Chickens freeze like statues in creepy 'glitch in the matrix' video

A disturbing 'glitch in the Matrix' video has gone viral on TikTok when a woman captured the moment all of her chickens froze like statues - but there is a logical explanation to the clip.

The moment was captured by TikToker Brianna Antoinette and has been viewed more than 14 million times on that platform alone. The clip which is titled "What in the world happened to the chickens" sees here attempting to feed her five hungry birds.

However, while trying to round them up all of the birds suddenly froze as if time had stopped leaving Brianna, a life coach in her day job, very confused as to what was going on.

After a few seconds the chickens returned to normal when Brianna yelled the name "Nick," her husband, which seemed to spark them back into life.

The video also appeared to confuse others on TikTok who tried to offer their thoughts on the mysterious event. One person wrote: "this is like the best evidence I’ve seen for a glitch in the matrix."

Another joked: "Chicken expert here! They do that when the weather gets colder it helps them conserve energy for when they have to cross the road"

There is a natural explanation for this very bizarre phenomenon though.

Speaking to Newsweek, Brianna explained that all chickens will do this as an instinctive reaction to whenever they see a hawk circling in the sky, in order to minimise their movement and avoid becoming prey.

She said: "It is a natural reaction when chickens sense danger to freeze to not be spotted by a predator! My husband 'Nick' spotted a hawk above them when he came out of the house when the video was ending."

"He grew up with farm animals and I have NEVER been around animals, let alone ever think I'd own chickens! As I was out there alone in the beginning of the video, I was never aware of that behavior and literally thought the rapture was about to take place."

This isn't the first time a 'glitch in the Matrix' video has gone viral this year. One of the most unexplained occurred in July, when a woman appeared to freeze inexplicably in the middle of the street leaving TikTok baffled.

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