
Look everyone, it's...
JESUS!
Stay Free! tracks everyone's favorite deity as he leapfrogs across America
1978
Mario Rubio is
rolling a burrito when she notices skillet burns on
the tortilla resembling the mournful face of Jesus Christ. Shortly
thereafter, 8,000 curious pilgrims trek to the Rubios' small stucco
house in rural New Mexico to view the sacred icon. Mrs. Rubio leaves
her house unlocked so that visitors may freely enter and examine
the tortilla. (Newsweek, Aug. 14, 1978)
1980
Oklahoma evangelist Oral Roberts spots a 900 foot Jesus straddling a
hospital complex he is building next to his university. Roberts,
interpreting the divine image as a plea for financial assistance,
appeals to his followers and nets millions of dollars in donations.
(Los Angeles Times, Oct. 8, 1992)
1981
Christ appears, crucified, on a garage door in California and draws
8,000 visitors in one weekend. The image is later found to be caused
by reflections from two street lights that had merged with shadows
of a bush and a real-estate sign. (USA Today, April 12,
1989)
1986
In Fostoria, Ohio, Jesus is found on the side of a soybean oil tank. A
month after the image is reported, vandals attack the tank with paint
balloons. (USA Today, April 12, 1989)
1987
Jesus appears on the chimney of a suburban bowling alley. The four-
foot high image is formed from rusting metal. Local truckers are split
on whether the rust pattern on the chimney means anything other
than it's time to buy a new chimney. Some say it looks like Popeye;
others say it is Christ. A bowler at Town and Country Bowl had
spotted the figure and immediately notified a Chicago television
station. Town and Country owner Irwin Korzen says he and his
employees noticed it months earlier but didn't think it was a big
deal. (Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1987)
1988
In Lubbock, Texas, members of a small Roman Catholic Church see
visions of Mary and Jesus in the clouds during an outdoor Mass. The
diocesan report that follows takes a cautious stand and draws no
conclusions. (USA Today, April 12, 1989)
1989
Thousands of believers flock to a home in northeast Harris County to
view a linoleum table top that mysteriously reflects the images of
Jesus or the Virgin Mary. Sources aren't quite sure. (Houston
Chronicle, April 12, 1992)
1991
Jesus makes national news as the centerpiece of a Pizza Hut billboard
in Atlanta. Joyce Simpson spotted the face of Christ in the
advertisement immediately after praying for a divine sign. She
couldn't decide whether to stay in the church choir or quit and sing
professionally. The shadowy image of Jesus' face in strands of
spaghetti hanging from a fork meant she should stay with the choir.
John Moody, a marketing director for Pizza Hut, said the picture, one
of 35 put up in the area, is a standard food photograph that the
Wichita headquarters provides franchises. Moody said several
people, however, called his office to say they see other notably less
religious images in the picture: deceased rock star Jim Morrison, a
puppet and Willie Nelson. (Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1991)
1992
Jesus is discovered, on a cross, in the gnarled bark of a sycamore tree
in New Haven, CT. (The Hartford Courant, Sept. 19, 1992)
1993
Approximately 3,000 people line up outside an apartment building in
upper Manhattan to witness apparitions of Jesus Christ on the
frosted-glass window of a 5th floor bathroom. The Rev. Jose Aquilar,
a Catholic priest from St. Judes Church several blocks away, claims
the source of the apparition is a dirty double-paned window and a
little moisture. Upon Aquilar's suggestion, police remove the window
and have it taken to a hardware store and scrubbed with Brillo - an
act some residents called sacrilegious. (Newsday, Aug. 7, 1993)
Return to Stay Free #5 Table of
Contents.