It’s a well-worn joke among fans of the long-running animated TV show The Simpsons that the series has a knack for predicting the future. The truth of these claims is often a bit tongue-in-cheek, but occasionally, something happens that gives even the most sceptical viewer pause. The recent submarine disaster is one such case.
17 years ago, in 2006, an episode of The Simpsons aired that has now come back to haunt us. The episode, Homer’s Paternity Coot, featured Homer Simpson and his long-lost father, Mason Fairbanks, going on an underwater treasure hunt. The pair find a sunken ship loaded with treasure, but in the process, their submersible gets stuck and starts flashing a ‘low oxygen’ warning light. Homer then descends into a coma, awakening three days later.
This is eerily reminiscent of the recent OceanGate submersible disaster. The sub, on an expedition to explore the ruins of the Titanic, tragically suffered what appears to have been a catastrophic implosion, killing all five people on board.
On TikTok, users have been expressing their shock, disbelief, and even humour about the strange coincidence. “They should end the Simpsons who knows what will be predicted next!!,” one fan commented, while another was a little more cynical saying, “this is a stretch.”
@funytowatch Another crazy Simpsons Prediction from 2006. They predicted the missing submarine from 2023 🤯🤯🤯 #simpsons #submarine #titanic #missing #oxygen #lowoxygen #news #breakingnews #crazy #prediction #simpaon #fy #viral ♬ original sound – FunToWatch
In a twist of irony, Simpsons veteran writer-producer Mike Reiss had a personal connection with the Titanic. Last July, he and his wife paid $100,000 to descend 13,000 feet to the Titanic’s wreckage site, a fact that’s only adding to the sense of uncanny premonition surrounding this event.
So, was this another instance of The Simpsons foreseeing the future, or is it just an eerie coincidence? You’ll have to decide for yourself. As for us, we’ll be keeping an eye on future episodes, just in case.
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