'Double Rainbow Guy' From 2010 Viral Video Dies At 57

Paul L. Vasquez, the burly mountain man whose awestruck reaction upon seeing a double rainbow propelled him to internet stardom and turned him into a folk hero, has died in Central California. He was 57. Time Magazine reports: Vasquez, who called himself Yosemitebear on social media, died early Saturday at a hospital emergency room, the Mariposa County coroner's office told the Modesto Bee. The cause of death has not been released. Vasquez had recently posted on his Facebook page that he had gone to get tested for COVID-19 but learned about another unspecified ailment.

In January 2010, Vasquez posted on YouTube a video shot from his mountainside house of a set of rainbows overlooking the Yosemite valley. He notes in the caption that the camera couldn't capture the rainbows' intensity and brightness. But that wasn't what led to 46 million views of the video. It was Vasquez's reaction. Over the course of the 3-minute video, he repeatedly said "whoa," laughed and even sobbed as he marveled at the sight of the rainbows. "It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky!" he exclaimed. He went on to ponder: "What does it all mean?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.