“Always an indirect prediction”: The Simpsons Acid Rain episode goes viral in wake of Ohio chemical cloud claim 

On February 3, 2023, Ohio witnessed a terrifying train derailment in East Palestine, a town located along the Ohio and Pennsylvania border. The train carrying hazardous materials was heading to Madison, Illinois, from Conway, Pennsylvania, and derailed 50 out of 150 train cars.

A massive fire erupted from the derailed cars, but no injuries or deaths were reported. However, people residing within a one-mile radius of the derailment were evacuated as crews released toxic chemicals from five derailed tanker cars to prevent an explosion.

One of the most harmful chemicals released from the train was vinyl chloride, which is used to make PVC, a material required in plastic manufacturing. The trains were also carrying another chemical used in plastic production called butyl acrylate.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later revealed other unreported chemicals called ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether were also released in the derailment.

The EPA wrote a letter to Norfolk Southern and said at least five chemicals from the rail cars were “derailed, breached and/or on fire” in Ohio. As per The Guardian, officials made small holes in the train cars before releasing the chemicals into pits that were lit on fire.

Photos from the chemical release showed huge clouds of black smoke accumulating across the sky over homes. A particular image showing a toxic chemical cloud in Ohio went viral on social media, but the authenticity of the picture remained unverified.

As the photo continued to make the rounds online, East Palestine residents began expressing fears over a possible acid rain due to the release of chemicals in the air. Meanwhile, the Acid Rain episode from The Simpsons also went viral on social media.

Netizens took to Twitter to connect the episode to the alleged Ohio chemical cloud and claimed that the acid rain shown in the episode was another indirect prediction of the current future.

The acid rain was featured in the seventh episode of the thirteenth season of The Simpsons titled “A Brawl in the Family.” The phenomenon in the episode took place as a result of extreme pollution after the Republican Party of Springfield made caring for the environment a felony offense.

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Social media users connect Ohio train derailment to The Simpsons predictions

The release of harmful chemicals in the air following the Ohio train derailment prompted a chemical cloud claim and sparked fears of possible acid rain over the town of East Palestine.

Amid the ongoing natural crisis, an episode from The Simpsons showing acid rainfall as a result of extreme environmental pollution went viral online. Several social media users took to Twitter to share that the current situation in Ohio reminded them of The Simpsons.

Social media users also took to YouTube to share their theories about The Simpsons acid rain episode and the situation in Ohio:

While residents evacuated from the derailment area were allowed to return home last week, fears about the presence of harmful chemicals in the air have continued to grow.

Although officers investigating the area of the train derailment deemed the air and water samples as “safe,” residents reported consistent concerns over the effects of the chemicals on the air, water, and soil.

According to The Guardian, authorities were still researching the potential long-term environmental impact of the train derailment.

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Is the image of the Ohio chemical cloud real?

Image of a black chemical cloud went viral following East Palestine train derailment (Image via @/m_meowzers/Twitter)

A photo from the view of an airplane flying in the sky and showing an alleged black chemical cloud of smoke from the Ohio derailment recently went viral on social media.

Fact-checking site Snopes reported that the photo was initially shared by a Reddit user on February 14 with a caption that read:

“Passenger photo while plane flew near East Palestine, Ohio, chemical fire after train derailed.”

Reddit Post (1/2) (Image via Reddit)

The post reportedly garnered over 142,000 points and took the Reddit front page by storm, becoming one of the most popular posts of the day. Snopes reportedly analyzed the image with caution, unverified and fake photos following disasters and natural calamities often circulated on the internet.

The site initially marked the photo as “unproven” and added that while there was a possibility of the photo being real, more data was required to confirm its authenticity. However, they later changed the rating of the image to “true” after being provided with new evidence.

The Ohio train derailment certainly led to an accumulation of massive amounts of smoke in the air in East Palestine. Snopes noticed another Reddit post showing a different aerial picture of the cloud that the site could authenticate as real.

In the wake of the disaster, several photographers and journalists also took to other social media platforms to share multiple pictures taken from the ground and other aerial angles that showed a massive cloud of smoke coming from the site of the derailment.

The site noted that the smoke was the result of a controlled burning of chemicals following the derailment and shared that officials said the controlled release of toxic fumes was a safer alternative to a large explosion.

Reddit Post (2/2) (Image via Reddit)

Snopes also referred to satellite images from Zoom Earth that showed a dark spot in the clouds above East Palestine on February 6. The website also ran the viral image through technology on the FotoForensics website and did not find any signs that the image was doctored.