The Heaven’s Gate cult gained media interest after a mass suicide occurring in March 1997. The cult was founded on the beliefs of UFOs, and to this day, Heaven’s Gate is considered to be the first known cult of the start of the Internet era.

When he was younger, Marshall H. Applewhite had told his assistants that he was the second coming of Christ, and that God was an extrinsic thing. He had also believed that the world was in the end times, and that Judgement Day was soon to come. The founders, Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles met in the early 70’s and had been convinced that they were the two witnesses of the end times mentioned in the Bible. They attracted followers and had begun prepping for new life- inside a spaceship.

The group had created a nickname for Applewhite and Nettles, they had called them ‘The Two’. Individually, the pair was called Do and Ti. However, in 1985, Nettles had passed away, which had left Applewhite stressed, as he now had to keep control of his followers and still convince them of the prospect of heaven. After the death of Nettles, the cult’s membership had decreased drastically. Nettles is described as Applewhite’s ‘sexless’ partner, though it is not known what this truly means. At first, the cult lived on a commune in Texas, but once they had expected a large transition to a new era, they pilgrimaged to California. They lived based on certain disciplines that they believed would ascend them to higher statuses. It was then that they created ‘heavensgate.com’, to gain new followers, and to gain a better reputation online.

In early 1997, rumors had gone around about the comet Hale-Bopp; that it was really a spaceship. This rumor was especially popular within new spirituality movements. Upon hearing this, the cult had planned to ‘ride’ on the comet to heaven. Prior to the execution of the plan, members of the cult had made videos explaining why they chose to commit these acts. They had also reportedly gone out for dinner before the fatalities took place, all the members ordering the same exact thing. The remaining 39 members of the cult had gone through with their plan for a mass suicide. They drank poison in waves, believing that the ‘spaceship’ would come and take them to paradise. The consequence for not committing suicide, or for not getting on the spaceship, was that Judgement Day would soon be upon everyone, and the comet Hale-Bopp was humanity’s last chance to go to heaven.

However, at the start of its creation, the cult had promised to its members that killing oneself was not the true way to reach heaven.

When the San Diego County Police had found the cult members bodies, it had appeared that all the members were wearing dark matching clothing, and black and white Nike shoes. These specific Nike shoes became infamous because of the group and have since been discontinued. Applewhite chose Nike shoes for two reasons, one, he liked them, and two, he thought the slogan ‘just do it’ was a message that the cult members followed well.

The cult had also put five dollars and 3 quarters in their pockets, because of a Mark Twain quote that stated $5.75 was the cost to ride a comets tail to heaven. All the members had similar haircuts, regardless of age. All the men were castrated, as the group believed that heaven would be a sexless place, not confined by genitalia, therefore the men were mutilated. The police had received an anonymous tip about the mansion prior to their discovery. Before the suicide, the group had eaten apple sauce laced with drugs, and had drank vodka alongside.

Now, the Heavens Gate website is most likely being run by two surviving members, Mark and Sarah King.