A strange video allegedly showing a zombie piece of chicken, or similar meat, apparently crawling off a plate has gone viral.
The viral video, which has been seen nearly 11 million times, was posted to Facebook by a Miami social media user. She suggested it showed a fresh cut piece of chicken walking off a plate.
A reverse image search reveals she was not the first person to post the bizarre clip. We found a June 19 YouTube upload. In its description, that YouTube video links off to a post in a Facebook group. But, the post in the Facebook group has since been deleted. So, it's unclear where the clip originated or whether it is authentic.
The story continues after the video.
While we may be unable to verify whether that specific clip is real, we set out to verify if what's depicted in the video is even possible: can a piece of chicken crawl after being cut off from the rest of the body?
Our sources included Tyson Chicken, the National Chicken Council, a chicken farmer with South Tampa Farms, and a farmer with TrailBale Farm.
We asked Tyson Chicken first, and the company referred us to the National Chicken Council. This was their response to the video:
"We’ve looked into it and sent it to some video experts and we’re pretty sure it’s fake."
We then called Marion Lambert, a farmer with South Tampa Farms, and asked him if it was possible for a piece of cut chicken to move.
"The only time I've ever seen a piece of dead chicken move was when it was put on or taken off a plate," he said.
We also spoke to Travis Malloy of TrailBale Farm in Temple Terrace and asked him if it could happen.
"No, definitely not," he said. "They don't sell them that fresh."
He said chickens might kick around for 10-15 seconds after their heads are removed; but after that, they don't move.
Based on those three experts, we can verify that meat moving off a plate in the manner depicted in the video is not possible.
Is there something you'd like us to look into? Email TurnTo10@wtsp.com.
