This reminds me of a similar thing that happened near my home, in Clearwater,Florida. A chemical stain appeared on the windows of a modern, glass-and-steel office building. It was vaguely anthropomorphic in shape; a rough head-and-shoulders outline.
But that was enough to have True Believers label it as an image of the Virgin Mary Herself, and within days throngs of people were clogging the parking lot, wailing and kneeling and praying.
The owners of the building had to hire traffic cops to handle the crowds or risk liability. The leasing businesses couldn't get any work done and folded; dozens lost their jobs. The building owners had to sell at a loss. The gas station next door tried to make a killing selling Mary T-shirts but ended up losing their shirts as well.
I drove by today in 40 degree weather; there are still devotees, months later, worshiping the stain in the cold.
I sometimes wonder at the stupidity of Mankind,given examples like this, and the fact that 20% of Americans still like Bush. But then I recall that SOMEBODY has to be on the far left of the bell curve.