On 13 October 1917, 30,000 to 100,000 people in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima, Portugal claimed to have seen the Miracle of the Sun. These witnesses reported seeing the sun move toward the earth in a zigzag pattern for about ten minutes and that their wet clothes became suddenly dry. The witnesses believed that what they had seen was due to the presence of Our Lady of Fátima and proof that the Blessed Virgin Mary had been appearing to the shepherd children of Fátima who had said that the Virgin Mary would provide a special miracle on the 13th of October “so that all may believe.”

Needless to say many are skeptical about whether a miracle took place and offer natural explanations for the event such as the effect of looking at the sun for too long or a result of atmospheric and weather conditions.

On 13 October 1930he Roman Catholic Church has stated that what happened on that 13th of October in 1917 was worthy of belief. Fr. Stanley L. Jaki, professor of physics at Seton Hall, said that he believes that what happened was a natural event but the fact that it happened on the exact date predicted was a miracle.

There have been similar miracles of the sun at other Marian apparition sites.