Madonna Images Reported In Two States

(CBS/AP)  In the Midwest and in chilly Maine, similar questions are being asked: is it really the Virgin Mary? And if so, did the image appear without aid of a helping human hand?

Images of the Virgin Mary mysteriously appearing are being reported by believers in Moline, Illinois and by a woman nearly 1,200 miles away, in Mexico, Maine.

In Moline, Illinois, near the Iowa border, over 200 people gathered Saturday evening under the Interstate 74 bridge over the Rock River, where some local residents have reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary.

Abraham Handel, 5, was the first person to report seeing the image, pointing it out to his mom, Andrea Handel, according to WQAD-TV.

She says it can't be seen during the day but at night, by the riverside, "she just... illuminates."

"It's just peacefulness that in this day and age, with all the stuff going on in this world, that she's there," Andrea Handel told WQAD.

"There's too much going on in the world and people are losing their faith, and I think that's why she's appearing," said Maria Ruiz, a believer who joined the crowd by the Rock River Saturday night. "She wants them to get their faith back."

Authorities say the crowd was the largest since the reports of sightings began.

Some of the curious brought lawn chairs, binoculars and cameras. Others flipped out their camera phones to take a shot of what they saw.

Many wouldn't go on the record as to whether they saw an image or not.

In Mexico, Maine, Veronica Dennis is glad to go on the record.

She says she found an image of the Virgin Mary on a blackened wall after her house caught fire in January, and is now looking for a place to display the image so people can come see it.

Dennis has since removed the paneling that contains the likeness, and is looking for a place where it can be displayed for public viewing. She says she doesn't want to charge admission, but would like to raise funds for the Mexico fire department relief fund or the Red Cross.

Fire officials have said the image was created by smoke that seeped behind the frame during the fire.