Watch: Stunning Video Of San Francisco’s Orange Sky Set to ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Soundtrack Goes Viral

The future is getting creepy.

The wildfires ripping across vast portions of the American west are literally stealing daylight from the sky.

As the video above demonstrates, massive amounts of smoke in the atmosphere seemed to transport the entirety of San Francisco to Mars for a day. 

San Francisco Bay

As horrible as the air quality was from the smoke, many in the Bay Area still got out to document the bizarre event with video and still photography. 

Terry Tsai, a.k.a. TerryTheThunder, spotted an eerie similarity to a movie set decades in the future and using drone footage shot by YouTuber DoctorSbaitso merged eco-horror sci fi with reality by setting the footage to music from the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack. 

The visuals from that movie’s trailer are enough to make it easy to see why Tsai made the equation.

This phenomenon comes in fire season rife with other apocalyptic events including actual tornadoes of fire. A season that the Washington Post reports is “unlike anything” that’s come before:

And the extreme fire behavior that’s been witnessed this year hasn’t just been wild — it’s virtually unprecedented in scope and scale.

Fire tornadoes have spun up by the handful in at least three big wildfires in the past three weeks, based on radar data. Giant clouds of ash and smoke have generated lightning. Multiple fires have gone from a few acres to more than 100,000 acres in size in a day, while advancing as many as 25 miles in a single night. And wildfire plumes have soared up to 10 miles high, above the cruising altitude of commercial jets.

While the juxtaposition of real-life footage with foreboding science fiction concepts was vividly illustrated in the video, plenty of people got out to record their own vision of California’s wildfire hell.

View this post on Instagram

I’ve heard comparisons to Mars, Bladerunner, the Apocalypse, Pandora’s box. While not quite dystopian, yet, it is climate change. Here are a few photos from this morning, when an orange glow filled the sky while simultaneously blanketing San Francisco, and much of the Bay Area in darkness. The highly unusual event was caused by smoke and ash from the numerous wildfires burning across California mixing with the marine layer flowing in, and filtering the sun. (Photos by Philip Pacheco for Getty Images) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #sky #bladerunner #mars #apocalypse #armageddon #fire #wildfire #climatechange #california #norcal #sanfrancisco #bayarea #reportage #photojournalism #breakingnews #photojournalist #gettyimages #mygettyoffice #myedca #everydaycalifornia #everydaybayarea

A post shared by Philip Pacheco (@philipapacheco) on

” tml-render-layout=”inline

Photojournalist Philip Pacheco posted some vivid still images and his slideshow caption put a fine point on what people were seeing, writing, “I’ve heard comparisons to Mars, Bladerunner, the Apocalypse, Pandora’s box. While not quite dystopian, yet, it is climate change.” 

“Here are a few photos from this morning,” Pacheco wrote, “when an orange glow filled the sky while simultaneously blanketing San Francisco, and much of the Bay Area in darkness. The highly unusual event was caused by smoke and ash from the numerous wildfires burning across California mixing with the marine layer flowing in, and filtering the sun.” 

View this post on Instagram

Photo by @FransLanting / A wildfire rages on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean and Highway One north of Santa Cruz, California. That night it grew to an inferno and raced through the nearby mountain communities of Last Chance and Swanton, destroying most of the homes there. We grieve for the losses of so many friends and neighbors and brace ourselves for the next outbreak of fire. Local weather reports are dominated by smoke forecasts and fire alerts go out when the wind increases. Everyone’s nerves are on edge. Our fire season will only come to and end when the first rains arrive. But in this era of climate chaos, rain too has become an uncertain prospect. Follow me @FransLanting for more stories from the edge of the fire zone. #CZULightningComplexFire #czuaugustlightningcomplex #californiafires #santacruzfire #wildfire

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on

” tml-render-layout=”inline

More images from a variety of sources below tell the story.

View this post on Instagram

#California is on fire. More than 2.5 million acres of land have been destroyed (nearly 20x of what burned last year) and the fires are still blazing. This has been the most devastating and unprecedented fire season to date. Blazes are tearing through entire towns, destroying thousands of homes, and creating a thick blanket of smoke that leaves the sky ominously dark throughout the day. Helicopter pilots say rescue missions have been the ‘toughest flying’ they’ve ever done. Search https://www.calfund.org/wildfire-relief-fund/ to donate to the California wildlife relief fund. If you can’t donate, please share this or any of our other posts about the fires to raise awareness. 🙏🏽 Photo 1 & 3 by @joshedelsonphotography . Firenado in California. This is terrifying & unlike anything I’ve seen in my life. 😔 🤯 Video by flamecatcher2 on TikTok. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZS5st8U7/ Search https://www.calfund.org/wildfire-relief-fund/ to donate to the California wildlife relief fund. If you can’t donate, please share this or any of our other posts about the fires to raise awareness. 🙏🏽 . #wildfires #wildfire #fire #firefighters #firefighter #climatechange #firefighting #globalwarming #wildlandfirefighter #fires #wildlandfire #californiawildfires #bushfires #fireseason #nature #like #wildfireseason #forestfire #forestfires #bushfire #smoke #firesafety #instagood #wildland #californiafires #nswfires #bushfiresaustralia #bhfyp

A post shared by Desired Planet (@desiredplanet) on

” tml-render-layout=”inline

” tml-render-layout=”inline

” tml-render-layout=”inline

” tml-render-layout=”inline

” tml-render-layout=”inline

” tml-render-layout=”inline

One thing makes this surreal situation worse: the West Coast fire season still has weeks to go. 

Share: 
Tags: