Heaven's Gate

Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religion based in San Diego, California and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931-1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927-1985). The group's end coincided with the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997.

Members of the cult believed that the Earth was about to be reset, wiped clean, started over, etc, and that they had to leave it immediately to survive. They were seeking the "Next Level." They viewed their human bodies as mere 'vessels,' and that they would need to separate from them. In the end, this was carried out via suicide, although the members of Heaven's Gate did not view it as 'suicide.'

Initiates to the cult were renamed by its leader Marhsall Applewhite, with a final -ody appended to every name. Apparently, -ody is defined as "children of the Next Level." All members voluntarily eschewed all material possessions in order to live an ascetic lifestyle, somewhat akin to the monasteries of the Middle Ages. 7 male members, seeking to rid themselves of any distraction caused by sexual attraction to other members, went to Mexico to get castrated. Applewhite was among the men to do so. Operations were funded by providing contract web site development under the name "Higher Source."

Thirty-eight group members, plus Applewhite, the group's leader, were found dead in a rented mansion in the upscale San Diego community of Rancho Santa Fe, California, on March 26, 1997. Two former members of Heaven's Gate, Wayne Cooke and Charlie Humphreys, later died in copycat suicides. Humphreys had survived a suicide pact with Cooke in May 1997, but successfully committed suicide in February 1998. The mass death of the Heaven's Gate group was widely publicized in the media as an example of cult suicide. They commited suicide by ingesting a mix of vodka and Phenobarbital, a sedative. The members also tied plastic bags around their heads to induce asphyxiation. Every suiciding member was dressed exactly the same: black shirt and sweatpants, brand new black and white Nike shoes, armband patches reading "Heaven's Gate Away Team," $5.75 in their pocket, and a square purple cloth laid on their head. Their suicide coincided with the return of the comet Hale-Bopp. The cultists believed that following the comet, in the tail, was a spaceship piloted by Jesus, and that they needed to separate from their bodies to hitch a ride.