Jesus on stingray
Erika Scheldt, 24, got a lot more literal when she photographed a stingray last Friday while playing on the beach at James Island, S.C.
When a dead cownose ray washed up on the beach, Scheldt took a photo of it, fascinated by the strange image on its back that looked vaguely familiar.
"I just kind of thought it looked like a bearded homeless man," Scheldt told IslandPacket.com "But when I posted pictures on Instagram, one of my friends was like, 'That's Jesus.' And I was like, 'Oh, my God. You're right.'"
Since encountering this ray of hope, she says she and other members of her family have been trying to come up with a name. So far, the top choice is Ray Rey, since "Rey" means "king" in Spanish.
Scheldt, a Catholic who is getting married this summer, doesn't think the ray sighting has any special message, but does see some interesting coincidences.
"I did think it was interesting, with Easter coming up," she told the Post and Courier. "And it's such a beautiful image on such a harmful thing."
Although almighty images have reportedly been seen on Wal-Mart receipts, the side of a cliff and even a fish stick,
Jim Underdown of the Center for Inquiry Los Angeles, an organization that works to promote reason and science, says that humans are biologically tuned to put meaning to random patterns.
"There is a word, 'pariedolia,' that means assigning meaning to patterns that are actually just 'noise,'" he told HuffPost Weird News in December. "We are hard-wired to recognize patterns in whatever we do. It has helped us biologically, but it can also be a hindrance."
"I just kind of thought it looked like a bearded homeless man," said Erica Scheldt, 24. "But when I posted pictures on Instagram, one of my friends was like, 'That's Jesus.' And I was like, 'Oh, my God. You're right.' "
Scheldt and family members have been trying since then to name her find. So far, they've come up with Ray Rey. "Rey" means king in Spanish.
Over the years, images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Mother Teresa and Buddha have been spotted on baseballs, lava lamps, cinnamon buns, beehives and grilled cheese sandwiches. Or at least they have in the eyes of some people.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, one of the most recent sightings of Jesus on an inaminate object came on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, when a man in Espanola, N.M., found Christ on a tortilla.
But as far as it's known, never has such an image appeared here in the Holy City. Until last week.
Scheldt, a graduate student, was swimming Friday at Sullivan's Island while babysitting Gloria Orvin, 5, and one of her friends. Then some men warned her about rays in the water.
When Scheldt and the youngsters exited the ocean, the men showed her a dead ray that had washed ashore.
"They put it back in the water, and it came up again and got beached," she said. "The girls and I were looking at it, and I thought it looked like a homeless man on its back, so I snapped some pictures. It was dead, and I would have taken it with me, but I had no idea how to pick it up."
Cownose rays have a toxin-laden stinger high on the tail, close to the body.
She said others on the beach saw the face, but nobody else identified it as Jesus.
"I feel like if I did notice it and told people who were walking by, they would just think I was kind of weird," she said.
Scheldt, a Catholic who is getting married this summer at Christ our King Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant, said she didn't read anything into it, but she did see some coincidences.
"I did think it was interesting, with Easter coming up," she said. "And it's such a beautiful image on such a harmful thing."
Scheldt also pointed out that she is from Nashville, home of the famous Nun Bun, a cinnamon roll that has a strong resemblance to Mother Teresa.
Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/04/02/2022960/charleston-woman-sees-jesus-on.html#storylink=cpy
Comments: The stingray would normally not be included in this list at all, let alone in the "Very ridiculous" category. But I know a dirty little secret about stingrays. See, stingrays act all mysterious and lethal and shit—but a few years ago, I was in an aquarium and got a view of a stingray from the side…and stingrays are huge nerdsThe image of Jesus Christ has 'appeared' on numerous strange objects (like this, this and this), but a deceased cartilaginous fish has been a hitherto virgin canvas for the Holy Savior's likeness—until now. Erika Scheldt, 24, of Charleston, S.C., says she photographed a dead stingray (what kind?) on the beach, emblazoned with Jesus' bearded face