By Olin Buchanan

Over time Texas A&M’s Bonfire tradition came to incorporate, among other things, Aggies’ symbolic burning desire to beat Texas in football.

Even though the Aggies and Longhorns no longer play and Bonfire is no longer an “official” A&M tradition, that desire still appears to burn.

Well, it did at the most recent Student Bonfire, in which an image of a football player can be seen within the image of the blaze.

You know the Bonfire story. Twelve Aggies died when the massive stack of logs collapsed. A monument — actually 12 monuments — now stands on the A&M polo grounds where the tragedy occurred. A few days later the Aggies posted an emotional 20-16 upset victory over fifth-ranked Texas, a win that wasn’t secure until Brian Gamble recovered Major Applewhite’s fumble in the final seconds.

In response to the tragedy Bonfire was discontinued as an “official” Texas A&M tradition.

Yet, students still gather to construct a smaller-scale off-campus Bonfire in an attempt to keep at least some part of the tradition alive.

The off-campus Bonfire was held off Taber Road in Bryan on January 18. Alyson Mullins, an 18-year-old freshman from Harker Heights who’s pursuing a degree in telecommunications, decided to attend.

Her mother, Cheryl, and father Mike, a football coach formerly at A&M Consolidated and currently at Navasota, are Aggies. They had frequently attended Bonfire. They told Alyson stories about what a fun and moving event it was.

She wanted to experience it herself, even if it was a smaller version.

“They always talked how cool it was to go to Bonfire before the Texas game and how much of a tradition it was,” Alyson said. “I always wished I could experience it. It was a last minute decision for me and my friends.”

At some point in the evening during the yells and songs, Alyson took out her iPhone 5 and began taking pictures of the raging fire.

“It was hard to take a photo because (the fire) was so hot on my face,” she said. “I had to take it really quick and turn around.”

After a while she randomly selected one of the photos and e-mailed it to family members.

Her mother detected several images within the fire on the photo, so she had it enlarged. That blown up photo clearly shows the image of a football player as well as the No. 25.

The 1999 Bonfire was scheduled for Nov. 25.

“When I look on my camera roll there is photo after photo after photo of the Bonfire,” she said. “I picked that one out and sent it to my family. It was my mom that pointed it out. I didn’t notice anything at all.”
 
Cheryl Mullins sees other images in the fire: an angel, a man with his arm around a child, faces … but the football player and number are easy to decipher.

When Alyson was shown the images in the enlarged photo she was stunned.

“I’m still shocked,” she said. “The thing that shocks me the most is the fact there’s the number ‘25’ and that’s the day Bonfire was supposed to happen,” she said. “You see things like this all the time online. It’s crazy to think I took a picture that has these hidden images in it. I say, ‘Is that really there or are my eyes tricking me?’”

Of course, there will be skeptics and cynics who will roll their eyes. If any tricking is being done, they will say, it’s by those who will accuse her or someone of photoshopping the picture to add in those images.

Alyson said she would understand why people might think that.

“It does look extremely photoshopped,” she said. “Most people I’ve shown it to say, ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’ I’m sure once other people see it some will say that’s photoshopped.”

Still, she insists that isn’t the case.

“When I go through my camera roll and it’s literally Bonfire picture after Bonfire picture,” she said. “It would be impossible for me to insert a (doctored) picture in the middle of them.”

Still, some will question the validity of the photo. Some will question whether it was doctored. Some will question Alyson’s intentions.

But there shouldn’t be any question that Aggies’ burning desire to beat Texas remains.

Now, it’s just done in recruiting and in national polls.