# People flock to see Virgin Mary in foggy window. Are people really this stupid? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 26, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557 "2003-06-26T17:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![macabresoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@macabresoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/macabresoul)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/21 "2003-06-26T18:52:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Some say she came to warn away Milton Hospital – which does not perform abortions – from its recent clinical affiliation with a Boston area hospital that provides the procedure. Hehe **Pedro** I was gonna quote the same part. Why they would post this just confirms thier credibility. I remember reading about the one in Fatima, Portugal. Miracles 100 years ago kicked serious ass. The sun danced in the sky and shot rays of multi-colored light everywhere. They it came crashing to earth but stopped at the last second. …From that to dirty windows. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/22 "2003-06-26T18:58:31Z")
You gotta look at it from God’s point of view. There a million and one things wrong in the world that he could sort out, even on the quiet if he didn’t want to ruin the whole faith thing. But it makes much more sense for the omni-present and all-powerful entity to play around with weeping statutes, condensation on windows and root vegetables. You know, the kind of things that are quite possible through random chance or second rate magician tricks. Only _these_ kind of miracles are proof of his existance and a source of guidance to the faithful. This is God sorting out the terrible sex scandals in the Catholic church. Faced with the options of thunder-bolts, pestilence, divine intervention, or just ensuring his representatives on Earth don’t behave like evil shits in the first place, God has instead acted incisively and painted a picture. It’s kind of stylized, but uses cliched icongraphy to represent an banal, though popular, image of a Biblical figure in the unconventional medium of dirty water on glass. Only a fool would fail to pick up the under-lying and powerful mood of disapproval and anger. God is giving us a message and that message is I’m very annoyed. I can’t see how anyone could fail to heed this warning. This God is not one to be messed with. Or maybe it’s just condensation. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/23 "2003-06-26T19:02:43Z")
Now I look at the picture properly, I think it looks more like a female cellist (or a hooded man with no nose). Jacqueline du Pré lives, man! ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/24 "2003-06-26T20:26:11Z")
Seems like if God or Jesus or Mary or whoever wanted to really make a big impression, they’d pick something else besides a hospital window or a billboard of a plate of spaghetti, and would definitely leave no room for skepticism. They’d be 900 ft tall, crushing the landscape with their sandaled feet, that sort of thing. Maybe Heaven doesn’t have that good a PR department. PR people are probably as common as lawyers up there. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/25 "2003-06-26T20:35:58Z")
I saw Jesus in my cumrag. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/26 "2003-06-26T20:47:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by birdgirl \* > **Are people really this stupid?** Apparently so. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/27 "2003-06-26T21:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by birdgirl \* > \*\*[A Fogged Window to Faith: Pilgrims See Vision Of Mary at Hospital](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33790-2003Jun25.html) > > Are people really this stupid? Wow. \*\* True story. I once let a candle burn and stopped paying attention to it. No big deal, I had it on a plate or something. There’s not goig to be a fire or anything. Anyways, things overflow, and I end up with an LP-sized flat chunk of wax that had developed some really cool swirls and designs on it. Anyways, the time came to clean up the bookshelf that it had been setting on, so I tried to seperate the thing from the wood without breaking it. It snapped into a couple pieces. And then it hit me. I had a piece of wax staring up at me that looked remarkably like a woman seen from a 3/4s view. She was wearing a heavy cloak or robe and looking back over her shoulder. It was very cool. It’s been a good seven or eight years, and even though I’ve moved twice since then, I think that I could probably dig it out from where I have it stashed. But you know what? It’s a fucking piece of wax. It’s a neat one. I’d like to find a way to frame it or something. But I’ve never had the desire to worship it. I’ve never had the desire to call the National Enquirer. Still a neat bit of wax, though. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/28 "2003-06-26T21:25:16Z")
Joe, shortsightedness like that is why you aren’t rich. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/29 "2003-06-26T21:27:13Z")
The whole phenomenon of seeing faces and the like in such places and circumstances is called [pareidol](http://www.skepdic.com/pareidol.html). I went to Snopes hoping that there would already be an article about the Boston sighting, but there isn’t anything (yet). I found the Skepdic link which describes the phenomenon on [this article](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wtcface.htm) in which people claim to have seen Satan’s face in the smoke of the WTC terror attack. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/30 "2003-06-26T22:00:11Z")
One of the most disgusting things I’ve read about this “apparition” was in a recent article (I can’t seem to find it to cite). Anyway, the hospital had requested that the visitors only come between certain hours because they were making it hard for sick patients and their families to find parking and get into the hospital. They were also making a mess of the grounds and putting heavy use on the bathrooms. But the “pilgrims” did not comply with the requesting visiting hours. So the hospital took action, and covered the window with a tarp outside of the hours. People came anyway, and stood craning their necks for glimpses when the wind blew the tarp aside. One woman there at the improper time was quoted as saying that it was **immoral** that they were covering it and not letting her see it. _IMMORAL!?!_ You idiot! Morality would be YOU donating money to the hospital to pay for the signs and extra security and traffic management and grounds maintenance and fricking toilet paper you people are costing this hospital. Morality would be YOU leaving the parking spaces to patients and family. Morality would be YOU doing something positive as a result of being “blessed” with this “visitation”, not just getting a warm fuzzy feeling inside and going back to your regular life. ---
**Author:** ![Cargogal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/48db29/32.png) [@Cargogal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cargogal)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/31 "2003-06-26T22:56:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\*I found the Skepdic link which describes the phenomenon on [this article](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wtcface.htm) in which people claim to have seen Satan’s face in the smoke of the WTC terror attack. \*\* I saw a website that put that pic next to faces that matched the shape better - Teletubbies and the Napster logo. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/32 "2003-06-26T23:01:13Z")
If I was in charge of this hospital, I’d have taken the window out and destroyed it (or sold it on eBay). Pilgrims don’t like it? Fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/33 "2003-06-26T23:02:59Z")
Virgin Mary? Please. It’s quite clearly [that Led Zepplin Hermit guy](http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2406/). Or possibly a diseased lung. One or t’other. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/34 "2003-06-26T23:05:56Z")
I’ve been staring at the photo and I see 7 horses grazing on a rocky landscape. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/35 "2003-06-26T23:07:41Z")
Why do they assume that an image of a woman in a hood must be the Virgin Mary? How do they know what Mary looked like? Why doesn’t the hospital just clean the window, or better yet just replace the pane of glass? I also wouldn’t have a problem with having some security guards patrolling the area and escorting “pilgrims” off of the grounds. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/36 "2003-06-26T23:25:45Z")
Inkblot analysis wise I see an outline that looks roughly like a hooded figure. I actually thought it looked like a monk’s hood. See, it must be a miracle. Or condensation. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/37 "2003-06-26T23:26:40Z")
I’m starting to think this whole “God” thing might be made up by humans who feel a need to explain things they don’t understand. In which case that window would be mere condensational coincidence. …Nah… couldn’t be. There just HAS to be a God! I mean, who ELSE could have written the Bible? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/38 "2003-06-26T23:35:57Z")
Y’know what would be funny? Somebody should write a message on the glass, next to the hooded shape, in some medium that isn’t visible unless heat is applied. Then you let the faithful gather, and then, behind the glass, you use a hair dryer to gradually heat the glass, making your message slowly appear, a word at a time. “I…” \ “AM…” \ “THE…” \ “WALRUS…” \ “GOO GOO GA JOOB!” \ > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > **Why do they assume that an image of a woman in a hood must be the Virgin Mary?** “General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire…” ---
**Author:** ![mrsface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mrsface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsface)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/39 "2003-06-26T23:55:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\*The whole phenomenon of seeing faces and the like in such places and circumstances is called [pareidol](http://www.skepdic.com/pareidol.html). I went to Snopes hoping that there would already be an article about the Boston sighting, but there isn’t anything (yet). I found the Skepdic link which describes the phenomenon on [this article](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wtcface.htm) in which people claim to have seen Satan’s face in the smoke of the WTC terror attack. \*\* Have to admit these World Trade Centre images are quite impressive - I’ve never seen them before. Should I convert to something? If so, what?? Condensed Virgin M is a washout, though ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557/40 "2003-06-27T05:47:35Z")
_Tom Hanks_ Wilson!?, is it you? Wilson! WILSOOOONNN!!! _Tom Hanks_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-flock-to-see-virgin-mary-in-foggy-window-are-people-really-this-stupid/184557.md?page=3)