Sunnyside sights - Apparition -- MikeL's Guide to WA Wineries

MikeL's Guide to WA Wineries Sunnyside sights Virgin Mary Apparition
My recollection is not perfect, but Summer of either 1994 or 1995, there was a bit of excitement in Sunnyside over an apparition of the Virgin Mary visible on the back of a highway sign.

Just by chance, my wife and I happened to drive by that intersection the weekend it was discovered, and we didn't understand why there were people in lawn chairs and many bunches of flowers and candles were lined up on the ground in an otherwise non-descript intersection between I-82 and Sunnyside proper. All we could imagine was that perhaps it was a vigil for someone killed in a car accident at that intersection. When we got home to Seattle, we saw a piece about it on the late news and learned about the sighting.

These photos were taken Aug-1999, years after the excitement had passed. I'm not sure the whether the image has changed with time, however, the discoloration is still quite clear.

It's just a normal green freeway directions sign, with an up arrow "to I-82", and a right arrow to "Yakima Prosser Sunnyside".

As I recall, the State Highway Dept. some time later issued a statement that the discoloring was caused by heating of machine oils used in the manufacturing process, and any image was unintentional.
[Photo credit: Mike Lempriere; Aug-1999]

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