A resurfaced 'Simpsons' episode from 2006 has striking similarities to the Titanic submersible tragedy.
Did The Simpsons "predict" the OceanGate Titanic submersible tragedy?
The animated series has been surprisingly prophetic when it comes to past historical events, from the global pandemic and "invasion" of murder hornets to the election of President Donald Trump and Lady Gaga's high-flying Super Bowl performance. It appears the show may have also "predicted" the disappearance of the OceanGate submersible, which lost contact Sunday while descending to the site of the Titanic wreckage with five on board.
Amid news of the OceanGate tragedy, a 2006 episode of The Simpsons, titled "Homer's Paternity Coot," resurfaced on social media, presenting striking similarities to current events. In the episode, Homer Simpson embarks on a deep-sea expedition to search for long-lost treasure with his biological father in tiny submersibles. After searching for a while, they come across an abandoned ship site that's filled with treasure.
But soon, things get hairy for the duo as oxygen levels start to be depleted after Homer accidentally gets his submersible partially stuck on a coral reef after losing his father. Homer begins to panic before he falls into a coma, only to wake up days later surrounded by family members.
Watch the clip below.
Interestingly, Simpsons writer Mike Reiss was a passenger in the OceanGate submersible last July, descending 13,000 feet to visit the site of the Titanic.
“People talk about the excitement, the thrills, and ‘Were you scared?'” Reiss said in an interview with the New York Post. “And it’s like, 'I fell asleep.'”
Prior to embarking on the journey, Reiss said he signed a waiver that he alleged mentioned death three times. He shared that he paid more than $100,000 for a seat on the submersible.
“Death is always lurking, it’s always in the back of your mind,” he said of his experience. “Before you even get on the boat, there’s a long, long waiver that mentions death three times on page one.”
ET spoke with the Simpsons team back in May 2020 about the show's continuous predictive nature of pop culture and historical events.
"We’ve got quite a track record, which is impressive," Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart Simpson, acknowledged at the time.
Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, joked it was all a matter of time, explaining, "If you’ve been on for three decades, probably you’re going to hit it once in a while."
"What people are telling us now is, 'Start predicting some good things!'" showrunner Al Jean said. "Because these have been too negative."
On Sunday, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet embarked on what was supposed to be a 10-hour journey in the 21-foot submersible that would take them to the site of the Titanic.
One hour and 45 minutes into the journey, the ship lost contact, leading North American and Canadian agencies to work together on a search and rescue mission. On Thursday, Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the U.S. Coast Guard leading the search, announced that an ROV -- or a remote-operated vehicle -- found "five major pieces of debris" consistent with the "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber." He added that the vessel was found 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. The nose cone was among the five major pieces of debris found.
Mauger said that, upon this determination, the Coast Guard immediately notified the families and he offered his "deepest condolences."
In a statement to ET on Thursday, OceanGate Expeditions said, "We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost."
"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission," the statement continued. "We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families. This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea. We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."
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