On March 26, 1997, police enter a mansion in Rancho Santa
Fe, an exclusive suburb of San Diego, California, and discover 39 victims of a
mass suicide. The deceased were all found lying peaceably in matching dark
clothes and Nike sneakers and had no noticeable signs of trauma. It was later
revealed that the men and women were members of the "Heaven's Gate"
religious cult, whose leaders preached that suicide would allow them to leave
their bodies and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.
The cult was led by Marshall Applewhite, a music
professor who, after surviving a near-death experience in 1972, was recruited
into the cult by one of his nurses, Bonnie Lu Nettles. In 1975, Applewhite and
Nettles persuaded a group of 20 people from Oregon to abandon their families
and possessions and move to eastern Colorado, where they promised that an
extraterrestrial spacecraft would take them to heaven. Nettles, who called
herself "Ti," and Applewhite, who took the name of "Do,"
explained that human bodies were merely containers that could be abandoned in
favor of a higher physical existence. As the spacecraft never arrived,
membership in Heaven's Gate diminished, and in 1985 Bonnie Lu Nettles, died. During
the early 1990s, the cult resurfaced as Applewhite began recruiting new
members. Soon after the 1995 discovery of the comet Hale-Bopp, the Heaven's
Gate members became convinced that an alien spacecraft was on its way to earth,
hidden from human detection behind the comet. In October 1996, Applewhite
rented a large home in Rancho Santa Fe, explaining to the owner that his group
was made up of Christian-based angels. Applewhite advocated sexual abstinence,
and several male cult members followed his example by undergoing castration
operations. In 1997, as part of its 4,000-year orbit of the sun, the comet
Hale-Bopp passed near Earth in one of the most impressive astronomical events
of the 20th century. In late March 1997, as Hale-Bopp reached its closest
distance to Earth, Applewhite and 38 of his followers drank a lethal mixture of
phenobarbital and vodka and then lay down to die, hoping to leave their bodily
containers, enter the alien spacecraft, and pass through Heaven's Gate into a
higher existence.
Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of
numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52
Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer
Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in
the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime. Visit the author’s
website for more information: www.michaelthomasbarry.com
His book can be purchased at
Amazon through the following link:
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