The phenomenon was seen by two Muslim bus mechanics, who claimed to witness a woman dressed in white on the roof of Saint Mary's Coptic Church.

According to Coptic tradition, Zeitoun is near one of the locations where the Holy Family stayed during their flight into Egypt.

[3] Soon afterward, the Ministry of Tourism also issued a validation of the sightings, and began printing pamphlets.

No device was found within a radius of fifteen miles capable of projecting the image, and many photos were taken of the alleged apparition by independent photographers.

With no alternative explanation and approval from religious and political officials, the Egyptian government accepted the apparitions as true.

[4] Christian author Francis Johnston claims the apparitions were seen by a total of millions of people.

[6] The only secular, English-language account of the events was provided by Cynthia Nelson, a professor of anthropology at the American University in Cairo.

The appearances happened during a period of crisis in Egyptian history and echoed "a widespread feeling that the defeat of Egypt in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war was the result of having abandoned faith in favor of human-made ideas and belief systems".

[11][12] In Cynthia Nelson's report, she noted that many photos and pictures of the apparition were being sold in the marketplace, which could add a financial incentive for forgery.