WEBVTT - S01 Episode 3 Extra: Heaven's Gate 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.279 Shop local and celebrate America's Independence at Airport Home Appliance 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:07.200 with fourth of July savings of up to forty percent off. 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:10.560 Visit our website for special bias like French store refrigerators 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:13.480 as low as nine ninety nine or top mount refrigerators 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:16.320 perfect for storing extra food as low as four ninety nine. 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.000 Let us help you see even more with free delivery, 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.639 eighteen month interest, fry financing, and exclusive rebates not found 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.799 at big box stores, shop online, over the phone, or 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:30.000 in store. Airport Home Appliance, unbeatable price selection and people. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.440 Welcome to the first Unexplained Extra. For the weeks in 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.000 between episodes, we'll be taking a look at the stories 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.040 that for some reason or other didn't make it into 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.320 the show. For last week's episode, do you See what 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.960 I See? We came across a story that demonstrates the 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.000 sheer power of belief and how one man's interpretation of 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.440 the arrival of the hail Bob comment led to the 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:06.160 death of thirty nine people. The story begins in nineteen 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.200 seventy two with a Houston born nurse named Bonnie Nettles. 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.360 Nettles was in every way the typical suburban Texan, married 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.039 to a local businessman with whom she shared four children. 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.720 Some might say she had it all, but things, as 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.119 they often are, weren't quiet as they seemed. The marriage 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.160 had begun to deteriorate, during no small part to Bonnie's 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.600 insistence that she had started receiving messages from a nineteenth 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:34.560 century monk named Brother Francis. Nettles began attending seances in 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.160 an attempt to converse with Brother Francis, and it was 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.320 at one such meeting that she was given a message 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.959 that would change her life forever. She was informed that 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.400 she would meet a mysterious man with light hair and 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:50.040 a fair complexion. Despite the cliched nature of the message, 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.040 Bonnie became convinced that there was a guiding hand at play. 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.520 Sure Enough, a few months later, Bonnie did indeed cross 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:01.280 paths with a strange and mysterious man. His name was 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:06.640 Marshal Applewhite. True to the message, Marsha was indeed tool 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.760 with fair hair, and like Bonnie, he too had sensed 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:14.440 a strange connection between them. Convinced of their mutual destinies, 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.880 the pair agreed to leave behind the lives they'd known 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.520 and set off on a journey of self discovery around 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.400 the United States. It was on this journey that the 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:27.079 pair claimed to have experienced an extraordinary awakening. Suddenly everything 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.400 had become clear. They had been sent to Earth by 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:34.840 an unknown race of extraterrestrials with a special mission to 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.600 ascend to the level above human and to bring as 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:47.359 many other people with them as possible. The pair changed 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.079 their names to Tea and Doe and started to refine 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.880 their philosophy, incorporating a fusion of new Agism, science fiction, 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:58.720 and Christianity. In October nineteen seventy five, a nineteen year 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:02.480 old California named Nuel Moore and his girlfriend Yanna Prucher 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:08.000 came across a strange newspaper article. The heading read UFOs 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.640 Where did they come from? And requested the attendance of 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.520 all who were seeking meaning in their life. The advert 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:15.960 was enough to entice the pair to hitchhike all the 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.600 way to San Francisco to attend the meeting. Unfortunately, they 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.239 arrived too late, but were thankful when two members of 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:26.480 the group offered to drive them home. During the journey, 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:28.840 David and Yanna learnt a bit more about the group, 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:33.200 and in particular their enigmatic leaders T and Doe, Daniel, 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:35.920 and Yanna had stumbled upon what would become known as 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:40.840 the Heaven's Gate Cult. Yanna and Daniel returned the following week, 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.760 and impressed by the magnetism and message that T and 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:47.040 Doe were preaching, they agreed to join them, and many 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.640 others followed, all seduced by T and Doe's ultimate promise, 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:55.040 the granting of entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. Before long, 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.640 the group had begun to attract considerable attention in the 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.840 local press, and not much of it good. Fearing the 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.600 negative attention, T and Doe decided that in order for 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.760 the group to survive, they would have to cut off 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.360 all ties with the familiar human world and take the 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:12.680 operation underground. For the group members, this meant a strict 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.920 adherence to a number of rules and regulations. They were 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.200 ordered to cease all contact with family and friends. They 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.000 were to keep to a rigorous program promoting their distinctly 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.919 separate way of life, with every action regimented, from the 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:26.960 way meals would be cooked to how a man was 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.960 to shave himself. They would be given new names and 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:36.840 would henceforth be collectively known as the Class. As an 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.839 ex member of the group remarked the strict regime was 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.919 designed to brainwash individuals in order to enable them to 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:46.880 commit completely and absolutely to t and Doe's vision. In principle, 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.560 they believed the body was nothing more than a vehicle 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:52.720 for the soul, that the human experience was a temporary 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.960 existence that ultimately holds us back from our true potential. 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.320 To this end, every human habit and construction to be 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:05.480 completely stripped away. All understanding of gender, emotion, and sexuality 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.599 was rejected and egos obliterated in preparation for ascension to 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:15.640 the next level. The eradication of sexual desire proved particularly difficult, 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:19.240 with many of the men committing voluntary castration to overcome 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:23.480 their natural urges, and so the group remained for a 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:27.760 number of years until tragedy struck In nineteen eighty two. 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.360 Bonnie Nettles was diagnosed with cancer after losing an eye 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.160 to the disease. She later died in January nineteen eighty 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.800 five at the age of fifty eight. For Marshall, it 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:40.680 was a horrific blow, but somehow he had found an 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:48.400 extraordinary way to rationalize it. Are you always taking care 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.960 of your family? Do you often take care of others 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.320 and not yourself. Now it's time to take care of yourself, 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:58.200 to make time for you. You deserve it. Tele adoc 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.039 gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.479 get back to feeling your best to feeling like yourself again. 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.440 With teledoc, you can speak to a licensed therapist by 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:12.080 phone or video. Therapy appointments are available seven days a 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.680 week from seven am to nine pm local time. If 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:20.039 you feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.320 depressed or lonely, or you might be struggling with a 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:28.120 personal or family issue, teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.800 to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:36.240 to change counselors if needed. For free, teledoc therapy is 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:40.440 available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.839 visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today to 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:56.840 get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained Podcast. He 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.280 had come to believe that t had not died at all, 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.239 but had instead, in the process of passing over, picked 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.760 up an angelic body with which to continue her life. 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:07.720 He knew this, he told the group because although her 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.520 body had died, she had continued to remain in contact 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.640 with him, and that only he alone could interpret her messages. 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:17.800 One such message was that T was planning to one 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.000 day returned to Earth to pick up the rest of 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.360 the group. It was an idea that became the basis 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:29.600 for Marshall's ultimate plan. In the mid nineties, the group 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:33.400 relocated to one eight two three nine Perseo Victoria in 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:37.880 Rancho Santa Fe. They became self sufficient through a number 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:45.440 of small businesses, including intriguingly website design. At some point, 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:49.320 Doe's health had also begun to deteriorate, and after witnessing 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:52.120 what had happened to T, he became convinced that he 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.720 was also dying of cancer. And it was at this 0:07:54.800 --> 0:08:01.400 point that something changed. After years of social conditioning, all 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.600 the members had come to accept that Doe was their 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.760 literal savior. He had become nothing less than a god, 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.080 someone they were prepared to do anything for. But more pertinently, 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:13.640 Doe was the only man who had the power to 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.400 grant them access to the next level and ascension into 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.680 the Kingdom of Heaven. It became clear that time was 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:24.440 running out, and things took a sinister turn in March 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.840 nineteen ninety seven, as the hail Bop comet reached peak brightness, 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:33.360 Doe approached the group with an extraordinary claim. Flying just 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.080 behind the comet, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:40.679 was a UFO. It was t finally returning to collect 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.480 them all. The class knew immediately this was their last 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:51.360 chance to evacuate Earth before it was too late. In 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.760 a remarkable series of videos still available online, you can 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.320 watch the final messages recorded by the group, one after 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.880 the other. They talked to the camera, smiling, relaxed, and 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:07.880 even ecstatic at the thought of what awaited them. On 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.640 March twenty fourth, the group visited a local restaurant for 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.840 an all American dinner of iced tea, turkey, and blueberry cheesecape. 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.920 It was to be their last outing together. Two days later, 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.080 the San Diego Police Department received an anonymous phone call. 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:25.360 It had been placed by a member of the group 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.760 called Rio D'Angelo, formerly known as Richard Ford. He requested 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.360 the assistance of police officers at a location that was 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.719 well known to the San Diego Police Department, number one 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:49.760 eight two three nine, Perseo Victoria. When the first officers arrived, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:54.320 they found a surreal and haunting scene. Laid out on 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.400 beds and mattresses throughout the mansion were the bodies of 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:01.400 all thirty nine members of Heaven's Gate. Each member wore 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.120 black Nike trainers and was dressed head to toe in 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.199 the same black uniform. On each of their left arms 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.800 a small triangular patch with the notation Heaven's Gate Away 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.760 Team written on it, and all had been found with 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.920 five dollars and seventy five cents in cash on their person, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.880 an old habit they had adopted in case they were 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.480 ever to get stranded anywhere and needed a bus home. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.440 Included amongst the bodies was that of a forty year 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:33.959 old David Moore. After postmortem, it was found that all 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.719 thirty nine members had died after voluntarily ingesting a concoction 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:42.960 of alcohol, venobarabatol, and hydrocodone. It was the largest group 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.120 suicide to ever have occurred in the United States of America. 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.520 After all the others had been accounted for, Martial apple 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.320 White's body was found in the master bedroom, seated at 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.400 the end of his bed. After examination, it was found 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.760 that he had not been suffering from cancer after all. 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.880 All elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.680 Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, but feel 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.840 free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.800 regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:19.760 have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.280 You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 0:11:23.400 --> 0:12:32.160 or on Twitter at Unexplained Pod Now. It's time to 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:36.479 take care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.560 gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.960 get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:46.880 therapist by phone or video any time between seven am 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.960 to nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:55.360 Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:59.559 app or visit teledoc dot com. Forward slash Unexplained Podcast 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.400 Today to get started. That's t e l a d 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.679 oc dot com Slash Unexplained Podcast