(Image source: Phoenix New Times)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

So -- there’s apparently a reason why so many people have claimed to see Jesus on their toast...
At least, according to researchers from Northwestern University.

MSNBC reports, “...researchers rounded up 10 volunteers who were willing to lie in a brain scanner while looking at a bunch of squiggles. The study volunteers were asked to rate the squiggles on a scale of 1 to 5 as being meaningful, or not, as the images flashed by.”

What they found was, whenever one went by for the second time, the visual cortex of the brain was non-reactive -- meaning -- say researchers -- once an image is considered meaningful, the brain doesn’t analyze it anymore.

Food items imprinted with famous faces have appeared all over online auctions.

In 2004, a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that a woman said had the Virgin Mary’s image on it -- sold on eBay for $28,000.

Others have claimed to see Jesus in their toast, or in a slice of three-cheese pizza, or in the side of a cliff.

In fact, there’s a whole website, grilledcheesejesus.com, dedicated to compiling immaculate impressions.

Of course, some people really DO see Jesus in their toast, and NBC reports, a Vermont man is making a living out of it.

“It is called the Jesus toaster that burns the image of Jesus and other religious symbols into your slice. According to the creator, he's selling 50 to 100 of these things a day.”

It’s not the first of its kind. There’s already a Star Wars-themed toaster that burns Darth Vader’s image on the toast. But when it comes to religious images, KXAS talked to a parish priest who says, he’s not so sure.

REPORTER: “Would you eat toast with Jesus’s face on it?”
PRIEST: “I don't think I would.”
REPORTER: “Parish Priest Pat Foreman hopes customers remember the image is sacred for a lot of Christians, and they treat its reverence not as a joke. 's acknowledges, it could inspire extra morning prayers.”
PRIEST: “We have people that eat alone during the day and maybe feel, that might be a way for them to feel more visually connected to Jesus.”