Yes, it's a form of proliferation.

The Victorians were quite fond of it, and there are a couple of old roses that seem to almost have been bred to do it. If it bothers you, cut it out. If it doesn't bother you, you don't need to do anything. It's unlikely that you'll see it again.

Very cool! Doesn't bother me at all - it's pretty interesting. Hoping the petals survive until the bud blooms, that would be neat. Thanks for letting me know!

As others have written, it definitely is proliferation. I've had this happen Just like yours And when that rose opened It happened again!

Raspberry Cream Twirl does that quite a bit here. Its usually due to weather changes in very early spring.

A proliferation, yes, but perhaps induced chemically through weed killers or excessive fertilization, evidenced by the pristine turf in close proximity to the bush seen in the background of your photo. Runoff or over fertilizing/spray drift causes unusual, unintended growth abberations.

Whenever I over fertilize proliferations occur.

Moses