Orac is the nom de blog of a (not so) humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will. (Continued 
Sadly, I haven't seen any good pareidolia stories lately, you know, stories in which someone, usually Jesus, Mary, or the Pope (or sometimes Elvis, who, let's face it, is basically the same thing as Jesus, Mary, or the Pope), shows up as a seeming image on some sort of object or other. It can be a piece of sheet metal, a tree, under an expressway underpass, and even on a dog on his--well, best not to say.
Cats, of course, felt left out in this pareidolia arms race. Consequently, one cat decided it was time to take action, as CNN reports. That's right! It's the Jesus Cat (not to be confused with The Jesus Lizard, a cool punk rock band from way back).
You know, to me it looks more like the Face on Mars. Maybe it's a Martian cat.
Comments
It's good to know the world is in such fine shape that news programs have time to devote to this kind of story.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | July 31, 2008 12:17 AM
Who is dumber, the family or the reporters? This is ridiculous! Although the cats are kind of cute...
Posted by: Ramel | July 31, 2008 12:25 AM
Dammit!!!! I want those 2 minutes and 12 seconds of my life back!!!! UGH!!!
Posted by: Chemgeek | July 31, 2008 12:52 AM
All hail the Jesus Cat!
All hail? Weeelll, Okaayyy...
"Hey, Godzilla, come here a moment, please! I need you."
Points at cat.
"Stomp."
Meo--STOMP
Crickets chirp.
The End.
Posted by: blf | July 31, 2008 1:16 AM
I dunno. If that's Jesus, he's had some major work done since his last photo op on the cheese sandwich. Or was it the rusty sink...
And appearing on a cat? I think Jesus needs to get a better agent.
Posted by: qetzal | July 31, 2008 1:56 AM
Looked more like Chewbacca in a fireman's helmet to me.
Posted by: thalarctos | July 31, 2008 2:14 AM
Looks like the face on Mars to me too. Maybe it's proof all those cartoons were really trying to tell us the truth that Marving the Martian is really out to take over the Earth.
Posted by: Noadi | July 31, 2008 2:21 AM
You know, legend has it that tabby cats were given the distinctive M on their foreheads as a mark from Mohammed, so maybe that fur portrait isn't the prophet we think it is....?
Posted by: orDover | July 31, 2008 3:13 AM
Haven't seen any good pareidolia stories lately? Sheesh.
Click here for Daily Jesus.
Posted by: Mike O'Risal | July 31, 2008 3:42 AM
I see the devil's dark face in the black fur of Jesus Cat's little friend. They should name him Lucifer.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | July 31, 2008 6:55 AM
I'm sorry, I could NOT see the face of Jesus in the fur, no matter how hard I tried. Cute kitty, though.
Posted by: Adrienne | July 31, 2008 7:29 AM
All hail Kriskpy Kreme glazed doughnut stain cat!
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 31, 2008 7:49 AM
Interesting how some of the family members couldn't see the face until the son took a blurry picture of the so called image. Then it just popped out. After that, they were fighting to call the news channels. Fantastic.
Posted by: Bourgeois_Rage | July 31, 2008 8:26 AM
You need a blurry image to see the face on Mars as well.
I hope for the sake of the poor kitty that no one decides to preserve this miracle. The phrase "more than one way to skin a cat" comes to mind.
Posted by: DavidCT | July 31, 2008 9:05 AM
Kitty on the news one week, on Ebay the next...poor kitty.
Posted by: Richard Eis | July 31, 2008 11:27 AM
how fitting it looked like jesus in the shroud since that turned out to be a fake as well.
Posted by: mr_p | July 31, 2008 11:37 AM
Have you been to Goshen? I have (once, that was plenty) and this does not surprise me one bit.
Posted by: Angel | July 31, 2008 11:52 AM
That's not jesus, it's Wolverine! it IS a sign!!
Posted by: Chen | July 31, 2008 12:07 PM
Orac, you're a fan of The Jesus Lizard? I'm kind of surprised.
Posted by: Natalie | July 31, 2008 1:07 PM
P-A-R-A-D-O-L-I-A
If you tilt your head to the right it looks like a giraffe and a motorcycle.
Posted by: k3vin | July 31, 2008 1:13 PM
No, it's "pareidolia."
Posted by: Orac | July 31, 2008 1:17 PM
It looks like a patch of fuzz to me...
Oh wait....it is a patch of fuzz.
And yes, the Jesus Lizard is a great band. So is the Jesus and Mary Chain
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | July 31, 2008 1:58 PM
"Kitty on the news one week, on Ebay the next...poor kitty."
You can't sell live animals on Ebay but maybe a pelt. There's more than one way to....uh....I wonder what they'll charge for the fee line.
Posted by: notmercury | July 31, 2008 3:06 PM
Well, there's hope for kitty yet. The dog with Jesus in its butt fir didn't lose his fur to eBay, at least not yet: http://yoism.reality-movement.org/images/Penn&Teller/DogButtJesus.gif Personally, I think that's a truer image of the late great JC than the kitty fur.
Hey, there was a story recently about a woman who found Jesus in a cheetoh. She calls her find...no, I'm not making this up...."Cheesus".
Posted by: Adrienne | July 31, 2008 3:44 PM
Reminds me of the time Jesus healed the leopards.
Doesn't that woman know Cheetohs never prosper.
Posted by: notmercury | July 31, 2008 3:52 PM
I for one welcome our christ-bearing kitty loverlord.
Posted by: wrpd | July 31, 2008 6:38 PM
JeezuzCat: I'M In uR Blog, Lookin like BEERDEDGuy LulZ
Sorry... I couldn't help it. Err um, the Devil made me do it!
Posted by: DLC | July 31, 2008 7:08 PM
Courtesy of Dave Barry's blog
Past this link into your browser for the jesus cheeto:
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7082667&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1
Posted by: BA | July 31, 2008 8:16 PM
The dog butt jesus was a photoshop job. A great one but fake nonetheless.
Posted by: BA | July 31, 2008 8:18 PM
From the link BA posted:
Cheesus is going to get very, very stale that way. I wonder if he will resurrect out of the box and open the vault doors in protest? (leaving angels behind to explain what happened to those who come looking for him, naturally)
Posted by: Adrienne | July 31, 2008 9:23 PM
The dog butt one was real originally, I think. Its later "incarnations" on the web have been...ahem...enhanced to play up the Jesus-like details.
Posted by: Adrienne | July 31, 2008 9:26 PM
WTF? Why is this crap on CNN? Was it a particularly slow news day?
Posted by: John Marley | August 1, 2008 12:28 AM
It only looks like some of Jesus' younger pictures, before he started trimming his beard and using conditioner. Who I really think this is, is Jesus' stunt double Marius. A lot of people say you can't tell them apart from most angles. The reason I think it's him is the kitten's forehead. See the big "M" there?
P.S. how do people even think they know what Jesus looked like?
Posted by: zy | August 3, 2008 3:33 AM