Michael Jackson image appears in tree stump

July 7, 1:39 PMOffbeat News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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'Man in the Mirror' now Man in the Birch Tree Stump

The image of Michael Jackson has mysteriously appeared on the stump of a birch tree in Stockton, CA, according to the tree's owner.

Felix Garcia was tending plants recently when he noticed the visage. Since then neighbors and strangers have made a short pilgrimage to his tree.

Michael Joseph Jackson, 50, the "King of Pop," died June 25 of a heart attack, though some say turbulence in life during his last years caused him to die of a broken heart.

Some say the image on Garcia's birch tree looks less like Jackson himself, but ironically, more like Jackson in the role of the tortured Scarecrow in "The Wiz," the 1978 musical stage show and movie adaptation of the Wizard of Oz.

No one is sure why the image appeared in the stump, but in life, and now in death, Jackson's followers often exhibit a spiritual attraction to a man some say was the world's hottest super star, right up there with the "Son of God."

Jackson memorial at Los Angeles, CA Staples Center was one of the most moving events in memory -- for man or spirit.

A visitor to Garcia's birch tree told CNN "To Stockton, Michael Jackson meant more to us than maybe Jesus did to some people? I think they are both about equal. They are both icons."

Jackson visited Stockton 20 years ago following the Cleveland School massacre a fatal shooting at an elementary school that left five kids and a teacher dead and 29 kids wounded.

Apparently, according to Garcia, the pop idol continues to work Michael Magic because the image has brought the neighborhood closer together by attracting neighbors and giving them an opportunity to better know each other.

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