# Picture of the Virgin Mary appears on napkin... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2000, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996 "2000-11-13T13:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/1 "2000-11-13T13:41:13Z")
I read in a magazine the other day that somewhere in the US, a patron at a cafe took a look at the napkin she was eating her donut out of and the smudge apparently looked like the Virgin Mary. It didn’t provide a pic, but it said that it adds to the long list of apparent formations that have been reportledy seen. Do these “images” exist? And if so, are there any links on the net to these types of pictures? ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/2 "2000-11-13T14:47:08Z")
It’s called “Pareidolia”. It’s a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus that is perceived as being clear. People have the ability to recognise faces and shapes, such as the ability to “see” objects formed by the clouds. See these links: [http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/5/jesus.htm](http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/5/jesus.htm) [http://www.nsti.tec.tn.us/nsti\_photo/teresa.html](http://www.nsti.tec.tn.us/nsti_photo/teresa.html) [http://wfmh.org.pl/~thorgal/Moon/](http://wfmh.org.pl/~thorgal/Moon/) All of the above is compliments of the skeptic’s dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/3 "2000-11-13T14:59:04Z")
Many Thanks, S-Man. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/4 "2000-11-13T23:35:17Z")
Stupendous Man, I appreciate the other two links (especially the Cinnibun one), but sweet lord in high heavens above, that moon one was a piece of crap! Did anyone else see _anything?!?_ the guy was drawing? jb ---
**Author:** ![caircair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@caircair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caircair)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2000, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/5 "2000-11-13T23:49:13Z")
I remember seeing on some tabloid TV show a picture from some city newspaper of an angel in the clouds – the picture was pretty specific. I’ve also seen copies of three pictures taken of clouds from an airplane. The story goes, when the pictures were developed, a robed figure with outstretched hands was seen. The face is hidden, but appears to have a beard. Some claim these pictures are miraculous – I, however, suspect treachery in the form of a double exposure. My question: Has anyone else seen these, and if so, do you have any information to add as to how these pictures were REALLY taken? ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/6 "2000-11-14T00:57:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jb\_farley \* > \*\*Stupendous Man, I appreciate the other two links (especially the Cinnibun one), but sweet lord in high heavens above, that moon one was a piece of crap! Did anyone else see _anything?!?_ the guy was drawing? > > jb \*\* Perfectly understandable… It only represented what some of the poplace sees when they look at the moon… I only see the traditional face that most everyone else sees… Of course, your own Pareidolia will vary. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/7 "2000-11-14T01:11:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by caircair \* > \*\*I remember seeing on some tabloid TV show a picture from some city newspaper of an angel in the clouds – the picture was pretty specific. > > I’ve also seen copies of three pictures taken of clouds from an airplane. The story goes, when the pictures were developed, a robed figure with outstretched hands was seen. The face is hidden, but appears to have a beard. Some claim these pictures are miraculous – I, however, suspect treachery in the form of a double exposure. My question: Has anyone else seen these, and if so, do you have any information to add as to how these pictures were REALLY taken? \*\* I recall a tabloid newspaper that showed a very vivid photo of the face of “satan” in the clouds above the white house, but as for photos from an airplane, those I have not seen. As for satan above the white house, sure that would explain a lot, but the photo is an obvious forgery. Now I don’t claim to know a lot about “mysterious appearances”, but I can likely attribute the airplane photos to one of two things: 1: A forgery using any number of photo retouching techniques, or 2: A natural phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/8 "2000-11-14T01:32:14Z")
why is it that people put so much import into photos of angels in the clouds, or dirty pictures in microsoft’s cloud startup pictures, when in point of fact **finding shapes in clouds is a regular human past time!!!** I mean c’mon, people! I saw a giraffe up there today. Does that mean the giraffes are poised to offer mankind revelations and salvation? jb ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/9 "2000-11-14T12:08:41Z")
Pastime. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2000, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-virgin-mary-appears-on-napkin/40996/10 "2000-11-14T16:41:54Z")
shitters.