# Fictional events that eventually become reality? (Read the OP.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077 "2025-07-19T13:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/1 "2025-07-19T13:20:01Z")
This was brought to mind by the breaking news that Pee-Wee Herman’s bicycle is now really going to be in the Alamo: [https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/iconic-red-bike-1985-peewee-big-adventure-alamo-san-antonio-downtown/273-ae796b9c-ad34-41a1-9485-af586e8f61e1](https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/iconic-red-bike-1985-peewee-big-adventure-alamo-san-antonio-downtown/273-ae796b9c-ad34-41a1-9485-af586e8f61e1) Which reminds me that Cypress Hill eventually did play with the London Symphony Orchestra [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7-Vd8UfYgiU/maxresdefault.jpg "Cypress Hill, London Symphony Orchestra - Insane In The Brain (Live)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Vd8UfYgiU) Any other examples if events like this? (I’m taking about very specific things like this, not future technologies or fashions that happen to have been accurately “predicted”, like old movies using ray guns and someone eventually inventing the laser.) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/2 "2025-07-19T13:35:26Z")
My first thought was of a prison escape where a helicopter landed in a prison yard, which I had heard at the time was inspired by a fictional helicopter prison escape. But googling, it turns out there have actually been several helicopter prison escapes, and it’s not clear which of them I had heard about was inspired from fiction. In fact, some of them inspired fictional accounts, the opposite of the OP’s premise. > **[List of helicopter prison escapes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_helicopter_prison_escapes)** > > There have been multiple prison escapes where an inmate escapes by means of a helicopter. One of the earliest instances was the escape of Joel David Kaplan, nicknamed "Man Fan", on August 19, 1971, from the Santa Martha Acatitla in Mexico. Kaplan was a New York businessman who not only escaped the prison but eventually got out of Mexico and went on to write a book about his experience, The 10-Second Jailbreak. > France has had more recorded helicopter prison escape attempts than any other coun... ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/3 "2025-07-19T13:43:47Z")
THE SIMPSONS predicted President Trump as a joke… ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/4 "2025-07-19T14:07:57Z")
Good one. The Simpsons is famous for depicting comedy situations that seemed to be absurd but later actually happened: > **[‘The Simpsons’: 34 Times the Fox Comedy Successfully Predicted the Future](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/simpsons-future-predictions-accurate-1140775/)** > > From Super Bowl winners to Trump's presidency, the long-running animated series has an uncanny knack for foretelling events. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/5 "2025-07-19T14:08:03Z")
William Shatner got a spaceship ride a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/6 "2025-07-19T14:16:46Z")
> [@solost](#): > > My first thought was of a prison escape where a helicopter landed in a prison yard, which I had heard at the time was inspired by a fictional helicopter prison escape. But googling, it turns out there have actually been several helicopter prison escapes The 1985 one in South Carolina happened around 15 miles from me by road, maybe about 10 miles as the helicopter flies. > **[From the archives: The 1985 helicopter prison break of 3 inmates at Perry...](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2018/07/02/1985-helicopter-prison-break-perry-correctional-institution/752032002/)** > > Decades before Sunday's helicopter prison break in France, inmates escaped SC's Perry Correctional in a hijacked helicopter. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/7 "2025-07-19T14:18:52Z")
That may be the one I had in mind that was inspired by a fictional helicopter prison escape. The time period and location seems right. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/8 "2025-07-19T14:33:18Z")
I’m not sure if this is what the OP means, but in the comic strip _Li’l Abner_, there was a tradition in Dogpatch, to run a race, during which all eligible bachelors in town ran from the single women; if a bachelor was caught, the two were immediately (legally) married. From thence, any high school- or community- or otherwise-sponsored dance, party, or similar event, for which girls/women were to invite boys/men, was referred to as a “Sadie Hawkins” dance, party, whatever. The term is still in use sometimes, in spite of the fact that boys offering girls formal invitations to events is no longer de rigueur, and the fact that _Li’l Abner_ ceased publication about 50 years ago, and very few people under 60 can name a character from it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/9 "2025-07-19T14:39:40Z")
Dr Hook eventually did get on The Cover of the Rolling Stone. Beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/10 "2025-07-19T14:46:45Z")
Not exactly an “event”, but Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans became a reality after their appearance in the Harry Potter books. Granted, they were inspired by Jelly Bellies (which then made the real ones), but prior to that, Jelly Bellies didn’t have flavors like earwax, grass, or dirt. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/11 "2025-07-19T14:56:14Z")
There was the [final shootout in Heat](https://youtu.be/ZL9fnVtz_lc?si=bpBjTQjkWvyx7AVQ) which despite being an amazing peice of filmmaking I always thought was pretty proposterous until it basically happened IRL a couple of years later: > **[North Hollywood shootout](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout)** > > Mătăsăreanu: > The North Hollywood shootout, also known as the Battle of North Hollywood, was a confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, and police officers in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Both robbers were killed, twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the... ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/12 "2025-07-19T20:45:37Z")
_Li’l Abner_ also had Kickapoo Joy Juice. In the comic strip, it was moonshine whiskey, made with outlandish ingredients. The Monarch Beverage Company made a soft drink under the name. It is still on the market today. Otis Day and the Knights was a fictional band in the film _Animal House_. DeWayne Jessie, the actor who played the lead singer, bought the rights to the name, and formed a band, and made a living touring with it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/13 "2025-07-19T21:11:16Z")
A few Urban legends later really happened- Rats or snakes in the toilet. The body of outlaw Elmer McCurdy. Giant Squids. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/14 "2025-07-19T21:18:50Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > William Shatner got a spaceship ride a few years back. I recall Leonard Nimoy mentioning one time he pulled out a flip phone and when he opened it some random bystander did a double take and started laughing. Because it was _Spock,_ using his _communicator._ ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/15 "2025-07-19T21:31:35Z")
Pretty sure this TV Tropes page is relevant-ish: > **[Defictionalization - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Defictionalization)** > > The complete inverse of Product Placement, Defictionalization is the transformation of a product, object, or Prop from a movie, book or other fictional source into a real item in the real world.note Although they can overlap in some cases - … ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/16 "2025-07-19T21:43:44Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Pretty sure this TV Tropes page is relevant-ish: Beyond relevant-ish, it is spot-on for what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/17 "2025-07-19T22:41:33Z")
_Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In_ had a “news of the future” segment that said that Ronald Reagan would be president in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/18 "2025-07-19T23:13:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ronald Reagan would be president in 1988. The actor? Who’s Vice President? Jerry Lewis?! .. Buzz Lightyear became a toy you could buy, and eventually the hero in a sci-fi movie. > **[Lightyear (2022) ⭐ 6.1 | Animation, Action, Adventure](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10298810/)** > > 1h 45m | PG ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/19 "2025-07-19T23:24:28Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Buzz Lightyear became a toy you could buy, and eventually the hero in a sci-fi movie. And a Ride at Disneyland-not based on any particular film became a hit movie franchise- Pirates of the Caribbean. Same with Jungle cruise. But these were easy to see coming. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077/20 "2025-07-19T23:44:42Z")
> **[The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Titan:_Or,_Futility)** > > Futility is a novella written by Morgan Robertson, first published in 1898. It was revised as The Wreck of the Titan in 1912. It features a fictional American ocean liner named Titan that sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg. The Titan and its sinking are famous for their similarities to the real-life passenger ship RMS Titanic and its sinking 14 years later. Following the sinking of the Titanic the novel was reissued with some changes, particularly to the ship's displa... Before there was the Titanic, there was the Titan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-events-that-eventually-become-reality-read-the-op/1021077.md?page=2)