May 29, 2025 • 26 mins
Episode 8 Re-Release Heaven's Gate
The only episode where ive been contacted by members of an organization.
They became a household name back in 1997 when 39 members committed a mass suicide to leave their bodies and move on to the level above human. Their bodies were broadcast on live TV while the police walked through this Rancho Sante Fe mansion . A man in a biohazard suit walks room to room after room with bodies in black tracksuits laid neatly in beds with purple shrouds draped over their faces. Perfectly tucked in. Ritualistically tucked in. Laid flat in their beds, dressed neatly, purple shrouds, and motionless. IDs , 5$ and 3 quarters in their pocket, and a small bag of their belongings.
The only episode where ive been contacted by members of an organization.
They became a household name back in 1997 when 39 members committed a mass suicide to leave their bodies and move on to the level above human. Their bodies were broadcast on live TV while the police walked through this Rancho Sante Fe mansion . A man in a biohazard suit walks room to room after room with bodies in black tracksuits laid neatly in beds with purple shrouds draped over their faces. Perfectly tucked in. Ritualistically tucked in. Laid flat in their beds, dressed neatly, purple shrouds, and motionless. IDs , 5$ and 3 quarters in their pocket, and a small bag of their belongings.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back to Creepy Confidential. I'm your host, Noel, your
resident weirdo Wisconsin. I I open case files on my
favorite cryptos, cults, conspiracies, and other worldly Creepy bringing you
new cases, live broadcasts, local lore, and in season two,
we bring you the Cult of the Month. So get ready, creeps.
(00:25):
It's season two of Creepy Confidential. Welcome to the Cult
of the Month. Each month, we spend a little more
time than usual so that we can discuss a cult
(00:47):
that has had our attention for the entire month. Some
of our listeners may not have been exposed to these
types of things, either due to age, location, or we're
shielded from the horrors of what happens in these groups.
We will be exposing the headlines, audio bytes, and background
on these groups to not only make listeners aware that
(01:07):
they exist, but to keep their eyes open to possible
cult behavior around them. We will break down the who, what, when, where,
why and how and show you how this group's history
has been woven into our pop culture through movies, music,
and fashion. Art imitates life. Due to the information in
(01:28):
the Cult of the Month episodes, we will start with
a disclaimer warning this episode is intended for mature audiences.
It contains graphic descriptions of crime scenes, mass suicide, and
cult behavior. March twenty six, nineteen ninety seven, three fifteen pm,
San Diego, nine one one receives an anonymous tip. This
(01:50):
individual is stating that they are reporting a mass suicide
and that they can provide the address. A lone deputy
arrives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, at a quiet mare
in a gated community one eight two four to one,
Colina Norte. A pungent odor greets Hiszle factory senses. He
(02:10):
opens a door he was informed would be left unlocked.
His unassisted walkthrough finds no survivors. He goes from room
to room, finding body after body. The remains are starting
to undergo early stages of decomposition due to the warm
spring of the California season. Every individual was positioned and
draped in a ritualistic manner, their matching black Nike trainer's
(02:35):
visual and a purple cloth over their heads and torsos.
Thirty nine bodies would be found. Each member or an
individual embroidered triangular patch sewn onto the arm of their
matching uniforms, A black patch depicting cascading stars and words
that read Heaven's Gate Away Team.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
The video tape discovered and observed. The information obtained from
sources all indicate that this was a voluntary situation. They
ingested the drugs on their own. They may or may
not have been influenced, but we'll never know that. But
at this point, this is considered a mass suicide investigation.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yes, sir, what's up, Creeps? Welcome to twenty twenty three,
and we're starting it off with a very intense episode.
Were any of our listeners out there alive during this
cult's final days? I was fourteen, However, I was young
(03:47):
enough that my folks shielded me from the news when
it came to cults or general bad things. However, I
do remember things like this happening on the TV. People
were usually glued to it. It comes to this group,
there is a lot to unpack, and it had my
attention for a very, very long time. I'm sure the
(04:07):
Hubs aka mister Creep was starting to get a little concerned.
I believe his concern went slightly up, especially after I
wrote the remaining two members and actually found a way
to request class material. So the original website is still
active and untouched. It has that flashing red alert across
(04:31):
the top of it. It looks like it, of course,
is straight from the late nineties, that that hail bop
brings closure to Heaven's Gate. It's eerie just to know
that the last things they did, one of them was
updating this website. Before I jump into an add induced
rambling about everything I found, let me put everything into
(04:52):
a more organized manner for some mental digestion. Okay, so
let's start. What are we going to be talking about
Heaven's Gate now? They became a household name back in
nineteen ninety seven when thirty nine members committed mass suicide
to leave their bodies and move on to quote the
level above human. Their bodies were broadcast on live TV.
(05:15):
While the police walked through this Rancho Santa Fe mansion.
A man in a biohazard suit can be seen walking
from room to room with bodies in black tracksuits laid
neatly in beds with purple shrouds draped over them, perfectly
tucked in, ritualistically tucked in, laid flatten their beds dressed
(05:39):
neatly purple shrouds, and motionless IDs in their pocket, five
dollars and three quarters in their pocket and a small
bag of their belongings, their flight bag, if you will.
So I've been waiting to talk about this for quite
(05:59):
some time now. I've been holding on to the little
secret of that I contacted a cult, not really a secret,
but one of those things where I'm like, gee, I
wonder about you know, all these cults that you hear about,
do they still exist? You know? Is there like one
random member who's trying to, you know, get the gang
(06:20):
back together again? That kind of thing. So when I
was scrolling through their website, you can go through all
of their digital learning material. I will put it that way,
and there's a little area that has their email address
and a way to be contacted if you would like
a hard copy of their anthology, their their their book.
(06:44):
Now this isn't like a go to Barnes and Noble
kind of book, Okay, you have to you know that
it's one of those kind of things which is crazy. Now,
there is a bound like one of those ring binder
bound versions of class material in a really cool museum
Mounta in California. And I say really cool because it's
like a little time capsule. But I really wanted to
(07:05):
figure out a way to see if I could contact them,
So I've been waiting to discuss how I came in
possession of my Heaven's Gate class material anthology book that
was sent to me by Heaven's Gate. That's right, folks,
the Heaven's Gate. Heavens Gate is still active, although only
two official members. Now. I contacted them through the mail.
(07:31):
You know, it's a very small capacity that they're operating
out of Arizona. It turns out under the TELA organization,
the evolutionary level above human, that's what that stands for. Now.
What they did was when they decided to leave their vehicles,
(07:51):
they left someone in charge and trusted to continue the message.
More drama on that later. I was watching my favorite show,
the old CSI Las Vegas, not the new garbage that
they call CSI CSI Las Vegas, and an episode started
by finding cult members in an underground bunker that had
(08:11):
consumed a beverage to commit a small scale mass suicide
with their their following, you know, people being a galactic search,
you know, for their inner answers. Now, the episode is
called CSI Las Vegas Shooting Stars. It's a great episode.
(08:32):
Now around that time, I had my trusty laptop open
and saw that the Heaven's Gate website was still up.
I scrolled and scrolled and looked for the email. Now
I decided I first should must need to write them
an email. I'm excited just thinking about it. So I
wrote them an email, thinking I'm never going to hear back.
(08:52):
I used an old email, kept it short and sweet,
didn't write anything you know, crazy. Two minutes to minutes,
someone wrote me back, telling me the address to inquire
for materials and a price that they were charging for
said materials cash only. Of course, I placed my cash
in an envelope, assuming I would never see it again
(09:15):
and that the money was just merely for my entertainment
value at this point. A few week a few weeks
went by, I opened my mailbox to see a large,
padded envelope from T. E. L. A. H. In Arizona.
At the time, not knowing what the letters represented now
(09:39):
I know, I assumed that maybe I had, you know,
wrote for something and forgotten about it. I had just
started my research on this cult. And then I realized.
My heart raced and I opened the envelope and a
glossy purple book laid inside. The book is titled How
(09:59):
and Where in Heaven's Gate Maybe entered the Door to
the physical Kingdom level above human An anthology of materials.
No author noted, that's right, folks, Occult sent me their
class material. I know, I'm nuts. I'm completely nuts, and
that's okay. Now. I just thought it was crazy that
(10:22):
here I am receiving class material from a cult that
I was told no longer exists. So it kind of
lets you know, just because you're told that doesn't mean
that that is true. So now that we're past my
little giddy excitement of how I came in possession of
the Heaven's Gate class material and anthology, let's start where
we should start. Let's break it down. So who who
(10:45):
were the finding founding members of Heaven's Gate. Two people
were what got this whole thing kicked off? Marshall Hurf
apple White Junior and Bonnie Lou Nettles, more famously known
as Doe and T or Ta and Doe with T
being the quote older member Air quotes on purpose because
(11:08):
that's what's kind of what they called their person that's
leading the other member, you know, like they felt that
that she had that power and that Doe was basically
Tea's underling in a way. Now why her underling and
why is it the older member you talk? So let's
let's talk about that some more. Marshall met Bonnie just
(11:31):
as his life was on a major tilta whirl and
she was working as a nurse and her life was
also tipping over. He went from being married, children, an
instructor at a university, and an up and coming opera
performer who was really making a name for himself. Then
a life shift or he started to descend into quote
(11:54):
unquote darkness, resigning from his job, getting a divorce, struggle
with his sexuality, which was not an okay topic back then,
considering they were back then trying to heal people from homosexuality,
and then a little mental health hiccup where he found
himself checked in for a small stay. Now, Bonnie went
(12:17):
from being married with four children and a successful career
as a nurse to believing a nineteenth century monk was
communicating with her that she would meet a mysterious tall
man with a fair complexion. She was very into seance readings, astrology,
and the occult. Allegedly these two met while he was
(12:41):
seeing someone in the hospital, and she instantly saw Marshall
as the man that the monk had described. Now, what
is Heaven's Gate? Now, if you look up the description,
they put it under a new religious New Age religious group,
a UFO religion. Now cliff notes interpretation on my behalf
(13:03):
of their beliefs. They believe that they could transform themselves
into immortal extraterrestrial beings by rejecting their human vehicle. That's right,
just like my kiya that type of vehicle, and they
would ascend into heaven aka you know air quotes that
kind of thing. Now, this is where we talk about
(13:26):
the heaven. They called the evolutionary level above human what
we like to call them now occult very true. Now,
in the early days, they were known as human individual metamorphosis,
also total Overcomers, anonymous, and then finally the name that
we all have come to know and fear, I'll say,
(13:51):
Heaven's Gate. Now, when did this whole thing kick off?
So after Doe and t started their crazy enlightenment journeys
as they were leaving their life behind, or as I
imagine a hunter s Thompson's tile straight off the Deep Bend,
journey into their made up alien religion. They started gathering
groups back as early as nineteen seventy four after they
(14:13):
dreamt up their idea at a little sleepover a camping
trip at Gold Beach at Oregon. Of course, it seems
like all the crazy girls are there anyway, This has
many strings, you know, Oregon just has so many strings
to the beginnings of colts and weirdos. You know. We'll
talk about more of that in other episodes. So the
(14:35):
now infamous meeting at Walport that was then called the
Bay Shore Inn. After they distributed their flyers and posted
around town where they would be, the meeting commenced with
over one hundred and fifty people coming to see what
they were all about. Now, thankfully, no one from this
town was amongst those lost in that final departure and
(14:57):
gruesome scene in California. However, following the meeting, nearly two
dozen locals disappeared, many known to have sold off their belongings.
When locals inquired with the authorities, they were essentially told
that because they are adults, you know, hey, they can
they can do whatever they want. There's no laws being broken.
That they decided to sell all their stuff and leave.
(15:17):
When researching, I found an interesting account that I had
never come across before from the Oregon Coast Beach Connection.
They have a website. I'd like to read a quote
from that report. They wrote after the members made one
last trip to the resort, as they kept very detailed
logs of occasions and finances for everything they spent, and
(15:37):
I quote, with all members dressed in the same outfits
and matching close cropped hair, they freaked out employees beyond
that they did everything in unison, such as getting up
at the same exact minute and showering at the same time.
This resulted in the hotel running out of hot water
a little after five am. They brought in cases of
(16:00):
their own food, mostly bland things like bread and fruit pies.
Employees also noted that while they left the rooms immaculate,
they left behind odd little balls of different colored lint
end quote balls of lint, You don't say, so, let's
talk about where other than California. This group had a
(16:22):
history of being vagabonds for quite some time prior to
the final destination, including Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon we just
talked about, and California are just some of the Nome.
The members, of course, were not allowed to divulge where
they resided. The most famous, of course, is a huge
mansion they rented out for seven thousand dollars a month
(16:45):
in Brancho Santa Fe. The members were building websites other
web projects, and many were highly educated in bright individuals,
able to bring in income, and one even had a
trust fund to help finance this type of thing. The
mansion is huge, with pool, tennis courts, and sprawling gardens. This,
(17:10):
of course, place has been demolished and the road names
have been changed. It seems that no one wanted to
live in a mansion where thirty nine cult members had
committed a mass suicide. So let's talk about the why.
When listening to all the crazy videos and audio, the
why is very much and out of this world answer.
(17:33):
This group could have just existed on and on as
a collection of people that were truly waiting to be
beamed up by aliens. However, there is so much history
with skews to the timeline here and there, and it
all started with Doe and t on a journey for enlightenment.
Both had lives that were taking a turn, and I
(17:55):
feel in each other it fed the fire for something
like this to form. Within the reading of the Bible,
specifically the Book of Revelations, they felt that they were
the quote unquote the two that mentioned that would be martyred,
rise from the dead after three days, and ascend in
a cloud of light. The two had told their group
(18:17):
that this was biblical terms for a spaceship. Then a
few days after they ascended, the students would be carried
away in a spaceship. However, things took a turn so
also behind the scenes, while everyone else had completely cut
ties with everyone, Tea, the one above them all, had
(18:38):
two little skeletons in her closet. One she was secretly
writing to her daughter every month and also including money
that was coming from the group, unbeknownst to the group
or Dough until later. This is known because of interviews
(18:58):
conducted with her daughter recounts these letters and just how
angry she was when the second phase of T's issues
came to light. She was dying. Her human vehicle was
failing from cancer. She had already lost an eye, and
by the time they took her to a medical facility
it was too late. Liver cancer would take her. This
(19:24):
broke all the structure that had been built over the years,
that Doe and Tea alone would bring the other members
to the stars where they belonged. After listening to a
voice recording that was sent to T's daughter, it's of
Doe talking to her about how much of a chicken
he is, and he actually does use that word. That
(19:46):
he didn't reach out to her about her mother, that
she had passed, but that her mother had no pain.
You can hear his voice cracking, You can hear his pain.
You get a sense that he is trans forming second
to second into a different person, a cult leader that
we all saw. He went off the deep end. His
(20:10):
structure was gone, his light was gone, his love in
a family sense was gone. I felt sorry for him.
I'll admit I heard the voice. And you know how
when you can hear somebody that they're starting to cry
but they're trying to keep it back. You could hear it,
and I'll be honest, for a half a second, I
felt sorry for him when I heard it. I could
feel his heartbreak and knowing that I feel this shift
(20:32):
in the tracks of this group is what took them
to the edge. The trust has been built, the long
game has now shifted to the short game and the
engines were stoked. So let's talk about the how all right,
we're kind of rounding into the last lap here. Just
stay with me. I know there's a lot going on.
(20:53):
The history is behind them. The catalyst was added, and
now we head towards the end for this group of
lost souls. Hail Bob Commet was seen by a political
science professor named Courtney Brown and broadcast onto the radio,
and another catalyst was added that perhaps a structure was
seen following the tale of the comet that is seen
(21:15):
once every two thousand years. What is this structure, you ask?
A massive alien ship was hypothesized on a radio broadcast
by this professor. This was assigned to Marshall. This was it.
It's t now. Hail of the comet's namesake would later
(21:35):
state that this structure was simply a massive eight point
five magnitude star. Oops, oops, Brown is wrong. Not good. Now.
The star name, if you want to look it up,
is SAO one four one eight nine four. That's the
actual star name. Now the stage is set. This is it.
(22:01):
Dough made broadcasts about how the planet was about to
be recycled and the only way to survive was Through him,
they purchased alien abduction insurance that would pay out one
million per person for up to fifty people. The policy
covered abduction, impregnation, or death by aliens. Days prior, members
(22:25):
filmed their exit interviews, allowing them to give any closing
words before their departure. Now this is where I really
discovered how Marshall was able to get them. You can
see doubt, low confidence. You know, they all kind of
have that slouchy darting. I don't know, it's unsure, is
(22:46):
what I'm looking for. And they all have that little
bit of odd about them that society I'm sure had
something to say about. Now coming from a weirdo, I
am a weirdo. People have treated me different. I get it.
Been there, bullies, people on the streets, and even family
can make even the tiniest bit of self doubt grow
(23:07):
to a mountain after years of eating their crap. It
was scary to see how ready they were to leave
this world. To be honest, they were excited, even giddy.
In addition to these exit videos, their website was updated
with the current info links of the teachings and transcripts
even in different languages. In their mansion aka their ship.
(23:28):
The log that kept the comings and goings of every
member was updated a column that included the ETA of
their arrival back their comms center. Daily log lists each
member as they sign out for one last time, some
with a simple NA in that ETA column and others
(23:51):
that would write quote never. Thirty nine members took a
little under two hours to sign out. Uniforms were donned,
small bags were packed a five dollars bill and three
quarters were placed into their pockets. Packages mailed out to
the elite few containing the exit interviews and doze final message.
(24:16):
Everything kicked off starting between the estimated dates of March
twenty second to the twenty six three groups. They didn't
all die at the same time. Groups of fifteen fifteen
and then nine fifteen begin by stirring a large dose
of phenobarbitol into their pudding or apple sauce, followed by
(24:37):
a vodka beverage chaser. They are laid in their beds
with a plastic bag placed over their head to induce asphyxia.
After they have passed, the bag is removed, they are
positioned and a purple shroud is placed over their heads.
The second fifteen repeats the same process for the last
(24:58):
group seven members, including apple White, are aided through the process.
The last two members are found in their beds with
their bags still over their head and no purple shroud.
March twenty fifth, one of the trusted Rio DiAngelo, receives
their package containing the VHS tapes with a message from
(25:20):
Applewhite that they have left their vehicles. He gets in
a cab and takes a trip to California. He arrives
at the residence in Rancho and opens the door that
he was informed would be left unlocked. DiAngelo records a
non verbal walkthrough to record his findings. Remember that anonymous
(25:41):
phone call I mentioned in the beginning, it was DiAngelo.
Following the discovery, the families were contacted, Autopsies performed on everybody,
and the family given the choice to have their body
of their family members shipped or to have them cremated
and the ashes shipped them. Either way, the loved one
(26:02):
they had missed had no contact with them and never
given the chance of closure to see them alive one
more time, left with nothing but questions and heartache.
Welcome back to Creepy Confidential. I'm your host, Noel, your
resident weirdo Wisconsin. I I open case files on my
favorite cryptos, cults, conspiracies, and other worldly Creepy bringing you
new cases, live broadcasts, local lore, and in season two,
we bring you the Cult of the Month. So get ready, creeps.
(00:25):
It's season two of Creepy Confidential. Welcome to the Cult
of the Month. Each month, we spend a little more
time than usual so that we can discuss a cult
(00:47):
that has had our attention for the entire month. Some
of our listeners may not have been exposed to these
types of things, either due to age, location, or we're
shielded from the horrors of what happens in these groups.
We will be exposing the headlines, audio bytes, and background
on these groups to not only make listeners aware that
(01:07):
they exist, but to keep their eyes open to possible
cult behavior around them. We will break down the who, what, when, where,
why and how and show you how this group's history
has been woven into our pop culture through movies, music,
and fashion. Art imitates life. Due to the information in
(01:28):
the Cult of the Month episodes, we will start with
a disclaimer warning this episode is intended for mature audiences.
It contains graphic descriptions of crime scenes, mass suicide, and
cult behavior. March twenty six, nineteen ninety seven, three fifteen pm,
San Diego, nine one one receives an anonymous tip. This
(01:50):
individual is stating that they are reporting a mass suicide
and that they can provide the address. A lone deputy
arrives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, at a quiet mare
in a gated community one eight two four to one,
Colina Norte. A pungent odor greets Hiszle factory senses. He
(02:10):
opens a door he was informed would be left unlocked.
His unassisted walkthrough finds no survivors. He goes from room
to room, finding body after body. The remains are starting
to undergo early stages of decomposition due to the warm
spring of the California season. Every individual was positioned and
draped in a ritualistic manner, their matching black Nike trainer's
(02:35):
visual and a purple cloth over their heads and torsos.
Thirty nine bodies would be found. Each member or an
individual embroidered triangular patch sewn onto the arm of their
matching uniforms, A black patch depicting cascading stars and words
that read Heaven's Gate Away Team.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
The video tape discovered and observed. The information obtained from
sources all indicate that this was a voluntary situation. They
ingested the drugs on their own. They may or may
not have been influenced, but we'll never know that. But
at this point, this is considered a mass suicide investigation.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yes, sir, what's up, Creeps? Welcome to twenty twenty three,
and we're starting it off with a very intense episode.
Were any of our listeners out there alive during this
cult's final days? I was fourteen, However, I was young
(03:47):
enough that my folks shielded me from the news when
it came to cults or general bad things. However, I
do remember things like this happening on the TV. People
were usually glued to it. It comes to this group,
there is a lot to unpack, and it had my
attention for a very, very long time. I'm sure the
(04:07):
Hubs aka mister Creep was starting to get a little concerned.
I believe his concern went slightly up, especially after I
wrote the remaining two members and actually found a way
to request class material. So the original website is still
active and untouched. It has that flashing red alert across
(04:31):
the top of it. It looks like it, of course,
is straight from the late nineties, that that hail bop
brings closure to Heaven's Gate. It's eerie just to know
that the last things they did, one of them was
updating this website. Before I jump into an add induced
rambling about everything I found, let me put everything into
(04:52):
a more organized manner for some mental digestion. Okay, so
let's start. What are we going to be talking about
Heaven's Gate now? They became a household name back in
nineteen ninety seven when thirty nine members committed mass suicide
to leave their bodies and move on to quote the
level above human. Their bodies were broadcast on live TV.
(05:15):
While the police walked through this Rancho Santa Fe mansion.
A man in a biohazard suit can be seen walking
from room to room with bodies in black tracksuits laid
neatly in beds with purple shrouds draped over them, perfectly
tucked in, ritualistically tucked in, laid flatten their beds dressed
(05:39):
neatly purple shrouds, and motionless IDs in their pocket, five
dollars and three quarters in their pocket and a small
bag of their belongings, their flight bag, if you will.
So I've been waiting to talk about this for quite
(05:59):
some time now. I've been holding on to the little
secret of that I contacted a cult, not really a secret,
but one of those things where I'm like, gee, I
wonder about you know, all these cults that you hear about,
do they still exist? You know? Is there like one
random member who's trying to, you know, get the gang
(06:20):
back together again? That kind of thing. So when I
was scrolling through their website, you can go through all
of their digital learning material. I will put it that way,
and there's a little area that has their email address
and a way to be contacted if you would like
a hard copy of their anthology, their their their book.
(06:44):
Now this isn't like a go to Barnes and Noble
kind of book, Okay, you have to you know that
it's one of those kind of things which is crazy. Now,
there is a bound like one of those ring binder
bound versions of class material in a really cool museum
Mounta in California. And I say really cool because it's
like a little time capsule. But I really wanted to
(07:05):
figure out a way to see if I could contact them,
So I've been waiting to discuss how I came in
possession of my Heaven's Gate class material anthology book that
was sent to me by Heaven's Gate. That's right, folks,
the Heaven's Gate. Heavens Gate is still active, although only
two official members. Now. I contacted them through the mail.
(07:31):
You know, it's a very small capacity that they're operating
out of Arizona. It turns out under the TELA organization,
the evolutionary level above human, that's what that stands for. Now.
What they did was when they decided to leave their vehicles,
(07:51):
they left someone in charge and trusted to continue the message.
More drama on that later. I was watching my favorite show,
the old CSI Las Vegas, not the new garbage that
they call CSI CSI Las Vegas, and an episode started
by finding cult members in an underground bunker that had
(08:11):
consumed a beverage to commit a small scale mass suicide
with their their following, you know, people being a galactic search,
you know, for their inner answers. Now, the episode is
called CSI Las Vegas Shooting Stars. It's a great episode.
(08:32):
Now around that time, I had my trusty laptop open
and saw that the Heaven's Gate website was still up.
I scrolled and scrolled and looked for the email. Now
I decided I first should must need to write them
an email. I'm excited just thinking about it. So I
wrote them an email, thinking I'm never going to hear back.
(08:52):
I used an old email, kept it short and sweet,
didn't write anything you know, crazy. Two minutes to minutes,
someone wrote me back, telling me the address to inquire
for materials and a price that they were charging for
said materials cash only. Of course, I placed my cash
in an envelope, assuming I would never see it again
(09:15):
and that the money was just merely for my entertainment
value at this point. A few week a few weeks
went by, I opened my mailbox to see a large,
padded envelope from T. E. L. A. H. In Arizona.
At the time, not knowing what the letters represented now
(09:39):
I know, I assumed that maybe I had, you know,
wrote for something and forgotten about it. I had just
started my research on this cult. And then I realized.
My heart raced and I opened the envelope and a
glossy purple book laid inside. The book is titled How
(09:59):
and Where in Heaven's Gate Maybe entered the Door to
the physical Kingdom level above human An anthology of materials.
No author noted, that's right, folks, Occult sent me their
class material. I know, I'm nuts. I'm completely nuts, and
that's okay. Now. I just thought it was crazy that
(10:22):
here I am receiving class material from a cult that
I was told no longer exists. So it kind of
lets you know, just because you're told that doesn't mean
that that is true. So now that we're past my
little giddy excitement of how I came in possession of
the Heaven's Gate class material and anthology, let's start where
we should start. Let's break it down. So who who
(10:45):
were the finding founding members of Heaven's Gate. Two people
were what got this whole thing kicked off? Marshall Hurf
apple White Junior and Bonnie Lou Nettles, more famously known
as Doe and T or Ta and Doe with T
being the quote older member Air quotes on purpose because
(11:08):
that's what's kind of what they called their person that's
leading the other member, you know, like they felt that
that she had that power and that Doe was basically
Tea's underling in a way. Now why her underling and
why is it the older member you talk? So let's
let's talk about that some more. Marshall met Bonnie just
(11:31):
as his life was on a major tilta whirl and
she was working as a nurse and her life was
also tipping over. He went from being married, children, an
instructor at a university, and an up and coming opera
performer who was really making a name for himself. Then
a life shift or he started to descend into quote
(11:54):
unquote darkness, resigning from his job, getting a divorce, struggle
with his sexuality, which was not an okay topic back then,
considering they were back then trying to heal people from homosexuality,
and then a little mental health hiccup where he found
himself checked in for a small stay. Now, Bonnie went
(12:17):
from being married with four children and a successful career
as a nurse to believing a nineteenth century monk was
communicating with her that she would meet a mysterious tall
man with a fair complexion. She was very into seance readings, astrology,
and the occult. Allegedly these two met while he was
(12:41):
seeing someone in the hospital, and she instantly saw Marshall
as the man that the monk had described. Now, what
is Heaven's Gate? Now, if you look up the description,
they put it under a new religious New Age religious group,
a UFO religion. Now cliff notes interpretation on my behalf
(13:03):
of their beliefs. They believe that they could transform themselves
into immortal extraterrestrial beings by rejecting their human vehicle. That's right,
just like my kiya that type of vehicle, and they
would ascend into heaven aka you know air quotes that
kind of thing. Now, this is where we talk about
(13:26):
the heaven. They called the evolutionary level above human what
we like to call them now occult very true. Now,
in the early days, they were known as human individual metamorphosis,
also total Overcomers, anonymous, and then finally the name that
we all have come to know and fear, I'll say,
(13:51):
Heaven's Gate. Now, when did this whole thing kick off?
So after Doe and t started their crazy enlightenment journeys
as they were leaving their life behind, or as I
imagine a hunter s Thompson's tile straight off the Deep Bend,
journey into their made up alien religion. They started gathering
groups back as early as nineteen seventy four after they
(14:13):
dreamt up their idea at a little sleepover a camping
trip at Gold Beach at Oregon. Of course, it seems
like all the crazy girls are there anyway, This has
many strings, you know, Oregon just has so many strings
to the beginnings of colts and weirdos. You know. We'll
talk about more of that in other episodes. So the
(14:35):
now infamous meeting at Walport that was then called the
Bay Shore Inn. After they distributed their flyers and posted
around town where they would be, the meeting commenced with
over one hundred and fifty people coming to see what
they were all about. Now, thankfully, no one from this
town was amongst those lost in that final departure and
(14:57):
gruesome scene in California. However, following the meeting, nearly two
dozen locals disappeared, many known to have sold off their belongings.
When locals inquired with the authorities, they were essentially told
that because they are adults, you know, hey, they can
they can do whatever they want. There's no laws being broken.
That they decided to sell all their stuff and leave.
(15:17):
When researching, I found an interesting account that I had
never come across before from the Oregon Coast Beach Connection.
They have a website. I'd like to read a quote
from that report. They wrote after the members made one
last trip to the resort, as they kept very detailed
logs of occasions and finances for everything they spent, and
(15:37):
I quote, with all members dressed in the same outfits
and matching close cropped hair, they freaked out employees beyond
that they did everything in unison, such as getting up
at the same exact minute and showering at the same time.
This resulted in the hotel running out of hot water
a little after five am. They brought in cases of
(16:00):
their own food, mostly bland things like bread and fruit pies.
Employees also noted that while they left the rooms immaculate,
they left behind odd little balls of different colored lint
end quote balls of lint, You don't say, so, let's
talk about where other than California. This group had a
(16:22):
history of being vagabonds for quite some time prior to
the final destination, including Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon we just
talked about, and California are just some of the Nome.
The members, of course, were not allowed to divulge where
they resided. The most famous, of course, is a huge
mansion they rented out for seven thousand dollars a month
(16:45):
in Brancho Santa Fe. The members were building websites other
web projects, and many were highly educated in bright individuals,
able to bring in income, and one even had a
trust fund to help finance this type of thing. The
mansion is huge, with pool, tennis courts, and sprawling gardens. This,
(17:10):
of course, place has been demolished and the road names
have been changed. It seems that no one wanted to
live in a mansion where thirty nine cult members had
committed a mass suicide. So let's talk about the why.
When listening to all the crazy videos and audio, the
why is very much and out of this world answer.
(17:33):
This group could have just existed on and on as
a collection of people that were truly waiting to be
beamed up by aliens. However, there is so much history
with skews to the timeline here and there, and it
all started with Doe and t on a journey for enlightenment.
Both had lives that were taking a turn, and I
(17:55):
feel in each other it fed the fire for something
like this to form. Within the reading of the Bible,
specifically the Book of Revelations, they felt that they were
the quote unquote the two that mentioned that would be martyred,
rise from the dead after three days, and ascend in
a cloud of light. The two had told their group
(18:17):
that this was biblical terms for a spaceship. Then a
few days after they ascended, the students would be carried
away in a spaceship. However, things took a turn so
also behind the scenes, while everyone else had completely cut
ties with everyone, Tea, the one above them all, had
(18:38):
two little skeletons in her closet. One she was secretly
writing to her daughter every month and also including money
that was coming from the group, unbeknownst to the group
or Dough until later. This is known because of interviews
(18:58):
conducted with her daughter recounts these letters and just how
angry she was when the second phase of T's issues
came to light. She was dying. Her human vehicle was
failing from cancer. She had already lost an eye, and
by the time they took her to a medical facility
it was too late. Liver cancer would take her. This
(19:24):
broke all the structure that had been built over the years,
that Doe and Tea alone would bring the other members
to the stars where they belonged. After listening to a
voice recording that was sent to T's daughter, it's of
Doe talking to her about how much of a chicken
he is, and he actually does use that word. That
(19:46):
he didn't reach out to her about her mother, that
she had passed, but that her mother had no pain.
You can hear his voice cracking, You can hear his pain.
You get a sense that he is trans forming second
to second into a different person, a cult leader that
we all saw. He went off the deep end. His
(20:10):
structure was gone, his light was gone, his love in
a family sense was gone. I felt sorry for him.
I'll admit I heard the voice. And you know how
when you can hear somebody that they're starting to cry
but they're trying to keep it back. You could hear it,
and I'll be honest, for a half a second, I
felt sorry for him when I heard it. I could
feel his heartbreak and knowing that I feel this shift
(20:32):
in the tracks of this group is what took them
to the edge. The trust has been built, the long
game has now shifted to the short game and the
engines were stoked. So let's talk about the how all right,
we're kind of rounding into the last lap here. Just
stay with me. I know there's a lot going on.
(20:53):
The history is behind them. The catalyst was added, and
now we head towards the end for this group of
lost souls. Hail Bob Commet was seen by a political
science professor named Courtney Brown and broadcast onto the radio,
and another catalyst was added that perhaps a structure was
seen following the tale of the comet that is seen
(21:15):
once every two thousand years. What is this structure, you ask?
A massive alien ship was hypothesized on a radio broadcast
by this professor. This was assigned to Marshall. This was it.
It's t now. Hail of the comet's namesake would later
(21:35):
state that this structure was simply a massive eight point
five magnitude star. Oops, oops, Brown is wrong. Not good. Now.
The star name, if you want to look it up,
is SAO one four one eight nine four. That's the
actual star name. Now the stage is set. This is it.
(22:01):
Dough made broadcasts about how the planet was about to
be recycled and the only way to survive was Through him,
they purchased alien abduction insurance that would pay out one
million per person for up to fifty people. The policy
covered abduction, impregnation, or death by aliens. Days prior, members
(22:25):
filmed their exit interviews, allowing them to give any closing
words before their departure. Now this is where I really
discovered how Marshall was able to get them. You can
see doubt, low confidence. You know, they all kind of
have that slouchy darting. I don't know, it's unsure, is
(22:46):
what I'm looking for. And they all have that little
bit of odd about them that society I'm sure had
something to say about. Now coming from a weirdo, I
am a weirdo. People have treated me different. I get it.
Been there, bullies, people on the streets, and even family
can make even the tiniest bit of self doubt grow
(23:07):
to a mountain after years of eating their crap. It
was scary to see how ready they were to leave
this world. To be honest, they were excited, even giddy.
In addition to these exit videos, their website was updated
with the current info links of the teachings and transcripts
even in different languages. In their mansion aka their ship.
(23:28):
The log that kept the comings and goings of every
member was updated a column that included the ETA of
their arrival back their comms center. Daily log lists each
member as they sign out for one last time, some
with a simple NA in that ETA column and others
(23:51):
that would write quote never. Thirty nine members took a
little under two hours to sign out. Uniforms were donned,
small bags were packed a five dollars bill and three
quarters were placed into their pockets. Packages mailed out to
the elite few containing the exit interviews and doze final message.
(24:16):
Everything kicked off starting between the estimated dates of March
twenty second to the twenty six three groups. They didn't
all die at the same time. Groups of fifteen fifteen
and then nine fifteen begin by stirring a large dose
of phenobarbitol into their pudding or apple sauce, followed by
(24:37):
a vodka beverage chaser. They are laid in their beds
with a plastic bag placed over their head to induce asphyxia.
After they have passed, the bag is removed, they are
positioned and a purple shroud is placed over their heads.
The second fifteen repeats the same process for the last
(24:58):
group seven members, including apple White, are aided through the process.
The last two members are found in their beds with
their bags still over their head and no purple shroud.
March twenty fifth, one of the trusted Rio DiAngelo, receives
their package containing the VHS tapes with a message from
(25:20):
Applewhite that they have left their vehicles. He gets in
a cab and takes a trip to California. He arrives
at the residence in Rancho and opens the door that
he was informed would be left unlocked. DiAngelo records a
non verbal walkthrough to record his findings. Remember that anonymous
(25:41):
phone call I mentioned in the beginning, it was DiAngelo.
Following the discovery, the families were contacted, Autopsies performed on everybody,
and the family given the choice to have their body
of their family members shipped or to have them cremated
and the ashes shipped them. Either way, the loved one
(26:02):
they had missed had no contact with them and never
given the chance of closure to see them alive one
more time, left with nothing but questions and heartache.
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