On July 23rd, 1995, two astronomers separately and independently discovered a comet that was approaching the center of the solar system before it was visible to the naked eye. The comet was named after both of the scientists: the Hale-Bopp comet. The comet didn't become visible to the naked eye until May 1996.
Marshall Applewhite and the members of Heaven's Gate became interested in the comet and saw it as a sign of their coming ''transition'' and prophecy. This idea was further fueled by the growing internet's interest in the comet. Amateur astronomers photographing the comet may have misidentified a fuzzy star behind the comet as an object close to, and following, the comet. Some believed that the object behind the Hale-Bopp Comet was an extraterrestrial spacecraft, including the members of Heaven's Gate. Marshall Applewhite announced to the members of Heaven's Gate the plan to abandon or shed their ''meat vehicles'' and join the beings aboard the supposed spacecraft following Hale-Bopp.
Comet Hale Bopp, taken in 1997.
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The religious group went on a brief vacation and filmed VHS tapes recording their last thoughts and asked former members to join them in their ''graduation.'' One member was even asked to come to the mansion on a certain day and document the outcome of the group's final decision.
On March 26th, 1997, the San Diego County Sheriff's department was alerted to and discovered the bodies of the active 39 members of the Heaven's Gate religious group in their mansion. The group, including Marshall Applewhite, had participated in a coordinated mass suicide. The members of the group dressed in matching outfits, with Heaven's Gate patches, and matching Nike shoes. Each member also had $5.75 in their pocket — the supposed price to ride the comet to heaven. Their bodies were laying in the same prone position, with blankets over their faces.
The members had coordinated the event in which a few at a time consumed sedatives, and then were suffocated by the conscious members. The police believed that the members likely died over the period of three days, performing rituals and completing suicide in three different groups. The 39 members were between the ages of 26 and 72 and included 21 women and 18 men.
The event became widely talked about in the media. The media focused on multiple aspects of the event including the connection between the historical arrival of comets and common superstitious beliefs throughout cultures that often had some suicides in the past. Additionally, the media focused on the cult from a psychological perspective. By the time Heaven's Gate emerged as a new cult, the American consciousness was already well aware of cult behavior and methods from witnessing cults in the media such as the mass suicide at Jonestown, and the siege, standoff, and possible murder of David Koresh and 82 cult members by the ATF and FBI at Waco. Psychologists who specialized in cult phenomenon were brought onto news stations and interviews to explain ''brainwashing'' and the methods used by cults to recruit, isolate, and convince members of their ideology. Other academics, such as a former cult member and sociologist, Janja Lalich, disagree with the notion that the Heaven's Gate incident was an example of mass suicide. Instead, Lalich argues the event was ''murder'' due to the elements of brainwashing.
In the months and year following the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate members, three more former members of the group died by suicide as well. Additionally, a man with no known connection to Heaven's Gate died by suicide and left a note referencing Hale-Bopp and the ''spaceship'' following it. Members of Heaven's Gate still exist today. It is likely their website is still up and running due to at least two members maintaining it out of Phoenix, Arizona.
