Giant Hologram Proposed For PA Groundhog Day Festivities

PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA — Tupac Shakur, Elvis Presley and Suzanne Sommers all have been immortalized with a holographic avatar. Why not a weather forecasting rodent?

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals want to provide Punxustawney Phil's annual Feb. 2 Groundhog Day forecast via a massive, state-of-the-art 3D projection of a groundhog - complete with vocal weather predictions - to light up the state at Gobbler's Knob each year.

PETA has sent a letter to Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president Tom Dunkel offering to provide the hologram here if Phil and his family are allowed to retire to an animal sanctuary.

"This update would be sure to captivate crowds, and let’s face it: Phil looks better standing tall and composed in light beams than squirming in a handler’s hands in captivity," PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk wrote in the letter.

Newkirk noted that groundhogs are timid prey animals who, if they’re able to, actively avoid humans. They dislike human smells, fear loud noises, abhor gatherings, and prefer to stay in their burrows. She stated that Phil feels fear and discomfort just as humans do, and he’s not a willing participant in the event.

"A giant 3D hologram would thrill crowds and illuminate the fact that compassion and innovation go hand in hand," Newkirk stated. "Punxsutawney could at last show that genuinely caring for Phil means letting him hibernate, dig, burrow, smell fresh air, and simply live like the wild animal he is in a reputable sanctuary."