Justin Bieber Wears Gas Mask in London the Day Before Releasing New Single 'Right Here' [PHOTO]

Justin Bieber was spotted wearing a gas mask on Monday while shopping in London, according to USA Today.  The circulating pictures of Justin strolling the streets "incognito" and then removing the gear upon entering the stores has sparked many rumors and mostly just confusion.

This "stunt" occurs the day before the release of his new single "Right Here" off of his album Believe which features rapper Drake. A "publicity stunt" in order to gain attention is just one of the supposed reasons that could be behind the gas mask.

Justin also posted a "selfie" of himself in the gas mask on his Instagram page Monday night and captioned it "mi eht tseb." Read backwards, the caption translates to "im the best."

The 18-year-old pop star offered no reasoning behind the protective gear, so followers and the media are left to decipher the meaning behind the mask themselves. Some of the various rumors, guesses, and questions posed around the Bieb's odd accessory choice include:

-"Keeping a low profile?"

-"Avoiding paparazzi?"

-"Drawing attention to himself?"

-"Channeling "Darth Vador' of Star Wars?"

-"Being health conscious?"

-"Promoting new single/himself?"

-"Starting new fashion trend?"

-"Smoking marijuana?"

-"Rebelling/blowing off some steam?"

The possibilities seem endless, and we can unfortunately only guess the answer to "why the mask?" for now until Justin confirms the reasoning.

Some of Bieber's Instagram and Twitter followers are backing their idol by posting positive comments, while others seem just as confused and/or disturbed as the rest of us. Reactions on his social media sites include:

"Yes you are the best!"

"The only person who can look attractive with a gas mask on..."

"As a Jewish person, I am highly offended that Justin thinks wearing a gas mask in public is fine. People died in gas chambers." 

"Justin Bieber just instagrammed a picture of himself wearing a gas mask aka he's coooooked"

"theres this picture of justin bieber with a gas mask on floating around and i just wanted to say that im convinced hes the empty child bye"

Around the same time that Bieber posted a second picture on Instagram of him sleeping and cuddling his younger siblings. This one is captioned, "I miss my Lil bro N sis."

Was this picture meant to counteract his "dark side" by showing off his "soft side" to his concerned "beliebers?"

To coincide with the pictures posted, Bieber also tweeted the hashtag "#righthere," the title of his newest single being released February 26th, bringing us back to the first theory that was posted behind the gas mask.

This isn't the first time that Bieber rocked "creative headgear." Last year, he wore a gold metallic mask while roaming Venice Beach, California. In June of 2012, hee also wore a hankerchief covering his nose and mouth last time that he was in London on "promotional duties," according to The Sun.

No one is really quite sure what Bieber is up to, but he has certainly caught worldwide attention and caused worldwide confusion with his gas mask.