For decades, The Simpsons have left fans worldwide with their hair standing up on the back of their necks, with the writers seemingly able to predict the future.
The show, which follows Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, has seen many old episodes hit headlines after the stories came true in real life years later.
From the recent coronavirus outbreak seeing Tom Hanks falling ill with COVID-19, to terror attacks, Donald Trump becoming president and celeb deaths, it’s no wonder some fans believe the writers are fortune tellers.
But what are the creepiest predictions which have come true? Daily Star Online has gathered them up for you.
Coronavirus
(Image: 20th Century Fox.)
Most recently, Simpson fans have claimed that the much loved series “predicted” coronavirus back in an episode, which aired in 1993.
The episode, from season four called Marge in Chains, depicts a global pandemic where people are instructed to self-isolate.
In true Simpson style, the news is announced by news anchor Kent Brockman who states he is having to report the news from his home due to being on lockdown.
He speaks of the “Osaka Flu” which has come from Japan and goes on to show a Japanese factory worker coughing into a package, which is then sent to the America.
Of course, Springfield is then hit by the pandemic and most of the residents fall ill as others stay in their homes.
The coronavirus however originated from Wuhan, China, 2000km away from the the Japanese city of Osaka.
Tom Hanks falling ill with coronavirus
(Image: 20th Century Fox.)
While on of its weaker predictions, fans have said Tom Hanks falling ill with COVID-19 and having to self-isolate was “predicted” during The Simpsons movie which he featured in.
In the film, released in 2007, the 63-year-old actor advertised a “new Grand Canyon” and claimed the US government has lost its credibility.
He adds: “This is Tom Hanks saying if you see me in person, please, please leave me be.”
The film follows Homer after he irresponsibly pollutes the lake in Springfield after the town has cleaned it up, causing the Environmental Protection Agency to imprison the town under a giant dome.
Fans claimed Tom’s appearance in the movie, which saw the town be in self-isolated was a “prediction”, after he was hospitalised with coronavirus alongside his wife Rita Wilson.
The horsemeat scandal
(Image: 20th Century Fox.)
In an episode released in 1994, Lunch-lady Doris used “assorted horse parts” to make lunch for students at Springfield Elementary.
Nine years later in 2013, the globe was rocked by the horse-meat scandal.
The 2013 horse meat scandal was a food industry scandal in parts of Europe in which foods advertised as containing beef were found to contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat – as much as 100% of the meat content in some cases.
The three-eyed fish
In a 1990 episode, Bart catches a three-eyed fish in the river by the power plant and names him Binky.
The discovery made headlines in Springfield, but it wasn’t until a decade later that this creepy episode became “real”.
Ten years later, a three-eyed fish was discovered in a reservoir in Argentina.
Many fans of the animated series found this “prediction” particularly eery due to the area where the fish was found in real life.
Strangely, the reservoir where the three-eyed fish was caught was fed water from a nuclear power plant…
Donald Trump becoming President of the USA
(Image: 20th Century Fox.)
In season 11, episode 17 called Bart to the Future, fans believe the animated series “predicted” Donald Trump becoming President of the USA.
In the episode, it takes a peak into the future and Lisa has become president of the United States.
During a cabinet meeting, she says: “We inherited quite the budget crunch from President Trump.”
It initially was a reference to Trump attempting a run as a Reform Party candidate.
But the words gained much more validity when Trump was elected president in 2016.
The week after the election, the recurring chalkboard gag even read, “Being right sucks.”
Siegfried and Roy tiger attack
One of the most spooky “predictions” was in season five episode 10, when Mr Burns decided to build a casino in Springfield, with Vegas references abounding.
One came from Gunter and Ernst, a clear Siegfried and Roy analog whose act ends in tragedy when their white tiger Anastasia attacks them.
Eerily, 10 years after the episode aired Roy Horn was attacked by one of his white tigers, he lived and sustained injuries.
… and even 9/11
Conspiracy theorists and fans have really gone to town on this “prediction” with many being torn over it.
In the episode New York City Against Homer, Lisa holds up a magazine with the word New York accompanied by a number nine against a silhouette of the World Trade Centre – which makes the number 11.
The design, it is claimed, is a direct reference to 9/11.
The episode was first aired in September 1997 – a full four years before the terrorist atrocities in the Big Apple.
