John Yuscavage is a man of science, always looking for explanations for life's hows and whys.

But the Mountain Top man is baffled by the events that unfurled before him and others during a recent trip to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He said he saw the sun spin. He watched as it changed colors, too. And he witnessed rosary chains turn to a gold color.

"My question is scientifically - or common sense - how can that be explained? It can't. The sun spinning? That's like an everyday event at Medjugorje. How is science going to explain that? They can't," said Yuscavage, who has a doctorate degree in physical chemistry and has read many books and other published accounts about Medjugorje's mysterious events.

Medjugorje is a place known to many for its miracles. It's said to be the site where apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to six Croatian children in 1981 and continue to appear to a few "visionaries" each month, offering messages of faith, peace and love.

John and his wife, Donna Yuscavage, were among 22 area individuals who visited Medjugorje in May. Since their return, they've been meeting each month and jotting down the miracles they saw.

John Yuscavage, who owns Triangle Pharmacy in Mountaintop with his brother, Joseph, referred to the minutes from the group's first meeting. Three pages of typed notes show accounts of flower petals falling from the sky, rosaries turning color and people being healed of their medical ailments.

"One lady had a lump, and when she came back it was gone," Donna Yuscavage said. Another was pain-free and able to walk without a brace on her leg after the visit, she said.

Donna, too, said she witnessed unexplained events, including a priest who seemed to read her mind and the spinning sun.

"I saw what a lot of people see. The sun starts spinning clockwise. It turned pink and then baby blue, and these things started shooting out of it like rays," she recalled.

John said his experience was similar - and he's bothered that he can't explain what caused it.

"I am looking for facts," he said. "I am looking as a scientist and as a skeptic. The numbers are there. The facts are in the numbers. Millions of rosaries have changed in color. Millions of people have seen the sun spin. Villagers see it. We saw it. In fact, 21 of the 22 people we went with saw it. What I'm saying is the evidence is overwhelming that this is happening."

Arlene Krajewski, Mountain Top, didn't have high expectations for her visit, but secretly hoped she would experience "something" in Medjugorje.

"I experienced the sun spinning," she said, noting it had a blue hue around it the first evening she was there. "It was also pulsating."

Another day, she said it appeared white with a pink glow.

"It didn't hurt my eyes at all. It was amazing," she said. "I got goose bumps."

Krajewski said she has always gone to church on a regular basis, but her experiences in Medjugorje strengthened her faith.

Her husband, Henry Krajewski, also had an extraordinary experience, she said. A Mass was being celebrated inside a Medjugorje church as Henry aimed his camera at the sun. He didn't capture the sun on his camera, but images from the indoor Mass, she explained.

John Yuscavage also saw what the camera had captured and asked Henry what was going on.

"He said, 'We just watched the Mass.' There was a Croatian Mass going on at that time in the church," John remembered.

With all the "supernatural" occurrences, John said he hopes an investigation is done.

"The evidence is overwhelming that this stuff is happening," he said.

According to published reports, the Vatican formed a commission earlier this year to investigate claims that the Blessed Virgin Mary appears in Medjugorje. The Catholic church has not investigated or recognized the sightings, although Medjugorje is visited by pilgrims from all faiths annually.

"What we saw, what we experienced, will be with us for the rest of our lives," John Yuscavage said. "We are a family. Most of us will be going back."

jwhalen@standardspeaker.com