Heaven's Gate
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 5
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Heavens Gate, Marshall Applewhite, Applewhite |
Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religion led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. It is known for the mass suicide of 39 members in Rancho Santa Fe, California, in March 1997, timed to the approach of Comet Hale–Bopp.[1][2]
Founders
Applewhite, a former music teacher, and Nettles, a nurse interested in Theosophy and astrology, met in Texas in 1972. They came to believe they were the two witnesses described in the Book of Revelation.[1][2] They called themselves by several names over the years, including "Bo and Peep" and later "Do and Ti".[1]
Beliefs
The group taught that followers could become immortal extraterrestrial beings by overcoming their human nature, and would be taken up to the "Next Level", a higher evolutionary kingdom. Scholars describe its theology as a mix of Christian end-times belief, New Age ideas and ufology.[1] Members lived a strict, monastic life, gave up possessions, and refrained from sex and drugs.[1]
History
From 1975 the pair recruited followers at public meetings. In September 1975 about 20 people from a meeting in Waldport, Oregon, disappeared to join them, which CBS News reported nationally.[1][2] Ufologist Jacques Vallée described one of their meetings in his 1979 book Messengers of Deception.[1] Nettles died of cancer in 1985, and the group came to believe that the body was only a "container" and that members would receive new bodies after death.[1] In the 1990s the group ran a web design business called Higher Source.[1]
The mass suicide
In late 1996 the group rented a large house in Rancho Santa Fe. When Comet Hale–Bopp approached in 1997, rumours spread that a spacecraft was following it. Applewhite recorded a farewell video, and beginning on 22 March 1997, 39 members, including Applewhite, killed themselves with drugs and alcohol; deputies found the bodies on 26 March. They were found dressed alike in black clothing and new trainers, with armband patches reading "Heaven's Gate Away Team".[1] The group's website announced that Hale–Bopp brought "closure" and that members would leave with "Ti's crew".[1]
References
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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