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especially for the conversion of sinners.”’ Hitler was probably none too happy about all of this, especially because he openly considered himself to be the Antichrist. (There are all kinds of stories and rumors that Hitler was a trance medium himself and was in contact with evil entities who advised him and directed many of his genocidal policies.) Lesser miracles have included weeping statues and pictures that seem to fit into the poltergeist category. A plaster Virgin began crying real tears in Syracuse, Sicily, on August 29, 1953, and continued to ‘“‘weep”’ until September 1. Investigators could find no rational cause of the phenome- non. In other cases, pictures and statues have shed human blood. On Sunday, June 18, 1961, four young girls were playing marbles outside of the little village of Garabandal, Spain, when they suddenly saw an “angel.” The girls, Mary Cruz Gonzalez, eleven, Conchita Gonzalez, twelve, Jacinta Gonzalez, twelve, and Mary Loly Mazon, twelve (none of the Gonzalez girls were directly related), said that he appeared to be about nine years old, was dressed in a long, seamless blue robe, had a small face with black eyes, and “fine hands and short fingernails.”” For some reason, he gave the impression of being very strong. This figure was surrounded by a dazzling glow and faded into thin air without saying a weenad word. The excited youngsters ran into the village and told everyone that they had seen an angel. F4tima was about to be repeated all over again. Most of the adults scoffed, but those whose faith was extreme listened and spread the word. An angel had visited Garabandal (a village in the heart of the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain; elevation about 2,000 feet; it’s about 150 miles from Lourdes, France). Two days later the same four children were walking along a path outside the town when suddenly a brilliant white light exploded in front of them, terrifying them and blinding them briefly. (Brilliant flashes of light from an unknown source are frequently reported by contactees and UFO witnesses. There was an epidemic of such flashes in the spring of 1968. Often people reported that these flashes suddenly occurred directly in front of their moving automobiles. Others said that a flash “‘like a flashgun going off’’ burst near them as they stepped outside their homes. These flashes do not seem to be related to the ‘mystery photographers” who frequently turn up and photograph the homes of witnesses.) Soon after these initial experiences, the girls began to go into trances (termed a state of ecstasy by the religionists) during which they would see the Lady. Sometimes these trances would last for hours, and the girls 236 / Operation Trojan Horse