If you woke up this morning wondering whether Rihanna's "Work" is so awesomely distracting a song that you wouldn't notice a terrifying black bear chasing you down a mountain if you were listening to it, the internet has given you your answer.
Yes, yes it is. Assuming said black bear is real...
Which brings us to the viral video setting comments sections across the world aflame today.
Published on YouTube by 19-year-old Sydney woman Kelly Murphy on Sunday, the video shows Murphy snowboarding down a slope at Hakuba 47 Ski Resort, near Nagano, Japan. First she straps in—singing "Work" as she does—before taking off down the mountain with her camera in perfect selfie-position.
As the camera pans across her we suddenly see a black bear over Murphy's right shoulder in pursuit (check it out at the 36 second mark). The bear returns (slightly closer) at around 49 seconds.
Apparently, in fine Paranormal Activity fashion, Murphy did not notice the bear until after she watched the footage back, writing on her YouTube post: "OMG! I was going through my snowboarding videos and I found a bear chasing me!!! I nearly got eaten!!!...Be careful people!!!"
But was the terror (!!!) real?
Skeptical commenters the world over say no. The bear looks too perfect, some say; it looks too fake, say others. And why does it kinda weirdly disappear that one time? Is this just some viral marketing campaign? Did Murphy go one step too far with that very suspicious-sounding "rooooaaaar"?
We're leaning towards disbelief in this instance, but there have been reports of Asian black bear sightings in the area. Watch the video and decide for yourself.