The Miracle of the Sun
A huge crowd in rural Portugal said they saw the sun spin, change colour and plunge towards the earth.
What was reported
Three shepherd children in Fátima said a lady had appeared to them several times in 1917, and promised a miracle on 13 October. A crowd of tens of thousands gathered in the rain, including journalists and sceptics.
When the clouds parted, many said the sun turned pale, spun, cast coloured light over the crowd and zigzagged down towards them before returning to its place. Their wet clothes were said to have dried. Others present saw nothing unusual.
Explanations offered
Believers consider it a miracle, and the Catholic Church approved the apparitions in 1930. Scientists suggest the effects came from looking at the sun through thinning cloud, which can cause afterimages and apparent movement, and that expectation shaped what people saw. The sun did not move: no one elsewhere recorded anything.
- When
- 13 October 1917
- Where
- Fátima, Portugal
- Witnesses
- A crowd of tens of thousands
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.