Police finds University of Iowa 56 students standing in complete darkness – something straight out of ‘Weapons’

Creepy police body cam footage that looks like something straight out of the horror movie Weapons has been shared online and it’s freaking people out. The viral footage shows University of Iowa campus police arriving at a fraternity house and finding a large group of students standing ominously in complete silence and in pitch darkness.

The video is of an event which took place in November 2024 but has only been shared online this past week. First responders arrived at the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house in response to a fire alarm being set off but there was no fire upon arrival. What was there was 56 blindfolded male pledges and many of them were shirtless and standing in complete darkness. 

When asked by the responders what was going on not a single person uttered a word. In the footage it’s so silent you can almost hear a pin drop.

That’s a pretty terrifying site to walk in on and it only got creepier as the boys remained completely silent despite demands for an explanation from the police on scene. Online people have likened it to a scene from the 2025 horror hit Weapons which features a similar scene with a group of silent figures standing in a dark basement.

What was this?

Responders quickly began to suspect that this was some bizarre hazing ritual which the group was all taking part in. However, they had to make sure that nothing illegal or dangerous was happening and that nobody was being held there against their will, easier said than done when nobody is speaking and the few that are are only giving cryptic answers.

One individual who seems to be leading (or at least know something about) the strange hazing ritual, is interrogated after police notice something on some of the freshmen’s arms. The officers also ask to contact the house leader but the individual becomes stand-offish with them and maintains “There’s nothing going on.”

Hazing rituals require people to often go through a specific challenge if they want to join a group, these challenges often involve degradation, humiliation, and danger and are widespread in frat houses in the U.S. In the past hazing rituals have led to the deaths of freshmen taking part in them which has led to the practice becoming illegal in certain states.

Ultimately, the individual questioned by police was arrested for trying to block the officers from viewing the scene. He was later identified as Joseph Gaya according to ABC7chicago.com. Another student was also arrested and the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity was suspended until July 1st, 2029.