This Footage of Chickens Freezing Is Convincing Folks That It's a 'Matrix' Glitch

The original Matrix movies not only heavily influenced filmmaking and the sci-fi genre as we know it, but they also gave folks an interesting new perspective on real life. If you'll remember, the popular trilogy (and one okay-ish fourth movie) depicted a world in which the entirety of humanity was living in a highly realistic computer simulation known as the "Matrix" created by sentient machinery that used us as batteries.

But because no computer-generated software is perfect, even the Matrix was prone to glitches. These glitches provided important signals to those unplugged from the Matrix that something was amiss within the system.

The entire lore behind the Matrix gave some folks an off-kilter view of real life in which they could halfway convince themselves that we're actually living in a simulation. To that end, that theory seems almost plausible thanks to a viral TikTok about chickens freezing randomly.

In the first Matrix film, one of the most prominent glitches in the simulation came in the form of a sense of déjà vu after main protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves) notices the same black cat pass by twice. He is then taught that a glitch of this nature indicates that reality has been overtly tampered with by the machines behind the Matrix as they try to subjugate the human team of rebels.

While the incident in this TikTok is not quite the same, it is eerily similar to a glitch one might find in a video game or a... highly elaborate simulation. In a viral TikTok posted by someone named Bri (@brianna_antonette), a group of chickens she was looking after completely froze up.

In Bri's video, she let a group of chickens out of their pen. After fawning over her "babies" for a little bit, one of them stops in their tracks.

Bri doesn't notice right away and opts to feed the chickens. After taking a few steps away, she turns back to see that all of her chickens are completely frozen.

From the jump, they all seem to be facing the same direction as if they were looking at something. Nevertheless, the chickens stay in place for nearly two minutes without so much as a twitch. Bri even tries to catch their attention by yelling at them to no avail. It isn't until the very end of the video that the chickens scamper off, with no indication as to why.

You might have seen glitches like these in a popular video game, but to have it occur in real life is nothing short of creepy. In fact, many folks in the comments are jokingly convinced that the Matrix is real after watching that video.

One person called the TikTok, "the best evidence [they've] ever seen for a glitch in the Matrix."

Another TikToker joked, "The people controlling the Matrix totally freaking out trying to fix the glitch."

Other folks had more rational explanations. Many claim that chickens do this when they see a hawk so that they can avoid being targeted by predators. And in fairness, all of the chickens are looking in the same direction, indicating that they're at least looking at the same thing. That could have very well been a hawk, especially considering OP didn't take a look on their own.

Animal behavior can be weird, especially if we decide to attribute their actions to glitches in the Matrix.