Nov 252009
 

When my house is dark except for one light in the living room, and the curtains are open on a window above my kitchen sink, and that one light (an adjustable overhead lamp) is positioned *just* right, a fish appears on my wall:

dsc_6839a.jpg

This is no miracle. It’s simple optics… the kitchen window is bowed outwards, leaving a concave reflective surface, which turns the point-source light from the lamp into a series of arcs. Easy enough to figure out. Still, I can’t help notice the similarity to a certain religious symbol. And religious symbols appearing unbidden from apparently random sources is the sort of thing that makes you think.

Now, here’s what I think. I’ve seen grilled cheese sammiches with the vague likeness of someone or other sell for big money on online auctions. Clearly though, I can’t really sell a reflection at an auction. And I don’t want a bunch of strangers tramping through my place scaring my cats. So how do I get some money out of this apparition? After all, that seems to be what such apparitions are for.

 Posted by at 5:48 pm

  7 Responses to “The fish on my wall”

  1. Can you recreate it with compact table mounted device?

    1) design
    2) build
    3)
    4) profit!

  2. Hmm. I’d imagine so… a flashlight, a concave reflector, a “shield” to make sure the arcs get cut off in the right places and a bracket to hold it all together.

    Obviously the flashlight would have to be both really bright *and* have a single small point source, not a mess of LED’s. Probably something like a Surefire tactical light. Pricey.

  3. Just sell tickets . . church groups, bus tours, etc. You could put up giant signs on I-80 a la Wall Drug. Just make sure you have lots of parking for RVs (not the Avco kind, the Winnebago kind).

  4. Cool pic.

  5. Got to agree with George! Cha-chink! Imagine all the cat related goodies you could buy. Oh, and pay bills too, I guess.

  6. Everyone else sees a Christian fish; I see a Leptocephalus eel larva:
    http://www.terrapub.co.jp/onlinemonographs/absm/html/02/figs/0201/g0801_14.jpg

  7. I’ve been looking at this for a month now. It seemed to me from the start that there’s potential here. Having them walk through your house is totally unacceptable. I’m sure we can find a Biblical reference to privacy.

    Perhaps the answer is post cards. Themed cards. One side has this image on it, and the other side is the usual post card but includes a relevant bit of Scripture.

    And then posters. Full-sized 24×36 posters. With a line from Scripture.

    Don’t think about an autographed image, though. I understand there were problems when a church in Florida was selling autographed photos of Jesus.

    Yes, I’m serious. Have you seen the Christian bookstores?

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.