Page 49 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper March/April 2018 Edition

Lady of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun 49

The Lady of Fátima & the

Miracle of the Sun

by Benjamin Radford

The story of a famous miracle in Fátima,
Portugal, began in May 1917, when three
children (ages 7, 9, and 10) claimed to have
encountered the Virgin Mary on their way home
from tending a flock of sheep. The oldest girl,
Lucia, was the only one to speak to her, and
Mary told the children that she would reappear
to them on the thirteenth day of the next six
months. She then vanished.
The children soon told their parents, and
while some in the village didn't believe their
tale, others did — and told more people. As the
weeks and months passed, more and more of the
faithful made pilgrimages to Fátima, where the sometimes appears beside the sun. Sundogs are powerful, and it's not difficult to find examples
children claimed to receive Mary's visits. Still stationary, however, so that doesn't explain why in which the religious mind sees images that
no one else saw the Virgin Mary; instead, the people thought they saw the sun moving. So may not really exist. In fact, Fátima is only one
gathered adults would stand riveted as Lucia perhaps the "sun dance" appeared in the minds of hundreds of appearances claimed to be of the
took the lead and began to describe her visions. and perceptions of those pilgrims present — not Virgin Mary over the centuries.
It was Mary's final appearance, on Oct. in the skies above them. There must, therefore, December 2010, for example, was an
13, 1917, that became the most famous. In his be a psychological explanation, and indeed we especially busy season for Mary, starting when a
book "Looking for a Miracle," Joe Nickell states can find one: an optical illusion caused by woman named Mari Valenzuela of Alhambra,
that "an estimated 70,000 people were in thousands of people looking up at the sky, California, noticed an image of the Virgin Mary
attendance at the site, anticipating the Virgin's hoping, expecting, and even praying for some in her melted candle. The lump, about an inch
final visit and with many fully expecting that she sign from God. It is of course dangerous to stare high and made of soft white wax, resembled a
would work a great miracle. As before, the directly at the sun, and to avoid permanently woman's head and torso.
figure appeared, and again only to the children. damaging their eyesight, those at Fátima that
Identifying herself as 'the Lady of the Rosary,' day were looking up in the sky around the sun, (Continued on Page 51)
she urged repentance and the building of a which, if you do it long enough, can give the THE ‘X’ ZONE RADIO / TV SHOW
chapel at the site. After predicting an end to illusion of the sun moving as the eye muscles with
[World War I] and giving the children certain tire. ROB McCONNELL
undisclosed visions, the lady lifted her hands to The fact that different people L*I*V*E Mon - Fri
the sky. Thereupon Lucia exclaimed, 'The sun!' experienced different things — or nothing at all on SimulTV
As everyone gazed upward, and saw that a — is also strong evidence of a psychological
silvery disc had emerged from behind clouds, explanation. No one suggests that those who
they experienced what is known [as] a 'sun reported seeing the Miracle of the Sun — or any
miracle'." other miracles at Fátima or elsewhere — are
Not everyone reported the same thing; lying or hoaxing. Instead they very likely
some present claimed they saw the sun dance experienced what they claimed to, though that
around the heavens; others said the sun zoomed experience took place mostly in their minds.
toward Earth in a zigzag motion that caused And what about the three young children
them to fear that it might collide with our planet whose visions of Mary put Fátima on the
(or, more likely, burn it up). Some people religious map? It's not clear what, if anything,
reported seeing brilliant colors spin out of the they saw. For the believers, it made sense that www.
sun in a psychedelic, pinwheel pattern, and Mary might only appear to (and speak to the
thousands of others present didn't see anything world through) innocent peasant children, using SimulTV.
unusual at all. their humble status to convey her messages of
The whole event took about 10 minutes, peace and spiritual salvation. Skeptics, however, .com
and this Miracle of the Sun, as it became known, noted that there was no real evidence of any
is one of the best-known events at Fátima. miracles occurring, and suggested that Lucia
was an imaginative girl who influenced her
What happened at Fátima? suggestible younger cousins.
There were other, lesser-known aspects
So what really happened at Fátima? What did of the Fátima story, including secret revelations
the thousands of reporters and witnesses see? and prophecies given to Lucia; as Nickell notes,
We can start by noting that we know for certain several of the "prophecies" were true, but were
what did not happen: The sun did not really actually written after they occurred, and thus
dance in the sky. We know this because, of were not true prophecies at all.
course, everyone on Earth is under the same sun,
and if the closest dying star to us suddenly began Pareidolia and the power of suggestion
doing celestial gymnastics a few billion other
people would surely have reported it. It's really In addition, there was likely an element of mild
not something that anyone else could have failed mass hysteria involved, where one person sees
to notice. something and gets excited about it, and others
This suggests that the experience was feed off it and start seeing similar things
something else. In his book, Nickell suggested themselves. This is neither dangerous nor A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
with KEVIN RANDLE
that the crowd saw a sundog, a patch of light that uncommon. Mass suggestion can be very
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