"They joined not because of how capable the leader was or what magical power they had, but because they were looking for an answer and believed they had found it at 'Heaven's Gate.'"
—Benjamin Zeller
Have you ever seen a comet, I believe that there will be people after 90 and 00 who will have a hard time answering this question. The appearance of the comet "Haier-Pop" in the 24th century shocked the world!
Between March and April 1997, Comet Haier-Pop was an absolutely dazzling presence in the vast night sky. Its bright, curved white tail, like a feather, appeared above the skyline, dazzling. It is said to be as bright as the brightest Star of Sirius, and its pleasing degree has been dubbed the "Great Comet of the Century".
Comet Hale-Pope flew over Stonehenge in the UK (Image from the Internet)
Just as Comet Hale-Pope was feasting on people's eyes, a related suicide occurred in one part of the United States.
The bizarre suicide shocked the United States
On March 26, 1997, the California Police received a call to the police. After receiving the police, the police came to a mansion, pressed the doorbell for a long time but no one answered, so they rushed into the room. What caught their eye was a tragic and terrifying scene: 39 corpses, men and women, lying on the ground or on the bed. All wore the same size and wore black sportswear and the same black NIKE sneakers, all covered with a purple square cloth. Each deceased's pocket contained $5.75 ($5 bills and 75 cent coins) and various documents that could prove his identity, such as birth certificates, passports, driver's licenses, etc.
The remains of the deceased were peaceful and showed no signs of struggle. At the edge of each bed was a duffel bag, as if to travel far away. The deceased wore the same armband on his armband, which read "Heaven's Gate Away Team."
In 2017, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the "Heaven's Gate Massacre", the American television news magazine made a special report on the incident
After investigation, they were tested in stages with phenobarbital and spirits mixed with chocolate pudding or applesauce, and some suffocated with plastic bags to accelerate their deaths.
At the scene, the word "red alert" in the style of Star Trek flashed on the computer screen, saying that the comet would take everyone with them.
The most bizarre thing is that everyone recorded the "curtain closing image".
In the video, everyone is awake and slightly excited talking about the impending death, "this is the happiest thing you can imagine," one person said in his "curtain call", "we're going home." ”
They are all believers in the Gates of Heaven.
The incident shocked the nation. Not long after the media made a big fuss, there were two more suicide cases of members of the "Gate of Paradise" in the United States, and these deceased also left videos and notes, telling the world that this was a pursuit of their friends, please do not worry about them.
A closer look at this bizarre mass suicide has been brewing for more than two decades, and the culprit began with Marshall Applewhite, the cult's founder.
Obsessed with illusory alien worlds and "eschatology"
Born in 1931, Applewhite aspired to be a pastor from an early age under the influence of his Christian father. As an adult, he served in the military, attended university, and worked as a music teacher. After marriage, he had two children.
Due to sexual orientation issues, the wife separated from him and divorced.
Applewhite as a young man (Image from the Internet)
You know, in the 1960s and 1970s, the United States was still quite conservative about homosexuality.
Gay parade in New York in the 1970s (image from the Internet)
In 1970, Applewhite was diagnosed with depression and quit his job. Immediately after the death of his father, he became depressed, depressed, and depressed. At the same time, Applewhite's life was in crisis and he had to live on debt.
At this difficult juncture in his life, a woman appeared, took his life for a turn and took him to an extreme.
Bonnie Nettles is a psychiatric nurse with a keen interest in aliens, mysticism, biblical prophecies, and more. Applewhite, who has the same interests, shares her like-mindedness and is very close.
Bonnie Nettles
As a result, two people of common faith also became platonic soul mates. Subsequently, they combined elements of Christianity, Catholicism, Eastern religions with aliens and UFOs to form a sect.
In addition, the two are convinced of the claim that prehistoric civilizations once came to Earth, and often use the lines from Star Trek - according to Applewhite, aliens "contact" him through the show.
The duo went around soliciting believers and gradually gained some followers, and Applewhite and Bonnie also had strange names: Do and Ti, which may be related to Applewhite's work as a music teacher.
The missionary process of the duo (Bonnie and Applewhite in the middle)
In 1976, Applewhite predicted that the flying saucer would come to Earth and pick up the faithful. The believers waited in the great desert for a long time, but they did not see even a light or shadow, and the disappointed believers scattered. The incident also became a joke, and the reputation of the sect plummeted.
The "extraterrestrial civilization" theory holds that such murals are evidence that aliens have come to Earth
But the two men have no intention of giving up, and their future is to lead believers out of the earth and into the kingdom of God before the end of the world.
They took a small number of believers and wandered around and spread their faith, while asking them to work for a living.
Applewhite and Bonnie
On August 28, 1974, Applewhite and Bonnie were arrested by local police. Applewhite was charged with car theft, while Bonnie was charged with credit card fraud.
In 1983, Bonnie had to remove one eye from a tumor, but she was convinced that Applewhite could save her, but she eventually died of liver cancer in 1985.
Before she died, Bonnie said to Applewhite, "Don't be sad, I just gave up my body, the soul will go to the next realm, and sooner or later you will be reunited with me." ”
Applewhite explains, "She went to a higher level of civilization. ”
In the early '90s, Applewhite gave the sect a new name: Heaven's Gate.
The doctrine of "Heaven's Gate" is very strange, the main content is: the earth and human civilization are about to be completely destroyed, the end of the world is coming; mankind must abandon the current civilization and cross to the "kingdom of God" in order to escape the catastrophe of the end; the human body is just a container and tool for the soul, and it is no pity to discard it; mankind must give up wealth, family, desire, and life under the guidance of Applewhite to achieve the "kingdom of God"; before the end comes, There will be a flying saucer coming to pick up the souls of all the qualified congregations and so on.
In order to eliminate desire, Applewhite took the lead and castrated 8 other believers. Before the operation, the believers were very excited, some talking and laughing.
Applewhite from the "Gates of Paradise" period
The initiator of the spread of cults through the Internet
There are many elite backbones among the believers of "Heaven's Gate", including senior computer engineers, real estate developers, as well as former extreme athletes, artists, doctors and so on.
Applewhite ordered computer engineers to build two websites, one for missionaries and one for making money. On the missionary website, netizens can read the teachings of "Heaven's Gate" on it. Earn money on websites that receive some business orders to help businesses design web pages to business upbringing.
Website pages
The website has images of Bonnie in her ideal state in the future world
Relying on the money earned on the site and donations from believers, Applewhite rented a mansion of nearly 1,000 square meters in San Diego. Believers called the mansion the "last temple."
It was in this "last temple" that the believers, led by Applewhite, rushed to the so-called "future world."
A mansion rented by Applewhite
In 1995, two astronomers discovered comet Haier-Pop.
It was this comet that Applewhite felt strongly that the opportunity had come. He declared that Bonnie would welcome everyone in the flying saucer behind the comet.
"Heaven's Gate" also declares on the homepage of the website that the arrival of Comet Haier-Pop is a very happy event. The spaceship is coming, we "old members" want to take us to a world higher than mankind, and our 22 years of training on earth are about to graduate, and we are going to the happy "heaven of god's kingdom".
Comet Haier-Pop (Image from the Internet)
They meticulously prepared for mass suicide and made special costumes with the words "Heaven's Gate Team". And videotape the joy of their imminent entry into the "kingdom of God" at this time: we came to earth two thousand years ago as messengers of Jesus, we will soon leave through the next spaceship, we should not be bound by the emotions of human events, these are the distractions that bind us.
After peacefully eating the "Last Supper," believers committed mass suicide in 2-3 batches. They first swallowed the lethal dose of phenobarbital sodium with vodka, changed into black clothes, pants and shoes, lay down calmly, and then put a plastic bag on their heads, tightened the mouth of the bag, and died of suffocation. The latter group covered them with a purple cloth, and then committed suicide in the same way. It's not like dying at all, it's like preparing for a long journey. They may think that going to the "kingdom of God" requires proof of identity, and they even bring passports, driver's licenses, etc.
Image from the web
Eighteen men and 21 women, a total of 39 believers, including the patriarch Apple White, all died in the room. In addition, the police also found a large number of weapons and ammunition at the scene of the crime. It is reported that this is used by believers to resist the obstruction of "government agencies that collude with bad aliens".
A core member of Heaven's Gate involved in suicide
The incident is not over. Just two years after mass suicide, remnants of Heaven's Gate have re-maintained the site, and many doctrinal canons can be found on the screen, including the last words of the suicide victims, blatantly continuing to encourage suicide and "escape from the earth". I hope that similar tragedies will not happen again.