‘Aliens’ to Turn Illinois State Students into Unwilling Test Subjects in Chilling peta2 VR Experience

For Immediate Release:
October 30, 2026

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

A mysterious truck is rolling onto Illinois State University’s campus, and students brave enough to venture inside will soon find themselves transported to an alien laboratory—where they’ll get a much closer encounter than they bargained for. It’s all part of Abduction—the award-winning virtual reality experience from peta2, part of PETA’s youth division—which is landing on campus next week as part of a nationwide tour to encourage empathy for animals caged and tormented in university laboratories.

During the immersive experience, participants find themselves seemingly stranded in the desert with a couple of fellow humans, only to be kidnapped by aliens, taken aboard a spaceship, and forced to watch as their friends are subjected to cruel, painful experiments—inspired by real experiments conducted on animals—knowing that they’ll be next.

When:      Tuesday, November 3 – Thursday, November 5, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Where:     Outside of Schroeder Plaza, 499 W. College Ave., Normal

Watch the trailer here.

Credit: PETA

Studies show that 90% of all basic research—most of which involves animals—fails to lead to treatments for humans. Yet at Illinois State University, experimenters immobilized rats, cut into their heads, drilled holes in their skulls, implanted devices in their brains, and sent electrical currents through their brains while measuring dopamine. In another experiment, 19 baby bulls were castrated with tight bands shortly after birth. Some were completely separated from their mothers, while others could see and hear their mothers through a fence but could not touch them. Experimenters then repeatedly restrained the calves in a narrow chute, attached heart-rate monitors, counted their breaths, and timed how quickly they fled once released.

“The aliens in Abduction may be science fiction, but for animals caged in university laboratories, the nightmare scenario of being trapped, tormented, and subjected to painful experiments is all too real,” says peta2 Vice President Rachelle Owen. “peta2 is giving students a visceral look at the horrors of animal experimentation and inspiring them to join our call for a switch to superior, animal‑free research methods.”

Abduction has visited nearly 100 colleges and universities since its debut, earning rave reviews from students, who have described the experience as “a really effective way of getting the message across.” Abduction was filmed in VR180 with assistance from the immersive content creation studio Prosper XR, won “Gold” and “Audience” honors in the 2023 Shorty Impact Awards, and was a nominee for the 2024 Webby Awards.

peta2—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers young people positive, empowering actions to help animals. For more information, please visit peta2.com or follow peta2 on TikTok or Instagram.