Doomsday Cults Part 3: Heavens Gate | 26
History of the 90s
Kathy Kenzora
4.7 • 610 Ratings
🗓️ 24 June 2020
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of History of the 90s we continue our look back at the rise of doomsday cults in the years leading up to the new millennium.
In March 1997, Heaven’s Gate made headlines around the world when 39 members died by suicide and today it remains one of the most recognizable and notorious cults of the 20th century.
The group was formed in the 1970’s by Marshall Herf Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles who combined their belief in extra-terrestrials with Christian theology. They traveled around the country, collecting a loyal following of like-minded people.
By the 1990’s they settled in California and began to prepare for the end times. When the Hale-Bopp comet was discovered Applewhite told his followers that a spaceship was traveling behind the comet and would pick them up and take them to the Next Level. But the only way followers could join the spaceship was by committing suicide.
Contact:
Twitter: @1990shistory
Facebook: @1990shistory
Instagram: @that90spodcast
Email: 90s@curiouscast.ca
Guest:
Alan R. Warren, author of “Doomsday Cults: The Devil’s Hostages”
Facebook: @radiocub
A note on sources:
The description of Officer Robert Brunk’s discovery of the crime scene was included in an article by Gary Warth in the San Diego Union-Tribune on March 26, 2007.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to History of the 90s |
| 0:04.7 | early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime. |
| 0:11.8 | It was a beautiful day in San Diego, and 35-year-old sheriff's deputy Robert Brunk |
| 0:17.7 | had every reason to think his shift would be filled with the typical calls of a |
| 0:22.2 | beachside community. Lifeguard assist, vehicle burglaries, domestic violence, and as always, some rowdy |
| 0:29.3 | drunks. As he got ready for his shift, the first order of business was to call into the |
| 0:34.3 | communication center. The woman working dispatch surprised him |
| 0:38.9 | when she said that an anonymous 911 caller |
| 0:42.3 | had reported 40 cult members |
| 0:44.6 | had killed themselves in Rancho Santa Fe. |
| 0:48.6 | Brunk immediately thought it must be a prank, |
| 0:51.2 | but he had a duty to check it out. |
| 0:53.8 | He had no way of knowing what lay ahead. |
| 0:59.0 | I'm Kathy Kinsora, and on this episode of History of the 90s, we continue our look at the rise |
| 1:05.4 | of doomsday cults at the end of the 20th century. |
| 1:09.1 | Today, the story of Heaven's Gate, |
| 1:12.3 | the first cult of the internet era. |
| 1:19.3 | On the 10-minute drive into Rancho Santa Fe, |
| 1:22.6 | which is one of the highest-income neighborhoods in the nation, |
| 1:25.9 | Officer Brunk wondered how he was going to explain this |
| 1:29.0 | visit to the homeowners. But when he pulled up to the address, he found the gate was locked. |
| 1:35.0 | So he jumped the fence and walked up the steep driveway to the two-story mansion. Immediately he thought |
... |
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