This is What’s Trending Today.
A young woman from Australia posted an unusual snowboarding video to social media earlier this week.
Kelly Murphy says she recorded the video during a visit to a ski area in Japan.
She used a “selfie stick” to take pictures of herself snowboarding down a mountain. When she played back the video, she got a big surprise.
The video starts out as you might expect.
Murphy is seen listening to music on her headphones. She is singing along to a song by Rihanna.
The video shows Murphy connecting her boots to the snowboard. She pushes off, and starts down the mountain.
You can hear her repeating words from the song: “Work, work, work, work, work, work…”
And the next thing you hear is a loud noise.
At first, you do not see what is making the noise, but then the camera angle changes.
What is that behind her?
Oh, no. It looks like she is being chased by a bear!
The animal is running at full speed, and Murphy is not moving very fast.
It looks like she might be caught. You hear more sounds from the angry bear.
But then Murphy’s speed increases.
She continues down the mountain. And the image of the bear grows smaller in the distance. It is too slow.
At the bottom of the hill, Murphy slows down, and turns the off the camera.
The video lasts just over one minute.
Murphy says she posted the video to YouTube because when she played it back, she could not believe what she saw!
The video already has over 4 million views in only three days.
But a lot of people want to know if the pictures of the running bear were real.
Some people think they were not. They think the video was edited to make it look like there was a bear, but Murphy was actually alone.
They think Murphy or her friends used a computer program to add the bear images and sound effects to the original video.
As part of the video’s description, Murphy writes, “I nearly got eaten!”
David McKay once worked as a video investigator for a police agency in Canada. A television station in Vancouver asked him what he thought.
“Our eyes are pretty complex,” he says. “And if we can visually look at something, and something just doesn’t feel right or just doesn’t seem right, that’s probably the case.”
A video producer from London also says he found a problem in the video that proves it is a fake.
He says the bear’s body splits in half for less than a second at one point.
The British-based company Sky News also ordered an investigation. Its expert also reported problems with the video.
But investigators think they may have found a reason for the video. They say the company that manufactures her headphones could have something to do with it.
And That’s What’s Trending Today
I’m Dan Friedell.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
What do you think about the bear? Was it real? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page, and let us know.
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Words in This Story
selfie stick – n. a stick with a camera at the end used by someone who wants to take a photograph of himself or herself
angle – n. the position from which something is looked at or seen
edit – v. to prepare a film, recording or photograph to be seen or heard; to change, move, or remove parts of a film, recording or photo
sound effects – n. sounds added to movies, radio or television programs to represent something real (such as an explosion)
fake – adj. meant to look real
snowboarding – v. a recreational activity done on snow
