STRANGE SIGHTINGS

Are apparitions a possibility?
Excerpts from an Orthodox Lutheran website:
While most Protestants reject the possibility of Marian apparitions outright, it must be remembered that Holy Scripture is replete with visions granted by God to His followers and servants. In the Old Testament we have many apparitions such as:

the vision of Abram during which his covenant with God is established (Gen. 15)
Jacob's dream of the stairway to heaven and angels walking up and down it (Gen. 28)
Daniel's vision in which God explains Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Dan. 2)
the apocalyptic visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel
In the New Testament, we read of many apparitions of angels. There is of course the angel Gabriel making the Annunciation to Mary concerning the birth of Christ, as well as the vision to Zechariah foretelling the birth of John the Baptist. There is a vision of "a multitude of the heavenly host" announcing the birth of Our Lord to the shepherds and apparitions of angels at Jesus' tomb. Jesus Himself has visions of angels after the temptation in the wilderness and in the Garden of Gethsemane, and has a vision of the Holy Spirit at His baptism.

It might be argued that God communicated with mankind via angels and apparitions prior to Christ's death, but since His Son has appeared on earth, lived among us, taught us all things, and died for our salvation, there is no longer any need for such communications. Yet Biblical apparitions did not cease with Christ's Ascension. The Apocalypse of John is the best known post-Ascension apparition. There are many in the Book of Acts alone, including:

the vision of Ananias (Acts 9)
the vision of Cornelius (Acts 10)
the vision of St. Peter (Acts 10-11)
the vision of St. Paul (Acts 16, 19)
St. Paul himself tells in his second letter to the Corinthians of "visions and revelations of the Lord" he himself experienced (2 Cor. 12: 1). The most notable and most transforming was of course a vision of the Lord Himself on the Road to Damascus. Recall that St. Paul's encounter with the risen Lord is quite unlike that of the Apostles in Galilee (Matt. 28; John 21) or Jerusalem (Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). To the Apostles, Christ appears as a normal person, so much so that he at times goes unrecognized (e.g. Luke 24, John 20). Before St. Paul, however, it is quite different. On the road to Damascus, St. Paul sees a blinding light and hears the voice of the Lord. St. Luke, the author of Acts, is unclear as to whether St. Paul's companions could hear the voice but not see the light (Acts 9) or instead see the light but not hear the voice (Acts 23, 26). What is clear, however, is that the traveling companions do not have the same experience as does St. Paul. It was not a 'normal' physical encounter, but rather a "heavenly vision" (Acts 26: 19) of the Lord, in St. Paul's own words a "revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1: 12).