Marshall H. Applewhite
Heaven's Gate...
was created by two people going by the name of Marshall H. Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Trusdale Nettles. Most of the time they were known as a dynamic duo such as, “Bo and Peep”, “Do and Ti”, or “the Two”. The two began small by holding meetings that promised their followers they would soon escape the world in a UFO. Their “group” was first known as Human Individual Metamorphosis(HIM) and managed to gain some surprisingly very successful followers and had convinced them to leave their families, jobs, and all their friends in order to be prepared for the departure on their UFO to heaven. Soon after they decided to move to Colorado to meet with the spaceship that was supposed to take them to heaven. Unfortunately, the spaceship never came. The people of Heaven’s Gate vanished from the face of the Earth from 1975 to 1993 when their public activities began to be seen again.
was created by two people going by the name of Marshall H. Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Trusdale Nettles. Most of the time they were known as a dynamic duo such as, “Bo and Peep”, “Do and Ti”, or “the Two”. The two began small by holding meetings that promised their followers they would soon escape the world in a UFO. Their “group” was first known as Human Individual Metamorphosis(HIM) and managed to gain some surprisingly very successful followers and had convinced them to leave their families, jobs, and all their friends in order to be prepared for the departure on their UFO to heaven. Soon after they decided to move to Colorado to meet with the spaceship that was supposed to take them to heaven. Unfortunately, the spaceship never came. The people of Heaven’s Gate vanished from the face of the Earth from 1975 to 1993 when their public activities began to be seen again.
In 1993, the Heaven’s Gate bought an ad on USA Today advertising to the people of the U.S. that the time was near and their civilization will be “spaded under”. By this time Applewhite was alone in leading the Heaven’s Gate to their purpose. Applewhite decided to rent out a house in California, Rancho Santa Fe, to be exact. He had told the owner that they were “Christian-based angels who had been sent to earth”. The time had come. With the alleged rumor that Halep- Bopp comet was on its way with a spaceship behind it was truly a exciting moment for the people of Heaven’s Gate. Applewhite told his followers that the only thing left to do was to, “leave their outer shells”, their bodies hoping to go into a higher spiritual place. On March 26, 1997, an estimated 39 people commited suicide in hopes of their beliefs coming true. Heaven’s Gate had ended the very date Applewhite took his life along with his faithful followers.
An excerpt from one of the followers, according to the, Encyclopedia of American Religious History, Third Edition is stated below:
“Whether Hale-Bopp has a "companion" or not is irrelevant from our perspective. However, its arrival is joyously very significant to us at "Heaven's Gate." The joy is that our Older Member in the Evolutionary Level Above Human (the "Kingdom of Heaven") has made it clear to us that Hale-Bopp's approach is the "marker" we've been waiting for—the time for the arrival of the spacecraft from the Level Above Human to take us home to "Their World"—in the literal Heavens. Our 22 years [from 1975, the year of the failed appearance] of classroom here on planet Earth is finally coming to conclusion—"graduation" from the Human Evolutionary Level. We are happily prepared to leave "this world" and go with Ti's crew."
“Whether Hale-Bopp has a "companion" or not is irrelevant from our perspective. However, its arrival is joyously very significant to us at "Heaven's Gate." The joy is that our Older Member in the Evolutionary Level Above Human (the "Kingdom of Heaven") has made it clear to us that Hale-Bopp's approach is the "marker" we've been waiting for—the time for the arrival of the spacecraft from the Level Above Human to take us home to "Their World"—in the literal Heavens. Our 22 years [from 1975, the year of the failed appearance] of classroom here on planet Earth is finally coming to conclusion—"graduation" from the Human Evolutionary Level. We are happily prepared to leave "this world" and go with Ti's crew."