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[Music]
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Heaven's Gate was a cult that led to a
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tragedy that took American news by storm
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in the mid 1990s a charismatic and
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inherently insane cult leader had
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convinced 38 people to take their own
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lives the reason for this was to be able
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to ascend to an allegedly higher level
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of being named tella which stands for
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the evolutionary level above human upon
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reaching tella they'd be living on a
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spacecraft as it flies behind the
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hale-bopp comet Marshall Applewhite and
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Bonnie nettles were the infamous
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masterminds behind this tragedy and they
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leveraged the rise of the Internet as
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their engine to drive this insane
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ideology and gain a following their
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members part token outlandish acts such
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as castrating themselves and giving up
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all possessions and relationships that
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make up basic human life such as friends
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family material things sexuality you
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name it they also believe crazy things
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such as the idea that God was an alien
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they were living in the end times
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and that their bodies were nothing more
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than vehicles for their consciousness
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also they thought that if they stayed on
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earth they'd have to eventually battle
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demons which Applewhite had called the
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Luciferians it was absolutely insane how
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their members believed any of this
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anyway in March of 1997 the entire
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Heaven's Gate cult took their own lives
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while wearing black track suits they did
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this by drinking vodka and eating
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applesauce laced with rabbits in doing
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this they were finally going to be able
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to leave their vehicles behind and board
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the spacecraft who live in an infinite
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heaven awesome right
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well it didn't go this way and police
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eventually found their bodies after an
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ominous 9-1-1 call
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[Music]
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[Music]
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today we're going to dive into five
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things you probably didn't know about
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the Heaven's Gate cult
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[Music]
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originally members were promised that
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they'd be able to take their vehicles or
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bodies with them as they ascended to the
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Telus base craft in an interview with
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the Los Angeles Times in 1994 members
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expressed excitement to be able to do
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this without dying however after the
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death of Bonnie nettles Applewhite
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backtracked on this ideology and
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convinced his followers that they'd be
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granted a new vehicle entirely upon
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boarding the craft members were taken
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aback by this but maintained optimism
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and the possibility of being able to
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ascend without dying as we know this was
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definitely not the case
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Heaven's Gate members were urged to cut
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off all ties to the normal world
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including their material items family
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and friends however this did not stop
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them from doing things together only two
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days before their suicide yes to the
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entire cult ate dinner at the Marie
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Callender's restaurant in Carlsbad while
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here they apparently all ordered the
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same thing ice tea's dinner salads with
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tomato vinegar dressing turkey pot pie
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and cheesecake with blueberries the
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waitress claimed that they seemed really
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nice friendly and polite honestly it
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really makes you think twice about who
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you serve at work you never know if the
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person you're talking to today will be
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alive tomorrow
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Alan Hale was one of the scientists who
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discovered the hell Bob comment which
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was a centerpiece of the Heaven's Gate
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ideology after the mass suicide in March
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of 1977 Hale had claimed that he had a
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feeling that something like this would
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happen he claimed that he told a
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colleague that after discovery of the
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comet there would likely be suicides and
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other strange events occurring
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thereafter due to people reading about
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apocalyptic events and other
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conspiracies that would arise around
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this discovery he urged science fiction
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writers to stray away from writing about
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things like this to prevent such
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tragedies however this was not the case
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all in all he was not surprised by the
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group's actions when the suicide
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happened
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[Music]
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the Heaven's Gate cult began to grow at
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just the right time back in the early
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1990s the internet was still in its
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infancy and was still a marvel to users
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who were just discovering it back during
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this time cult leaders were able to
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compile all their ideas onto a webpage
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for potential followers to view over
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time the views expressed on the website
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had become more and more extreme to the
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point of being reclusive and at this
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point the ideology behind the hale-bopp
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comet began to take the limelight as a
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centerpiece of their beliefs we now know
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that this eventually led to Applewhite
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convincing his followers to partake in
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this mass suicide
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[Music]
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if you go to the Heaven's Gate website
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you'll notice that it looks exactly the
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same as it's always been in fact if you
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contact the email from the side you'll
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surprisingly still get a response one
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person reached out and asked why these
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people are still here while everyone
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else is on tella and they responded
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saying that they're still here to spread
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the word about Heaven's Gate and make
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sure that the information is quote
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accessible for their return those who
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are interested will find the information
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the alleged people behind the websites
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continued existence are rumored to be
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Mark and Sarah king who are two longtime
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members that stayed back on earth how
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this website still remains active to
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this day baffles me and it'll be
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interesting to see if any changes occur
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within our lifetimes Heaven's Gate
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remains as one of the most infamous
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cults in the world and the resulting
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suicide that occurred merely from
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brainwashing is absolutely astonishing
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those 39 people took their own lives for
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absolutely no reason and now they live
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on throughout history being remembered
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as the unfortunate victims of an evil
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mastermind
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either that or they're living happily on
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tella basking in the sunlight and in
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peace for eternity
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it looks like we'll never really know we
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just dope into Heaven's Gate I hope you
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all like this and I look forward to
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seeing you tomorrow for day 3 thanks so
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much for watching I love you all and
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good night
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[Applause]
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[Music]
