The cult's members died back in 1997. Image Credit: NASA/JPL
Back in 1997, a group of 39 people all committed suicide in the belief that their souls would be carried away by a UFO.
It was one of the most shocking events in modern American history and one that continues to generate debate some 25 years later.
Heaven's Gate was founded in 1974 by Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite (known as Ti and Do) who managed to recruit several hundred followers within just a couple of years.
The core concept of their belief system was that they would ultimately transform themselves into immortal extraterrestrial beings and ascend to another level of evolutionary existence.
Their dedication to this idea was brought into sharp focus in the most disturbing way imaginable on March 26th, 1997 when authorities discovered 39 members of the group - all of them dead - in a house in San Diego.
It turned out that they had all committed suicide in the belief that their immortal souls would be whisked away on a UFO that was accompanying the approaching comet Halle-Bopp.
Now, 25 years on from the event itself, a new ABC News documentary - "The Cult Next Door" - will delve into the mysteries surrounding Heaven's Gate and the fate of its followers.
It will feature an interview with former cult member Rio DiAngelo who left before the mass suicide.
The documentary will air on March 11th on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu after that.
I once meet up a young girl who was so messed up up and so confused that she would believe and follow everything I would say if I was some sort of influencer. Some people out there are so thirsty for faith and to believe in something that they would literally follow everything without question and doubt. " Luckily" this teenager just ended up pregnant with the child of God knows who that she needed to raise and she did not have time to contemplate suicide and stuff. But every time I read stories like this I cannot stop thinking to that person and make parallels. This type of fake messiah... [More]
When I was an undergraduate at the University of Oregon there was a woman who was stopping random students and trying to convince them to go see her cult leader. She wasn't very persuasive since she answered every question with, "Oh, that's a very good/intelligent/insightful question! I know exactly who can answer that!" I've always wondered if this was the Heaven's Gate cult. I haven't found much about what they were doing in 1984 but I think they were in Oregon.
I never saw any grand mystery to HGC, doh applesauce who castrated himself and suggested all males do so found a handful of lost souls that accepted whatever BS he was selling convinced them they were above everyone else which some folks desperately need that to the point these poor lost souls were willing to die for it, Its very sad but at least those lost souls no longer long for what they lacked or are hurting.
These people had the idea there was a mothership behind Hale-Bopp. That idea was promoted by Coast to Coast's Art Bell. He even posted photos online of the mothership.
Please Login or Register to post a comment.