Science Fiction or Science Fact? 65but it wasn't. But this time, we'll rewrite it for the
144,000 people in the world who are ready to hear and
understand it."
"I don't understand. Why 144,000 people?"
"That's the number written in the Bible. We'll go into
more detail about the significance of this number later."
"What does the Lady of Fatima have to do with what is
happening now?"
"Good question. These Madonnas, who have ap
peared around the world, are basically the same per
son-the Virgin Mary, who descended to earth to talk to
chosen, humble people. In Mexico, this virgin is called
'Our Lady of Guadalupe.' In PortugaL she is called 'Our
Lady of Fatima/ in France, 'Our Lady of Lourdes.'
Always, this lady spoke about peace, love, and asked for
prayers to save the world and humanity, correct?"
"I guess so."
"Have you ever seen any representations of the Lady
of Guadalupe ?"
''I'm not sure. Doesn't she have something like rays of
light all around her?"
"Yes, Charles. The Lady of Guadalupe is always
shown with a background of multicolored rays. This fits
the description given by the eyewitness, a man na med
Juan Diego, who saw the apparition in Mexico.
"Now, think for just a minute. Couldn't those rays of
radiant color have been the aura of some super human
being from outer space ?"
"How the heck would I know?" For some reason
unknown to me, I was feeling angry.
Rama continued, as if she hadn't noticed my response.
"In the Fatima incident, there were many eye-wit
nesses on the day of the last apparition. They all say the
Lady was surrounded by magnificent ra ys of light and
that she shone brighter than the sun. Now, I have
something I want you to look at closely."
She walked toward s her canvas bag, taking out a long,