In 1917, three Portuguese shepherd children had claimed to see a prophecy that the Virgin Mary (referred to as Our Lady of Fátima), would appear and perform miracles on Sunday 13 October in 1917. Somewhere between 30,000 to 100,000 had gathered near Fatima town to watch extraordinary solar activity that, according to testimonies, lasted around 10 minutes. People reported having seen the Sun appearing to "dance" in the sky or emit multicolored light and strange, bright colors. The strange event was officially declared a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church in 1930.