The Heaven's Gate 'Ascendancy'

The mass suicide of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult in San Diego County was discovered on 26th March, 1997. The tragedy came to light after a former member alerted authorities, having received a farewell videotape recorded by the group. 

Leader Marshall Applewhite had preached that a spacecraft travelling in the wake of the Comet Hale–Bopp would carry their souls to a higher level of existence. In preparation, they dressed uniformly and consumed a lethal mixture of phenobarbital and alcohol in a carefully planned sequence over several days.

That belief system had developed over decades. Applewhite, who had a religious upbringing, met Bonnie Lou Nettles in the early 1970s. Together they formed a spiritual partnership, combining elements of Christianity with ideas drawn from science fiction and New Age thought. They came to believe that they were divinely appointed messengers, tasked with guiding followers to what they described as the “Next Level”. Over time, they attracted a small but committed group, many of whom severed ties with their families and gave up personal possessions in order to join the movement.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how the group’s gospel evolved, particularly after Nettles died of cancer in 1985; explore how the cult always used technology to recruit a larger following; and explain why Nike withdrew their Decades shoes from sale in response… 

CONTENT WARNING: mass suicide, mental illness.

Further Reading:

• ‘THE CULT THAT LEFT AS IT LIVED’ (The Washington Post, 1997): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/03/30/the-cult-that-left-as-it-lived/1e9baadb-f465-4a7a-8026-0ab7e4822139/

• Heaven’s Gate: https://heavensgate.com

• ‘Do's Final Exit’ (Heaven’s Gate, 1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdGXDQ_8bSA

#90s #Religion #Scandal #Space

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

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