5 Most Unusual Stories Of Jesus Sightings

So does anybody remember that whole "Jesus' face is in my toast" shtick that hit the news about a quadrillion years ago? Okay, it was more like 20 years. And yes, it's the easiest thing in the world to cackle at for the ridiculousness of such claims. But as a 2014 article in ScienceDaily from the University of Toronto points out, such sightings might be examples of a phenomenon we all know all too well: pareidolia. Anytime someone spots an elephant in the clouds or sees a face in the moon's craters, they're experiencing a kind of pattern-seeing called pareidolia.

But why do so many people claim to see Jesus' face, in particular? Burned bits of naan, stains on drain pipes, creases in socks, crunchy wafer bits in candy bars, rocky cliff outcrops, sonograms of babies: At this point folks have claimed to see Jesus' face pretty much everywhere. Maybe it's because Jesus is on the minds of so many people, or because so many have seen the familiar vision of his shoulder-length locks and benign countenance. More pointedly and not for nothing, a study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology on Wiley Online Library discovered that believers in religious and/or paranormal phenomena are more inclined to "illusory face perception" than others. Nonetheless, some sightings of Jesus' face are unusual enough to warrant comment. They go beyond the typical toasted bread portrait into truly odd territory. 

There are so many bread and/or cheese options for Jesus sightings that they're practically their own subgenre. There's an earlier bready version of Jesus seen on a tortilla back in 1977, too. The corn disc was encased in a glass and metal shrine on a cloud of cotton balls. 

More recently, we've got multiple Cheesus pizza sightings. In 2011, a pizza from Brisbane, Australia's Posh Pizza emerged from the oven with the bubbling face of Christ on top, though some say it looks more like Christian Bale. The pie drew $158 on eBay. Later, in 2022, dad and truck driver Glen Smith made a homemade pizza, and Jesus' face emerged in the blackened bits of cheese on its surface. "I used tomato puree, chorizo and cheese," Smith recounted to The Sun. "All the basics, really. Then I saw the face like Jesus."

If Jesus' face lives in bread and cheese, it only stands to reason that it'd bleed off into the grease. This is exactly what happened in January 2023, when Kim Ellis looked down at her grease-soaked pizza box and saw Jesus' flowing locks. She thought it made a good joke. "It didn't make me consider taking up Christianity, I think it'll take more than a greasy pizza box," she said.

If greasy Jesus isn't your thing, then no worries. The owners of the most aptly-named hen in existence, Gloria, found his face in her very feathers. As an old, 2010 archived forum post on In the '00s says, police officer Mitchell Grainger from the West Midlands, England, recognized the face right away in a picture of his chicken. "I literally said 'Jesus Christ' when I saw the picture," he said. "The face of Jesus is clear to see and when I showed my mom she even pointed out the ring of thorns." 

To be clear, the face of Jesus wasn't a permanent pattern in Gloria's feathers. By all accounts, Grainger was on his property one day and decided to take a picture of Gloria, who was in the middle of a dust bath. Upon looking at the photo and showing it to his partner, Sharon Conway, the two saw Jesus' face in the feathers. They passed around word of the sighting to friends and family, which seemingly ignited a wave of religious sentiment.  

Despite the apt naming, Grainger named the chicken "Gloria," not for any Christian reason but because she'd survived a fox attack on her chicken coop that killed 19 other chickens. Hence the reference to the 1978 Gloria Gaynor song, "I Will Survive," as well as discussions of divine grace. There's no mention of Gloria's ultimate fate, but as hens tend to live from 3 to 7 years, she might have already become some sacred soup.

In case you thought chicken feathers were the most unusual place to spot Jesus, we direct you to another heavenly body (so to speak): Spencer Matthews and his cheese grater-like abs. Matthews, a British TV actor and celebrity, decided to run 30 marathons in 30 days to challenge himself. He ended at the end of August 2024 in a desert looking exhausted, desperately hungry, and having lost almost 21 pounds of water weight. And there on his bare torso, as he stood with one arm encircling the waist of his wife, Vogue, emerged the hardened and suntanned face of the son of God. And in case you're wondering, Jesus' mouth is the belly button. 

As Metro recalls, numerous fans pointed out the sighting on Instagram. "I think I can see Jesus Christ on his abs," one said. Another agreed. "It looks like Jesus," they wrote. "I can't unsee that now." Yet another opted to get even more descriptive: "Spenny has the face of Jesus intertwined in his stomach muscles in that pic." It takes a little work to see Jesus' face in Spencer's abs, sure, but it's just as possible as any of the other sightings on this list. There's no word on whether or not Spencer caught word of the sighting, although it's unlikely Jesus will stick around his torso as he recovers from near-dehydration. 

Parisians and others the world over might recall the shock and horror of hearing that Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire in 2019. The ancient, imposing, and gorgeous landmark dates all the way back to 1163 C.E. and has stood watch from the north side of the Seine River over the passing of countless kings, wars, revolutions, and more. And all it took was a flippantly discarded cigarette or a faulty wire to nearly burn the whole thing down. Restoration is on schedule, and the project received €850 million in donations from French sources alone.

In other words: What better location to behold a sighting of the savior of humanity? At least, that's what Scottish passerby Lesley Rowan thought. She even circled the supposed shape of Jesus between collapsed scaffolding and roaring flames so we can all see him in her picture, too. "When I looked at this photo last night, I was really astounded by what I saw," Rowan told the Daily Record. "When I look at it I see a silhouette of Jesus. I really see a vivid image. I feel like it will bring comfort to people in Paris and all over the world at this sad time." To be clear, we're talking a full-body apparition — stereotypical Jesus robe, sash, and all (which is similar to what he probably did wear). Not everyone was convinced, however. I guess we'll have to see if Jesus drops by for the cathedral's reopening.

While there are many more notable places where Jesus has apparently made an appearance, we're going to end on a sighting that combines elements of the spiritual with the ghostly. Namely: Seeing Jesus' face in the stains on a newly-laid bathroom floor, with the top of his head near the base of the toilet.

Freda Murphy of Birmingham, England backed up her claims with photographic evidence of a smeared, glossy Jesus face right where folks have to step if they make a pit stop. Murphy was no stranger to unexplained phenomena, as she'd previously contacted a medium to investigate her house on claims of phantom baby cries (she has five kids), feeling touched by unseen entities, and beams of light streaming from somewhere. Then, when her family finished their new bathroom floor, she saw Jesus staring up at her from the cement. "When I looked at the image it sent a shiver down my spine," she told the Birmingham Mail. "I could make out eyes, a nose, mouth, long hair and beard." 

Lest the reader think that Murphy was alone in seeing Jesus near the john, we be remiss not to mention a sighting in Splendora, Texas from 2019. There, Jesus showed up in the pattern of mold on the wall in a ratty bathroom above a bathtub. "He's just watching over us to make sure nothing wrong happens or I get in trouble and go back," Thomas George, who lived in the house but was in prison at the time the image was found, told KTRK.