John Haney may become the next rock star. While scanning his extensive rock collection recently, he discovered a real thriller.
There he was, the surgically – and racially – altered King of Pop himself, on one side of a thin rock, stringy, jet-black hair waving in the wind.
“I showed it to everyone,” the Denver rock salesman said. “I wanted to make sure I’m not crazy or loony. I know this looks just like Michael Jackson. You know, these are one of those neat things you don’t see frequently.”
And what a weird time to find it: during jury deliberations in the pop star’s molestation trial.
The rock is a Montana moss agate, Haney said. He found the rock a year ago during a rock-hunting trip in Montana along the Yellowstone River.
Last week, after sawing the rocks into thin slabs and bagging them, he noticed the image.
“I looked at it, and I said, ‘Boy, this thing really looks like Michael Jackson,” he said. “It has the hair, the eyes – everything.”
Haney, the 57-year-old son of a petroleum engineer and the grandson of a rock collector, said he has been collecting rocks since he was old enough to wear pants with pockets.
His yard has mounds of rare rocks, big and small, too many to count, he said. A giant rock map hangs above his bed.
“It’s a hobby that’s gotten out of control,” he said.
In all his years of collecting rocks, he said he has never seen anything that looks this close to a person.
“I’ve seen the potato chips on TV that look like (Richard) Nixon and the walls that look like the Virgin Mary, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
He hasn’t decided what he wants to do with the rock yet, but his friends have a few ideas.
“The minute I saw it, I said, ‘Gee, John, you might have a real moneymaker there,”‘ said Barney Wifehart, 49, who has a rock garden in his yard and was one of the first to see the rock.
“I know if they can sell cheese sandwiches (with an image of the Virgin Mary) on eBay, I know this will really sell.”
“I would say, sell it to the highest bidder,” said Mona Cordero, 49, who also has seen the rock. “But that’s because I’m broke right now.”
Cordero, a rock collector and a Jackson fan, said she didn’t have to look twice to determine the image mirrored the popular performer.
“I’ve seen him in concert twice, but that was the first time I was able to actually hold him in my hand,” Cordero said. “It’s wild. I was totally astounded.”
Staff writer Daarel Burnette II can be reached at 303-820-1201 or dburnette@denverpost.com.
