Tree outside Rochester business getting a lot of attention

WHEC-TV

A tree outside the Hickey Freeman factory on North Clinton Avenue is getting a lot of attention because some say they see the image of Jesus in the bark and bare trunk.

Jim Holtz says he made the discovery early Monday morning. “I always look over in this direction and I saw the tree and I said am I seeing things. Then I came over to see if anybody had spray painted the tree. They didn't.”

Holtz was back Wednesday with camera in hand. So were scores of others who'd heard about this phenomenon.

People stopped their cars to stare, others walking by couldn't help but study the tree.

People say the face of jesus appears to be looking downward. Alex luzu can't believe it.

“It’s amazing. It looks like the same thing I saw in Florida. Cause in Florida...Tampa I seen the same thing. It’s real.”

So what does it mean? Why would the face of Jesus appear on a silver maple tree in front of the Hickey Freeman factory? Some believe it's a message. Deborah Lewis believes she can interpret the message. “I believe it's a meaning in the sense that...you can't see Jesus, but in the sense that its showing that I am real...I'm coming back soon which is all known...He will be back.”

Theresa west believes it points to hickey-freeman's religious roots. She knows Jeremiah Hickey who ran the company for many decades. “I do think that he was one of the most religious men I have ever met.”

But not everyone is convinced this is a divine sign. Daily Messenger newspaper photographer Vasiliy Baziuk had to look at the face for 15 minutes before identifying the features many say belong to Jesus. “It looks like a face...but I don't know how real it is.”

But Jim Holtz, the man who started it all, has no doubts. “I believe in God and don't go to church too much...but that's definitely the face of Jesus Christ to me.”

This isn’t the first time people have claimed to see religious figures. There have been citing of the Virgin Mary. A 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich bearing the likeness of the Virgin Mary sold on Ebay last year for $28,00.00.