Patrick T. Fallon / Getty Images / Disney / Fox
- Richard Branson boarded the first fully crewed test of the company's space plane, Virgin Galatic, earlier this week.
- Fans pointed out that an episode of "The Simpsons" in 2014 showed Branson floating in a spaceship.
- Branson had expressed his intentions to go into space before the episode had come out.
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"The Simpsons" has once again predicted the future.
Fans noticed that a scene in a 2014 episode bore a startling resemblance to reality after Sir Richard Branson joined the first fully crewed test of the company's space plane, Virgin Galatic, earlier this week.
In the 2014 scene, viewers see an animated version of Branson floating in zero gravity onboard a spaceship, which fans compared to a near mirror image of him doing so in real life.
One person wrote: "How can 'The Simpsons' show predict every damn thing?"
-Aditya Kondawar (@aditya_kondawar) July 12, 2021
Branson founded Virgin Galatic in 2004 for the purpose of opening up space flights to tourists, hence, another user wrote: "So the show wasn't exactly being Nostradamus here."
-D. Stamos/Helodriver (@SpacecoastPix) July 13, 2021
The predicted scene comes from one of four appearances Branson has in the animated sitcom. This particular scene comes from the 15th episode of season 25 titled "The War of Art." In the episode, there is an auction to buy a painting that ends up being a forgery.
When Lisa Simpson (voiced by Yeardley Smith) confronts the forger, Klaus Ziegler (voiced by Max Von Sydow) he explains why he thinks his forgery is acceptable because it brings "pleasure" to people. During his speech, there are multiple shots of people admiring art. This includes one where Branson is floating in space with a painting.
While this may not be its most prescient of all time, "The Simpsons" has a solid track record of forecasting future events. The most famous example was Donald Trump becoming the president of the United States.