Here’s a definite case of pareidolia but could it be more than that? Lismore, Australia’s Marion Dawson would tell you yes.

Apparently a photo of a cloud taken on January 9th depicts the face of Marion’s brother Gerry. You might be saying: OK yea, that’s cool, the cloud looks like the guy, so what? Well, that’s not the end of the story.

Read on to discover the twist of fate that makes this such an interesting narrative:

Lismore resident Marion Dawson says a photo of clouds that bear a remarkable resemblance to her late brother Gerry Wells gives her “goosebumps”.

The photo was taken on January 9 at Ocean Shores, on NSW’s far north cost, at the same time as Mr Wells was flying overhead from Brisbane to Sydney to visit family and friends, the Northern Star reports.

Mr Wells, 62, died from a heart attack only a few days later on January 24.

Mr Wells, who lived in Brisbane, never saw the photo, which was taken by a former editor of the Northern Star, Russell Eldridge, and published in the paper on January 11.

It was only after Mr Wells passed away that a friend of his son saw the photo on the internet.

The family used the cloud photo in a leaflet handed out to people at his funeral.

Ms Dawson said they all got goosebumps when they saw the similarity.

She said she did not believe it was a coincidence that Mr Wells was flying to Sydney to catch up with family and friends while the photo was being taken below and that he still managed to get home to say goodbye to his wife one last time.

“I truly believe somebody greater than us knew this was about to happen,” she said.

While many will dismiss this as a family in mourning seeing something that’s just coincidental, I think it’s important to keep an open mind about it.

Could this actually be a sign or harbinger of death? We could argue that since none of the family saw the photo until after Gerry died, therefore it’s not a harbinger or warning. This begs the question of timing. Were they supposed to see it before his death? Or after, as they did?

Are we dealing with loved ones or God giving us a sign? In the case of Gerry, it was almost as if the clouds were saying Gerry is at peace now. Frankly, I believe it gave the entire family a boost and helped with the grieving process, so it’s definitely a good thing no matter the logistics.

Maybe events like this happen quite often but people just miss them. I suppose you could lump this into the “I saw grandpa sitting in my rocker the night he died” or “Dad came to visit me after I came home from the funeral”, but what if there’s something else going on here?

So, was this “Gerry cloud” for the benefit of the family or just as I said, a coincidence? Does anyone else have a story like this to tell? Please, by all means, go ahead with it.

Thanks to 9 News for the tip.

More to see:

Awesome Pareidolia Video
Post Office Ghost: Pareidolia In The Clouds
Steam Of Souls