ghostly griddle, including Renegado and Mr. Tempest, two Mexican wrestlers who were in town for an appearance at the local swap meet.

Lets Give God A Big Hand

When some rocks fell in Paul Grayhek's backyard in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, during Lent, it left a 9' x 4' hand-like rock formation that he calls the "Hand of God Rock Wall." Not being selfish, he's decided to share it. With the highest bidder on eBay, of course. (Current bid, $1,575.) The posting says "some disassembly required" and shipping isn't included, but the winner will be "buying the rights, complete and exclusive rights" to the rock, including literary and movie rights. Hopefully once word gets, uh, upstairs that Grayhek is selling the rocks more of them won't fall leaving only one finger on the hand extended.

Jesus On The Half Shell

In 1972, Joan Reed Carter and a friend were walking along a beach in Fort Lauderdale when they looked down and saw a seashell that looked like Jesus Christ. Her friend didn't want to take it home because her husband was an atheist, so Joan kept it. Over the years she kept thinking she should make the shell public. "I kept thinking I should do something around Christmastime. But I didn't," she said. But now with Easter coming, she decided it was time. Of course there are those who say it's the skull of a catfish. Then again....

Want To Buy A Used Mercury Saviour?

As with any car dealership these days, sales are slow at Jarrett Ford Lincoln Mercury Dade City, Florida, but hopefully they're about to pick up. A 3-foot tall stain has appeared on the used car sales manager's office door that many think looks like Jesus Christ. Can wrist bands with WWJB (What Would Jesus Buy) be far behind?

Why Do You Think They Call Them Stones?

The counter of a clothing store in Redlands, California, called Cali Style, is made up of rocks held together by mortar. About two months ago the store's handyman noticed that near the bottom was a stone that, if viewed from a few yards away, looks like Jesus' face. "I really don't know what I think," store owner Jonathan Hernandez said, who perhaps not coincidentally also owns the store next door: THC Smoke Shop.

Hunka Hunka Burnin' Holy Love

About a year ago, a man who identifies himself only as John Smith of Sydney, Australia, turned on a brand new lava lamp and saw a blob form that looked like Mary holding the baby Jesus. "It took my breath away," he says. He turned the lamp off to preserve the image, built a shrine, and within a couple of weeks his life turned around and he met his "angel on earth." He recently built a web site to spread the word and hopes they don't get a heat wave in Sydney so the wax won't melt.

The Afterworld Can Be Your Oyster

While walking near Johnny Mercer's Pier in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, a man looked down and saw an oyster shell he thought looked like the Virgin Mary. Some say it looks more like Jesus. Others think it's an angel. The guy who found it thinks he has a bonanza so he put it on eBay where as of this writing, the high bid is only $36. Plus $5 shipping, of course.

Watching From Above

Three weeks ago a client at the One Stop Body Shoppe in Arkansas City, Kansas, was laying on her back doing exercises when she noticed a water stain that looked like Jesus Christ on a ceiling tile above her. Since then, all the ceiling tiles that had been damaged by a leak in the roof have been replaced except that one. "Maybe he'll be the only tile we won't replace," said Dominique Sartin, Body Shoppe staff member. And yes, they're considering selling it on eBay.

Going Out On A Limb

Christopher Moreau was having a drink in his garden in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough when he spotted the likeness of the Virgin Mary on a tree, standing in her traditional open-armed pose. "It raises the hair on your neck, it gives you chills," he said. His neighbor, and owner of the tree, Eulalee Hamilton says it's just scarring from a limb that was lopped off a year ago. Moreau has invited people to come by and see it. Hamilton says, "Chris can have all the people he wants on his back deck but I don't really want people trampling on my garden."

Rock 'n The Baby Jesus

Dena Patterson of Brooksville, Florida, was walking through the woods in West Virginia in 1996 when she came upon a rock near a stream with what she though was the image of a veiled Mary cradling the baby Jesus in her arms. She's looking to sell the rock because her health is declining and she wants the money to go back to West Virginia to see her family. Peter Harries, associate professor of geology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, says the rock is shale and doesn't think the image significant. "Things that mimic (other things) are pretty constant in nature," he said. Perhaps, but there is a striking resemblance to Mrs. Butterworth.

He Cures What Ales You

Michael Cartwright and his friends were in Tanners Hall, a pub in Darlington, England, when they saw what looked like the face of Jesus in the foil wrapping of a bottle of Bulmer's cider. The next day when they looked at a photograph one of them had taken of it, they realized the image was clearer than they remembered. When they went back to the pub to retrieve the bottle they discovered it had been thrown out. "I'm not sure what message Jesus was sending and maybe now we'll never know," Cartwright said.

Window To Heaven

There's a prayer garden in the hallway at Leaders of the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Orlando, Florida that sits between the chapel and the emergency room. Recently, someone spotted an image of Jesus Christ on a window there and took a photo with their cell phone. where life is saved, an interesting image is popping up on a window. One person who saw it says, “It looks like a face to me, first of all I haven't seen Jesus, personally, and so I can't say that it's Jesus." The hospital is calling it "an unexplained image."

Just a couple of months ago, mobile phones across Orlando rang constantly because of the extraordinary news. It was about the unusual appearance of an image that allegedly belongs to Jesus Christ.

Spoon Fed Religion

JW Davis of Marshall County, Kentucky, was taking dishes out of the dishwasher when he noticed one of the spoons had the image of Jesus Christ on it. The spoon originally came from a restaurant where his daughter worked and it was a plain old spoon when she first brought it home. It's for sale on eBay but there's no word on whether the restaurant will get a cut of the proceeds.

Wood You Believe It?

While cutting down a tree to make furniture, Craig O’Connor of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, found an image inside the log that was formed by the sap. He thinks it looks like Jesus with his arms outstretched, the tree rings forming a halo around his head. Naturally it's going on eBay, so the question is, WWJC*?

*What Would Jesus Charge

A Twisted Sighting

A DJ on Eugene, Oregon's rock radio station KFLY is selling a pretzel on eBay in the shape of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. Tanner Haney says he found the twisted icon in a bag of Rold Gold pretzels a little over two years ago. The pretzel is in mint condition and comes with the original packaging stamped with the "Sell by" date. As of today, there have been 63 bids with the current high offer being $7,600.

IHOP - International House of Pareidolia

A Houston area family sat down to breakfast when they noticed that one of the pancakes Mom made had the image of the Virgin Mary on it. They say it's a good omen and plan to hold onto the fantastic flapjack.

Sweet and Savioury

Pastor Renee Brewster of Orlando, Florida, was looking for an excuse to get out of making potato salad for the church's weekly rescue mission because “Sister Frankie makes the potato salad at church and I said lord if it’s not for me to make potato salad then send me a sign.” She cut into a potato and put it aside because it looked rotten. Her 10-year-old granddaughter pointed out that there seemed to be an image of a cross with Jesus on the cut potato. Brewster froze the piece, then used the rest to make the potato salad. They say it was the best she ever made.

Like A Rock

Two years ago, a granite distributor in Pinellas County, Florida bought a slab at a granite mine in Brazil near the town of Espirito Santo, which translates as "holy spirit." Although it was in two pieces, cut and ready to be sold, he immediately noticed an image of Jesus on the cross. After holding onto it for two years, the anonymous owner is putting the 7-by-7-foot piece of polished granite up for sale on eBay next week. How much it will sell for? A normal piece of granite like this would sell for $4,000. But one with the image of Jesus? Priceless.

Oh, Shell!

Nancy Kelly McCabe of Wellington, Florida, found a seashell in Palm Beach last August that she thought looked like the mirror image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in prayer. Since finding it she says "every negative aspect of my life has taken a turn for the positive." That's more than you can say for the mollusk who once lived in the shell.

Putting The X[rays] Back in Xmas

A Phoenix, Arizona, man went to the dentist for a routine exam, including X-rays. When the X-rays were developed, he was shocked to see the image of Jesus on one of them. Though a devout Christian, he says he's never seen Jesus in an X-ray before. Neither had the dentist and staff, but they agree that it does look like Christ. Incidentally — or maybe not so incidentally — the man had no cavities.

X-ray[ted] Jesus

After experiencing chest pains, Reynaldo Farinas of Homestead, Florida, went to the hospital where doctors ordered a chest X-ray. When shown the X-ray film, Farinas spotted the face of Jesus Christ. Both the doctor and a medical technician agreed that it resembles Christ, but neither could explain what it was doing there or whether he needed antibiotics.

Half-Baked Mary

Shunattee Lewis of Sacramento, CA, spent Thanksgiving in Denver at her mother's funeral. When she got home, for some reason she pulled out a muffin pan, even though she had no plans to make muffins. Or even cupcakes. When she looked into one of the muffin slots, she saw what looked like an image of the Virgin Mary. Her husband thought it looked like the Mona Lisa. Her 8-year-old son thought that whatever it was, it had a happy face. Shunattee is showing the pan by appointment. The phone number is here.