Blinded by the Light

This is Adrian Datte; he’s nine and has this to say about the splotch of light above: “It’s like, like it’s weird that it’s here . . . Like it’s really interesting to see. I think it’s something like a ghost or a spirit of Jesus.”



Light has always intrigued me: it’s ability to alter moods, indicate the change of seasons, illuminate or obscure a scene, provide warmth, serve as the counterpoint to shadow. Light does it all, and now it has projected a Virgin Mary image on a garage door in Minersville, Pennsylvania. Reported by The Morning Call on August 31, this Mary has been appearing every day around 6:00 p.m. since August 15, the day of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. This day marks the ascension of Mary’s body to Heaven, her body and soul united.



Seems that this Earthly appearance has been drawing around 400 people every day, from believers to the curious to journalists, and even Tim Heckman, founder of the Coal Region Ghost Hunters. Heckman confirmed “spikes in electromagnetic fields and energy that spirits use to manifest themselves.” That may very well be, though the article does not indicate how such spikes are documented.

Many are skeptical about this particular Mary manifestation, especially since a statue of the Virgin Mary stands in the second-floor window of a house across the street! So it’s just a shadow, right? The hundreds of people congregating every day obviously think it’s something more than an easily explained shadow of a statue. One 11th-grader answered his phone saying, “Yeah, we’re waiting for Jesus.” Joan Bettinger was not as hyperbolic in her assessment of the situation: “It makes you think about your faith.” I guess it’s made more than just one person think about faith.