Second Purported Image of Christ Draws Throngs to Soybean Oil Tank

Amid reports of a second image, thousands of people jammed roads to see what they claim is the image of Jesus on a rusting soybean oil tank.

Hundreds of people have gathered at the site for about two weeks, but the throng swelled Thursday night after word of the apparition was spread by news reports.

Witnesses said the second image, a likeness of the face of Jesus, was visible on the east side of the tank.

Reports of a larger-than-life apparition of a long-haired, bearded man and a profile of a young child on the tank’s west side were responsible for massive traffic jams. Fostoria, a town of nearly 16,000, is about 35 miles south of Toledo in northwest Ohio.

Some people claim that the images are miracles, but officials for the Archer Daniels Midland Co., which owns the tank, attribute the outlines to a combination of rust, paint and shadows caused by sodium vapor lights on the tank.

The Rev. James Bacik, a theologian for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, played down the religious significance of the reported sightings. He said people have a need for a deeper meaning in ordinary experiences.

“People look for it in wild and crazy ways,” he said.