1997 — March ~23, Mass Suicide by poison, Heaven’s Gate Cult, Rancho Santa Fe, CA– 39

— 39  CNN. “Mass suicide involved sedatives, vodka and careful planning.” 3-27-1997.

— 39  Hexham and Poewe. “UFO Religion: Making Sense of the Heaven’s Gate Suicides.”

— 39  History.com. “This Day in History: Mar 26, 1997. Heaven’s Gate cult members found dead.”

— 39  NewspaperARCHIVE. The Daily Perspective. “1997: Bodies Found in Heaven’s Gate…

— 39  Religioustoleranve.org. “Destructive cults. Heaven’s Gate: Christian/UFO believers.” 1997

— 39  Zeller. “Anatomy of a mass suicide: The dark, twisted story behind…” Salon, 11-15-2014.

 

Narrative Information

 

NewspaperArchive.com: “The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult were found in a California mansion today. The members had timed their death with the arrival of the Hale-Bopp comet, as the cult believed their souls could then catch a ride on a spaceship that was traveling behind the comet.

 

“They dressed in black, wore their hair in buzz cuts and lived – dozens of them – in an antiseptic, million-dollar mansion stocked with bulk food and computers used to create Internet sites. They died – 39 men and women – in the same mansion, lying in apparent peace on their backs, arms at their sides, each covered across the face and chest with a triangular shroud of purple cloth,” reported the Syracuse Herald Journal on March 27, 1997.

 

“NOTE: The deaths initially proved to be a mystery to authorities, as they found no gunshot wounds or knife holes, and they did not suspect poison. However, it was later discovered that each member had ingested a lethal mixture of phenobarbital and vodka.”  (NewspaperArchive.)

 

Religioustoleranve.org: “Heaven’s Gate is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in California. 21 women and 18 men voluntarily committed suicide in three groups on three successive days starting on 1997-MAR-23. Most were in their 40’s; the rest covered an age range of 26 to 72.  Two months later, two additional members, Charles Humphrey and Wayne Cooke attempted suicide in a hotel room a few miles from the Rancho Santa Fe mansion; Cooke succeeded. Humphrey tried again in the Arizona desert during 1998-FEB and was successful….” (Religioustoleranve.org. “Destructive cults. Heaven’s Gate: Christian/UFO believers.” 3-25-1997, 9-22-2009 update.)

 

Zeller: “On March 22 and March 23, 1997, all thirty-nine active members of Heaven’s Gate committed suicide, exiting the Earth, as they referred to the act. In three waves, members ingested a poisonous mixture of barbiturates and alcohol, and as their breath slowed and bodies shut down, they asphyxiated under plastic bags that they had tied over their heads. Members followed guidelines they had researched several years earlier, and laid down their earthly lives in what can only be called ritual precision and attention to detail. In keeping with the group’s customs, each member wore an identical uniform, but in their final months the group’s members had added a customized “Heaven’s Gate Away Team” patch that positioned them as merely visitors to this planet rather than inhabitants, invoking the concept from the Star Trek universe of visitors from a traveling spaceship….” (Zeller, Benjamin. “Anatomy of a mass suicide: The dark, twisted story behind a UFO death cult.” Salon, 11-15-2014.)

 

Sources

 

CNN. “Mass suicide involved sedatives, vodka and careful planning.” 3-27-1997. Accessed 1-27-2016 at: http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/27/suicide/index.html

 

Hexham, Irving and Karla Poewe. “UFO Religion: Making Sense of the Heaven’s Gate Suicides.” Web version of article originally appearing in Christian Century, 5-7-1997, pp. 439-440. Accessed 1-27-2016 at: http://people.ucalgary.ca/~nurelweb/papers/irving/HGCC.html

 

History.com. “This Day in History: Mar 26, 1997. Heaven’s Gate cult members found dead.” Accessed 1-27-2016 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/heavens-gate-cult-members-found-dead

 

Newspaperarchive.com. The Daily Perspective. “1997: Bodies Found in Heaven’s Gate Suicide.  Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/DailyPerspectiveHome.aspx

 

Religioustoleranve.org. “Destructive cults. Heaven’s Gate: Christian/UFO believers.” 3-25-1997, 9-22-2009 update. Accessed 1-27-2016 at: http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_highe.htm

 

Zeller, Benjamin. “Anatomy of a mass suicide: The dark, twisted story behind a UFO death cult.” Salon, 11-15-2014. Accessed 1-27-2016 at: http://www.salon.com/2014/11/15/anatomy_of_a_mass_suicide_the_dark_twisted_story_behind_a_ufo_death_cult/