On July 13, the Lady promised the children, “In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.” Then the Virgin showed and told the children a secret−what is today known as the “Great Secret” of Fatima, which has three distinct parts called the First Secret, the Second Secret, and the Third Secret. For the growing crowd of people who came to see the child visionaries, many (but not all) would also see and hear the unexpected.
1. Most of the witnesses who were closest to the spot where the Lady appeared heard a far-away, indescribable sound, perceived only in response to Lucia’s words.
2. The atmosphere changed. As one witness stated, “The luminosity of the sky noticeably decreased, as during an eclipse, the whole time the ecstasy of the children lasted,” and stars were seen in the midday sky.
3. At the height of a Portuguese summer, the very hot temperature suddenly dropped to a pleasant degree, accompanied by “a cool fresh breeze.”
4. The color of the atmosphere became yellow as gold.
5. During the Vision, a cloud again appeared and rested on the holmoak tree−but this time it gently spilled down and extended around the children.
6. A “large clap of thunder” was heard just seconds before the eldest child, Lucia, suddenly jumped up from her kneeling position, exclaiming, “There she goes! There she goes!” as the Lady departed. The thunder shook the ground, so that a small arch placed by the apparition site “trembled as if in an earthquake.”