1 00:00:07,190 --> 00:00:10,081 [geese honking] 2 00:00:17,251 --> 00:00:20,130 [flute playing] 3 00:00:38,191 --> 00:00:40,121 SAWYER: Since there was no music in the group, 4 00:00:40,140 --> 00:00:42,060 I sold all of my instruments. 5 00:00:42,081 --> 00:00:46,081 And so, when I left, the first thing I did, 6 00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:48,250 it was rent a flute and buy a harmonica. 7 00:00:49,030 --> 00:00:51,240 I like to, you know, mix it up. 8 00:00:52,021 --> 00:00:54,081 [playing harmonica] 9 00:00:57,100 --> 00:00:59,221 [harmonica and drums playing] 10 00:01:07,061 --> 00:01:10,090 Yeah, I was hitchhiking down to Texas one time. 11 00:01:10,111 --> 00:01:13,081 [continues playing] 12 00:01:17,141 --> 00:01:19,240 And I saw a UFO down there. 13 00:01:25,161 --> 00:01:28,100 It was about 1976 14 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,221 after I joined with what was called the UFO cult. 15 00:01:36,111 --> 00:01:38,180 But anyway, I didn't-- I didn't have any sex 16 00:01:38,201 --> 00:01:40,191 with aliens or anything like that. 17 00:01:46,161 --> 00:01:48,070 There's other parts of that 18 00:01:48,090 --> 00:01:50,240 that I could keep on talking about, but... 19 00:01:52,250 --> 00:01:55,250 I don't wanna freak people out. 20 00:01:56,030 --> 00:01:58,161 [playing continues] 21 00:02:11,051 --> 00:02:12,231 Let's see here. 22 00:02:12,250 --> 00:02:17,060 This book was written by Ti and Do. 23 00:02:17,081 --> 00:02:19,081 The cover says "How and When 24 00:02:19,100 --> 00:02:21,071 'Heaven's Gate'"-- in the biggest letters-- 25 00:02:21,090 --> 00:02:25,171 "The Door to the Physical Kingdom Level Above Human 26 00:02:25,191 --> 00:02:27,131 May Be Entered." 27 00:02:28,180 --> 00:02:31,171 [music] 28 00:02:38,041 --> 00:02:41,180 "As the two Older Members put out a 'statement' 29 00:02:41,201 --> 00:02:45,060 "and held public meetings over about a nine-month period 30 00:02:45,081 --> 00:02:49,191 "in 1975-76, to bring their crew together, 31 00:02:49,210 --> 00:02:53,090 "the media tagged them the 'UFO Cult.' 32 00:02:53,111 --> 00:02:56,250 "Because of their expectation of leaving aboard a spacecraft, 33 00:02:57,030 --> 00:02:59,160 "the two Older Members then went into seclusion 34 00:02:59,180 --> 00:03:00,210 with their crew." 35 00:03:04,131 --> 00:03:08,081 After that nine-month period of holding meetings 36 00:03:08,101 --> 00:03:10,240 around the country, 37 00:03:11,021 --> 00:03:12,250 Ti and I felt like we had instruction 38 00:03:13,030 --> 00:03:17,111 to call the students together and to begin 39 00:03:17,131 --> 00:03:21,240 an intensive, or in-depth classroom training program. 40 00:03:31,081 --> 00:03:33,071 The numbers started dwindling, 41 00:03:33,090 --> 00:03:37,160 cut about 50% to somewhere in the 40s or 50s. 42 00:03:37,180 --> 00:03:40,210 And then, we started 43 00:03:40,231 --> 00:03:42,240 really getting down to the nitty-gritty. 44 00:04:34,111 --> 00:04:37,170 They said it was gonna be the most difficult process 45 00:04:37,191 --> 00:04:40,210 that a human could embark upon, 46 00:04:40,230 --> 00:04:44,111 and that it's not likely that we would all make it. 47 00:04:48,030 --> 00:04:50,050 BENJAMIN: They put this together out of everything 48 00:04:50,071 --> 00:04:52,061 they thought was important. 49 00:04:52,081 --> 00:04:55,021 This is a list of their behavioral guidelines. 50 00:04:56,050 --> 00:05:00,201 These were distributed in November 1976. 51 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,100 The read is very extreme if you're not a member. 52 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,050 [Frank Lyford speaking] 53 00:05:13,121 --> 00:05:18,241 If you don't want to do those, then you're not welcome. 54 00:05:19,201 --> 00:05:22,220 SAWYER: The first one is, "Can you follow instructions 55 00:05:22,241 --> 00:05:25,150 without adding your own interpretation?" 56 00:05:25,170 --> 00:05:28,021 Two, "Can you deliver instructions 57 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,030 "as you receive them, or do they change 58 00:05:30,050 --> 00:05:31,220 according to your programming?" 59 00:05:31,241 --> 00:05:35,090 Three, "Do you participate in inconsiderate conversation?" 60 00:05:35,111 --> 00:05:37,241 Four, "Are you physically clumsy?" 61 00:05:38,021 --> 00:05:40,241 Five, "Do you halfway complete a task because..." 62 00:05:41,021 --> 00:05:44,111 Six, "Do you put tasks off, procrastinate?" 63 00:05:44,131 --> 00:05:46,121 NARRATOR: Strict obedience and accuracy 64 00:05:46,141 --> 00:05:48,150 were demanded for entry to the Next Level, 65 00:05:48,170 --> 00:05:50,191 so every task was regulated. 66 00:05:50,210 --> 00:05:53,071 You were not to come up with, 67 00:05:53,090 --> 00:05:55,131 "Well, I'm gonna make the pancakes this big." 68 00:05:55,150 --> 00:05:58,040 There was a mixture, 69 00:05:58,061 --> 00:06:01,141 a size, how many a person got, 70 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,251 how the syrup was poured on it, everything. 71 00:06:05,030 --> 00:06:07,230 SAWYER: Nine, "Staying in my own head, 72 00:06:07,251 --> 00:06:10,081 "having private thoughts, taking any action 73 00:06:10,100 --> 00:06:12,071 without using my check partner." 74 00:06:12,090 --> 00:06:14,040 BENJAMIN: Heaven's Gate practiced a system 75 00:06:14,061 --> 00:06:15,230 called the check partner system. 76 00:06:16,021 --> 00:06:18,061 Your check partner would be assigned to you 77 00:06:18,081 --> 00:06:20,050 to make sure that you were following the rules. 78 00:06:20,071 --> 00:06:21,251 LESLIE LIGHT: And they'd pair you up with the person 79 00:06:22,030 --> 00:06:24,160 you'd least likely want to be with. 80 00:06:24,181 --> 00:06:27,040 And I didn't have a lot of rough street edges, 81 00:06:27,061 --> 00:06:30,181 so they gave me this really crazy, hyper, 82 00:06:30,201 --> 00:06:33,220 speed-freak, street person guy 83 00:06:33,241 --> 00:06:36,150 that was, like, hard to be around. 84 00:06:37,170 --> 00:06:39,111 SAWYER: "Major Offenses: 85 00:06:39,131 --> 00:06:42,100 "Lying to my teachers or any of my classmates. 86 00:06:42,121 --> 00:06:45,251 "Breaking any instruction or procedure knowingly. 87 00:06:46,030 --> 00:06:50,021 Sensuality-- permitting arousal in thought or in action." 88 00:06:51,241 --> 00:06:53,170 WOMAN: Sex, it's a tough one. 89 00:06:53,191 --> 00:06:54,251 - It's a hard one. - [laughing] 90 00:06:55,030 --> 00:06:56,241 WOMAN #2: What if you slip? 91 00:06:57,021 --> 00:07:02,050 I mean, are you forgiven once if you make a slip? 92 00:07:02,071 --> 00:07:03,230 [laughter] 93 00:07:05,110 --> 00:07:07,241 [Frank speaking] 94 00:07:22,090 --> 00:07:24,090 SAWYER: What's left, right? 95 00:07:24,110 --> 00:07:25,210 Right? 96 00:07:25,230 --> 00:07:27,090 Someone would think, 97 00:07:27,110 --> 00:07:29,220 "If I followed all these things 100%, 98 00:07:29,241 --> 00:07:31,251 then I would be a robot." 99 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,210 I didn't like what I saw, 100 00:07:38,230 --> 00:07:41,210 'cause the rigidity and the... 101 00:07:41,230 --> 00:07:44,030 was a turn-off to me. 102 00:07:44,050 --> 00:07:47,241 I would never submit to anything that was controlled. 103 00:07:48,021 --> 00:07:51,081 See, I don't-- anything that controls people, 104 00:07:51,100 --> 00:07:54,180 that's why I became a hippie, I did not like control. 105 00:07:54,201 --> 00:07:57,220 And those two things, I just thought, that's-- 106 00:07:57,241 --> 00:08:01,071 you know, I don't wanna be involved anymore. 107 00:08:04,121 --> 00:08:06,110 ROBERT BALCH: As people left the group 108 00:08:06,131 --> 00:08:08,220 for one reason or another, got spun off, 109 00:08:08,241 --> 00:08:13,110 the energy inside the group would actually increase 110 00:08:13,131 --> 00:08:16,110 because everybody really wants to be there, 111 00:08:16,131 --> 00:08:18,021 and you're getting rid of the people 112 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,110 that have doubts, questions, 113 00:08:20,131 --> 00:08:23,131 kind of still too much into their own personal habits. 114 00:08:23,150 --> 00:08:25,170 Those people kind of fall to the wayside. 115 00:08:25,191 --> 00:08:29,191 TI: Do you feel that you have made the progress 116 00:08:29,210 --> 00:08:31,081 that you wanted to make? 117 00:08:31,100 --> 00:08:33,251 Have you met the expectations? 118 00:08:34,030 --> 00:08:35,251 Well, the thing is, our expectations 119 00:08:36,030 --> 00:08:37,101 are constantly growing. 120 00:08:37,121 --> 00:08:42,211 It's like... I know I've changed some, 121 00:08:42,231 --> 00:08:47,050 but I haven't become nearly what I want to become. 122 00:08:48,131 --> 00:08:52,231 I don't think people know how deep their humanness goes, 123 00:08:52,251 --> 00:08:56,131 and what it involves trying to overcome it. 124 00:08:56,150 --> 00:08:58,091 It gets down to the nitty-gritty 125 00:08:58,111 --> 00:09:00,070 of your ways of looking at things, 126 00:09:00,091 --> 00:09:02,050 and your ways of responding, 127 00:09:02,070 --> 00:09:03,241 and things that have been engrained in you 128 00:09:04,021 --> 00:09:09,111 for years and years in this particular body that you have. 129 00:09:09,131 --> 00:09:13,121 And there are a lot of things that I've been feeling, 130 00:09:13,141 --> 00:09:16,040 but nothing I could describe. 131 00:09:16,060 --> 00:09:18,180 [music] 132 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,211 JANJA LALICH: So, this was one of their publications, 133 00:09:32,231 --> 00:09:34,030 it's called "Ruffles." 134 00:09:34,050 --> 00:09:36,121 It says here "Snacks for thinkers" 135 00:09:36,141 --> 00:09:40,141 because this spaceship kind of looks like a potato chip. 136 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,050 This was given to me by Dick Joslyn, 137 00:09:44,070 --> 00:09:47,150 and everyone was asked to turn in 138 00:09:47,170 --> 00:09:49,131 some kind of little saying 139 00:09:49,150 --> 00:09:52,231 that fit very much with their ideology. 140 00:09:52,251 --> 00:09:55,030 For example, "A goal is not reached 141 00:09:55,050 --> 00:09:57,050 "by just learning how to reach it. 142 00:09:57,070 --> 00:09:59,251 The goal is reached by doing what you learned." 143 00:10:00,030 --> 00:10:03,190 So, it kind of shows their sense of discipline. 144 00:10:03,211 --> 00:10:06,060 "Everyone interprets the truth 145 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:08,131 at his own level of understanding." 146 00:10:08,150 --> 00:10:11,211 This is like alternate facts, right? 147 00:10:11,231 --> 00:10:13,190 This is very relevant to today. 148 00:10:13,211 --> 00:10:15,251 These people were very ahead of time. 149 00:10:16,030 --> 00:10:17,121 [chuckles] 150 00:10:17,141 --> 00:10:20,091 "Reality is not something you escape from. 151 00:10:20,111 --> 00:10:22,251 Reality is something you escape to." 152 00:10:24,190 --> 00:10:27,150 So, that means you're not really living in reality. 153 00:10:29,170 --> 00:10:33,160 What cults need to do is to turn you into a conformist, 154 00:10:33,180 --> 00:10:36,221 you know, to get you, hopefully, to become a true believer. 155 00:10:36,241 --> 00:10:41,070 They need to break down you and create a new you. 156 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,200 DO: When you're in the process of overcoming this vehicle, 157 00:10:54,221 --> 00:10:57,070 it loses its identity. 158 00:10:57,091 --> 00:11:01,021 It loses the consciousness of who it was. 159 00:11:02,121 --> 00:11:04,241 JANJA: The deepest part of the indoctrination came 160 00:11:05,021 --> 00:11:09,190 when they were convinced that they were not human beings. 161 00:11:09,211 --> 00:11:14,030 They were convinced that they were actually these beings 162 00:11:14,050 --> 00:11:16,101 from the Next Level above, 163 00:11:16,121 --> 00:11:19,160 and that they were essentially living inside 164 00:11:19,180 --> 00:11:23,070 these human shells, which they called vehicles. 165 00:11:29,050 --> 00:11:30,211 DO: We'll use the term "vehicle" 166 00:11:30,231 --> 00:11:33,190 when we speak of this body that we're wearing, 167 00:11:33,211 --> 00:11:37,211 this flesh and bones, because we don't relate to it. 168 00:11:37,231 --> 00:11:41,030 It's not me, it's just a suit of clothes that I wear. 169 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:44,150 BENJAMIN: Any religious group has its own terminology. 170 00:11:44,170 --> 00:11:46,131 As you join the group, you have to learn the language. 171 00:11:46,150 --> 00:11:48,241 It's sort of an unofficial initiation process. 172 00:11:49,190 --> 00:11:52,160 SAWYER: The house was a craft, like a spacecraft. 173 00:11:52,180 --> 00:11:54,121 The kitchen was the Nutri-Lab. 174 00:11:54,141 --> 00:11:56,150 The laundry was the Fiber-Lab. 175 00:11:58,060 --> 00:12:01,040 The vehicle's sexual organs were plumbing. 176 00:12:01,060 --> 00:12:03,241 Sex was sensuality, 177 00:12:04,021 --> 00:12:06,180 not that we talked about sex much, 178 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:08,190 except for avoiding it. 179 00:12:10,190 --> 00:12:13,221 They didn't explain it when they changed the terminology, 180 00:12:13,241 --> 00:12:16,080 but all of these terminology changes 181 00:12:16,101 --> 00:12:18,121 also changed the way we thought about things. 182 00:12:18,141 --> 00:12:20,180 So, it didn't stimulate memories. 183 00:12:22,211 --> 00:12:25,131 One of the things that helps you, and this is-- 184 00:12:25,150 --> 00:12:27,121 this was kind of adopted, in a way, 185 00:12:27,141 --> 00:12:29,141 in the Catholic church, 186 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:33,231 when nuns and monks that isolate themselves 187 00:12:33,251 --> 00:12:37,211 in thoughtful studying conditions, 188 00:12:37,231 --> 00:12:39,121 they take another name. 189 00:12:40,231 --> 00:12:46,190 It helps disassociate them with the family tree. 190 00:12:52,111 --> 00:12:55,060 Around 1977, members of Heaven's Gate 191 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:56,231 effectively became monks and nuns. 192 00:12:56,251 --> 00:12:58,070 They became monastics. 193 00:12:58,091 --> 00:13:00,021 Remember, they were celibates, 194 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,231 they were living exclusively for trying to achieve 195 00:13:02,251 --> 00:13:06,091 sort of this entrance to heaven, to the Next Level, 196 00:13:06,111 --> 00:13:07,211 and they were given new names. 197 00:13:07,231 --> 00:13:11,251 The system that eventually was used by Ti and Do 198 00:13:12,030 --> 00:13:17,030 was to use a single-syllable, effectively, a first name, 199 00:13:17,050 --> 00:13:19,111 and then a shared last name, 200 00:13:19,131 --> 00:13:20,231 which always ended in "ODY". 201 00:13:24,221 --> 00:13:28,050 SAWYER: Ti and Do said that the Next Level 202 00:13:28,070 --> 00:13:31,060 was adopting us into their family. 203 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,030 So, the family name was O-D-Y. 204 00:13:34,050 --> 00:13:37,060 If I were in the group and my name was Rob, 205 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,091 I would be "RBBODY." 206 00:13:39,111 --> 00:13:42,080 Three consonants, always capitalized-- 207 00:13:42,101 --> 00:13:46,060 RBB, and then ODY. 208 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,221 So, all the names were six letters. 209 00:13:48,241 --> 00:13:51,060 And so, I became SWYODY. 210 00:13:52,131 --> 00:13:54,121 DO: Hi, DVVODY. There's OLLODY. 211 00:13:54,141 --> 00:13:56,190 ALXODY. There's VRNODY. 212 00:13:56,211 --> 00:13:58,070 STMODY. DVDODY. 213 00:13:58,091 --> 00:13:59,150 ANLODY. DSTODY. 214 00:13:59,170 --> 00:14:00,190 JWNODY. GLDODY. 215 00:14:00,211 --> 00:14:01,231 We call him TLLODY 216 00:14:01,251 --> 00:14:04,080 because he's a little taller than LGGODY. 217 00:14:04,101 --> 00:14:05,231 "ODY" is a diminutive, 218 00:14:05,251 --> 00:14:07,180 so it means "a little member," 219 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,200 and that TLLODY or STRODY 220 00:14:09,221 --> 00:14:11,200 were little members of the Kingdom of Heaven. 221 00:14:11,221 --> 00:14:15,070 It's like the diminutive for God, 222 00:14:15,091 --> 00:14:18,050 and they're all on their way to becoming gods. 223 00:14:20,070 --> 00:14:22,190 SAWYER: And that when we became adults, 224 00:14:22,211 --> 00:14:24,070 they would drop the "Y," 225 00:14:24,091 --> 00:14:27,111 so we'd be the family of Od, 226 00:14:27,131 --> 00:14:29,241 which is like a little Next Level humor, 227 00:14:30,021 --> 00:14:31,141 because we were kind of odd. 228 00:14:33,060 --> 00:14:35,040 ROBERT: They began wearing uniforms, 229 00:14:35,060 --> 00:14:38,101 and they had a unisex look. 230 00:14:38,121 --> 00:14:41,200 Very short hair, the women wore no makeup. 231 00:14:41,221 --> 00:14:46,091 They had slacks, tennies, shirts that they wore, 232 00:14:46,111 --> 00:14:49,251 buttoned clear to the top, long-sleeved. 233 00:14:50,030 --> 00:14:52,040 If you had a look that you were attached to, 234 00:14:52,060 --> 00:14:55,121 if you'd worn a beard, you know, for years and years, 235 00:14:55,141 --> 00:14:57,241 you should get rid of all that and adopt a new appearance 236 00:14:58,021 --> 00:15:00,040 in the same way that you took a new name, 237 00:15:00,060 --> 00:15:01,160 because those were all things 238 00:15:01,180 --> 00:15:03,170 that symbolized your identity as a human. 239 00:15:35,121 --> 00:15:38,211 BENJAMIN: Members of Heaven's Gate didn't see themselves as robotic 240 00:15:38,231 --> 00:15:40,180 or having to live within an oppressive system. 241 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,160 They really saw themselves as living and enjoying it. 242 00:15:44,170 --> 00:15:46,101 I remember I talked to one ex-member 243 00:15:46,121 --> 00:15:47,211 who said, "Actually, it was-- 244 00:15:47,231 --> 00:15:49,180 "the best part of my life was when I was with the Class. 245 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,211 I had the most-- I had the greatest growth." 246 00:15:52,231 --> 00:15:55,121 And I think they even used the word "fun". 247 00:15:55,141 --> 00:15:57,030 Nothing here strikes me as fun. 248 00:15:57,050 --> 00:15:58,251 But I suppose if you're in-- if you're in it 249 00:15:59,030 --> 00:16:01,200 with a group of several dozen other people, 250 00:16:01,221 --> 00:16:03,190 and you're all working together, and you think you're doing it 251 00:16:03,211 --> 00:16:05,080 for a greater good, 252 00:16:05,101 --> 00:16:09,080 perhaps that's what... that's what is so meaningful. 253 00:16:11,050 --> 00:16:13,091 DO: It's not that I enjoy being the instrument 254 00:16:13,111 --> 00:16:15,030 of giving out these procedures. 255 00:16:15,050 --> 00:16:18,190 But these students love it, they've seen the value. 256 00:16:18,211 --> 00:16:22,030 It does not restrict them, it frees them. 257 00:16:23,030 --> 00:16:25,021 But you have to have been there 258 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:26,221 to know what we're talking about. 259 00:16:26,241 --> 00:16:29,180 Otherwise, you can easily doubt it. 260 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,101 Well, one thing you have to consider, 261 00:16:31,121 --> 00:16:34,180 what we as individuals wanted to become. 262 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,101 I think everyone in this Class wanted something 263 00:16:37,121 --> 00:16:39,141 more than the human world had to offer. 264 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,200 They were seeking some type of goodness, 265 00:16:42,221 --> 00:16:45,131 some type of rightness that they did not feel in this world. 266 00:16:45,150 --> 00:16:48,111 I'm seeing people actually develop 267 00:16:48,131 --> 00:16:50,121 into what I always wanted to believe 268 00:16:50,141 --> 00:16:52,040 they could develop into. 269 00:16:52,060 --> 00:16:53,241 And it's like I want to go out 270 00:16:54,021 --> 00:16:55,231 and put headlines on all the newspapers 271 00:16:55,251 --> 00:16:58,190 saying it's possible to overcome your humanness, 272 00:16:58,211 --> 00:17:00,040 'cause I'm seeing it happen. 273 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:02,190 [music] 274 00:17:07,050 --> 00:17:09,151 JANJA: Having that kind of discipline, 275 00:17:09,171 --> 00:17:11,040 and struggling through it, 276 00:17:11,060 --> 00:17:13,130 and knowing that you're all struggling through it together, 277 00:17:13,151 --> 00:17:15,070 creates this sense of family, 278 00:17:15,090 --> 00:17:18,070 which is part of what binds people to these groups. 279 00:17:18,090 --> 00:17:22,171 And when you think about years and years and years of that, 280 00:17:22,191 --> 00:17:25,080 that's what makes it so difficult for people to leave. 281 00:17:25,100 --> 00:17:27,070 This is the only world they know. 282 00:17:28,221 --> 00:17:30,100 It's so hard not to get choked up 283 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:31,181 when you talk about this. 284 00:17:31,201 --> 00:17:35,080 But I met the people that are here. 285 00:17:35,100 --> 00:17:36,211 I met my teachers, Ti and Do, 286 00:17:36,231 --> 00:17:38,060 and I knew that I knew all of them, 287 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:39,221 and that they were my family. 288 00:17:39,241 --> 00:17:42,100 And I've been happy ever since. 289 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:43,211 I mean, it's been tough. 290 00:17:43,231 --> 00:17:45,201 Anybody who's been honest, like she said, 291 00:17:45,221 --> 00:17:48,040 you get hit with everything but the kitchen sink 292 00:17:48,060 --> 00:17:51,130 trying to turn you away, but it's been wonderful. 293 00:17:51,151 --> 00:17:54,080 And in making the decision that we made to do this, 294 00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:56,251 we know that we broke hearts, we know that we hurt people, 295 00:17:57,030 --> 00:17:58,140 and we don't take that lightly. 296 00:17:58,161 --> 00:18:00,251 It-- we didn't want to hurt anyone. 297 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:04,241 Unfortunately, it's the individuals 298 00:18:05,030 --> 00:18:07,211 that these vehicles cared for the most 299 00:18:07,231 --> 00:18:10,171 that are actually the greatest threat to us. 300 00:18:20,191 --> 00:18:23,050 BENJAMIN: Ti and Do were almost paranoid, 301 00:18:23,070 --> 00:18:24,171 to the extent that they were afraid 302 00:18:24,191 --> 00:18:28,130 they were being tracked by ex-members, family members. 303 00:18:29,251 --> 00:18:32,161 One of the repercussions is they were constantly on the move 304 00:18:32,181 --> 00:18:34,221 during the late '70s. 305 00:18:34,241 --> 00:18:37,211 They moved from campground, to campground, to campground. 306 00:18:39,151 --> 00:18:42,050 ROBERT: They never quit camping entirely, 307 00:18:42,070 --> 00:18:47,181 but in 1978, they finally had to move into houses. 308 00:18:47,201 --> 00:18:50,021 Apparently, some members had inherited some money, 309 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:52,151 and one of the ex-members who was close to Bo and Peep 310 00:18:52,171 --> 00:18:57,161 estimated that it was somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000. 311 00:18:57,181 --> 00:19:00,100 And at that point, they began renting mansions. 312 00:19:03,161 --> 00:19:09,221 FRANK: My cousin, David, his dad was the president 313 00:19:09,241 --> 00:19:12,120 of the New England Phone Company. 314 00:19:12,140 --> 00:19:16,211 And for the first seven years of the cult, 315 00:19:16,231 --> 00:19:20,070 we lived off of his trust fund. 316 00:19:21,021 --> 00:19:24,021 ROBERT: They liked upscale suburban neighborhoods, 317 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:28,251 nice houses, big houses in quiet upper-middle class areas. 318 00:19:30,090 --> 00:19:32,030 They would move people in, 319 00:19:32,050 --> 00:19:34,120 and none of the neighbors would know. 320 00:19:35,151 --> 00:19:38,090 We would live 15 people in a house, 321 00:19:38,110 --> 00:19:41,161 and there was designated people that could go outside. 322 00:19:41,181 --> 00:19:44,110 And the same people were seen outside all the time, 323 00:19:44,130 --> 00:19:47,070 so it appeared as though there was just a few people 324 00:19:47,090 --> 00:19:48,151 living in a house. 325 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,251 [Frank speaking] 326 00:20:25,181 --> 00:20:29,060 BENJAMIN: This is Marshall Herff Applewhite's FBI report. 327 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,040 There's a letter from a concerned parent 328 00:20:31,060 --> 00:20:34,100 which was sent to a congressman, forwarded to the FBI. 329 00:20:35,201 --> 00:20:38,120 And the FBI dutifully responded 330 00:20:38,140 --> 00:20:40,040 and said "there's really not much we can do 331 00:20:40,060 --> 00:20:42,090 about this group, they're consenting adults." 332 00:20:42,110 --> 00:20:45,060 Do wasn't worried about the government 333 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:51,040 so much as family members intervening. 334 00:20:56,050 --> 00:20:58,151 NARRATOR: The magnetism of Ti and Do 335 00:20:58,171 --> 00:21:01,231 enticed 19-year-old David, Nancie Brown's son. 336 00:21:01,251 --> 00:21:04,130 NANCIE BROWN: I couldn't believe that he was really going off 337 00:21:04,151 --> 00:21:07,171 to do this, and I had to have some knowledge of why. 338 00:21:07,191 --> 00:21:10,231 I mean, after all, you've spent 18 years raising a child. 339 00:21:10,251 --> 00:21:12,251 He was now 19, and he said, 340 00:21:13,030 --> 00:21:15,110 "You know, I can't ever picture myself 341 00:21:15,130 --> 00:21:18,130 "just living the kind of life that most people 342 00:21:18,151 --> 00:21:20,171 take to be normal." 343 00:21:22,130 --> 00:21:28,021 He left in '75, and this was now 1980. 344 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,021 Apparently, some parents and people 345 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,130 have tried to hire private investigators, 346 00:21:33,151 --> 00:21:35,171 and nobody's been able to find out 347 00:21:35,191 --> 00:21:37,231 anything about them. 348 00:21:37,251 --> 00:21:40,181 There was a formation of a parents network 349 00:21:40,201 --> 00:21:42,201 by the late '70s, led by a woman 350 00:21:42,221 --> 00:21:44,060 named Nancie Brown. 351 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,021 So, any time there was any news 352 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,151 that the Heaven's Gate members, or part of Heaven's Gate 353 00:21:49,171 --> 00:21:52,201 was at a certain location, she would notify folks. 354 00:21:52,221 --> 00:21:57,130 And this is a newsletter from-- from that network. 355 00:21:57,151 --> 00:22:00,140 There were many of them. This is just one. 356 00:22:08,201 --> 00:22:12,021 NARRATOR: As the years past with no word from David, 357 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,140 Nancie Brown feared for his safety. 358 00:22:14,161 --> 00:22:16,231 NANCIE: I reached the pit of despair 359 00:22:16,251 --> 00:22:21,110 when the Jonestown news broke in '79. 360 00:22:21,130 --> 00:22:25,120 And I remember sitting there watching this horrifying sight 361 00:22:25,140 --> 00:22:28,241 of bodies scattered around the compound 362 00:22:29,021 --> 00:22:31,030 like crumpled leaves. 363 00:22:33,050 --> 00:22:38,021 It was just this little message in my heart all the time-- 364 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,251 Where is he? Is he all right? 365 00:22:42,021 --> 00:22:45,030 [sighs] Is he alive? 366 00:22:45,050 --> 00:22:47,110 Will I ever see him again? 367 00:23:41,110 --> 00:23:44,080 TERRIE NETTLES: This is '74, '75. 368 00:23:52,191 --> 00:23:54,251 My mom wrote me once a month. 369 00:24:06,030 --> 00:24:09,140 My mom did all the things that they weren't allowed to do. 370 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,040 But she never talked about the group. 371 00:24:15,060 --> 00:24:16,211 All she wanted to do was talk about 372 00:24:16,231 --> 00:24:19,050 what I was doing in my life. 373 00:24:19,070 --> 00:24:23,021 And I wanted to know what was going on, 374 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:24,140 obviously, in her life. 375 00:24:26,130 --> 00:24:29,120 And we even talked occasionally on the phone. 376 00:24:29,140 --> 00:24:31,100 But the thing that I didn't like, 377 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:34,030 was she mentioned that any time she called me, 378 00:24:34,050 --> 00:24:36,070 Herff was on the other line. 379 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:47,040 I received a letter on August 13th, 1982. 380 00:24:48,161 --> 00:24:51,110 She said, "Terrie, if you are with others, 381 00:24:51,130 --> 00:24:55,060 "please do not let them know who this is from, 382 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,140 "especially that network woman, Nancie Brown. 383 00:24:58,161 --> 00:25:00,221 "She is not to be trusted. 384 00:25:02,021 --> 00:25:05,130 "I am well and safe as of now. 385 00:25:06,151 --> 00:25:08,110 "Sorry I have to be so secretive, 386 00:25:08,130 --> 00:25:10,090 but that's the way it is at this time." 387 00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:13,251 I just didn't know what that meant. 388 00:25:14,030 --> 00:25:16,021 Are you trying to tell me something? 389 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,110 Is something going on? 390 00:25:20,021 --> 00:25:22,080 BENJAMIN: Ti had been sick, Bonnie Lu Nettles had been sick. 391 00:25:22,100 --> 00:25:24,040 She had been diagnosed with cancer, 392 00:25:24,060 --> 00:25:26,201 and she was exhibiting illness. 393 00:25:33,130 --> 00:25:37,151 She had cancer of the eye. 394 00:25:37,171 --> 00:25:43,030 She had her eye removed and a prosthetic put in. 395 00:25:43,050 --> 00:25:45,140 She never talked about it. 396 00:25:45,161 --> 00:25:49,151 Never mentioned it, never complained about it. 397 00:25:51,181 --> 00:25:53,251 SAWYER: They went back to the hospital, 398 00:25:54,030 --> 00:25:55,161 and she had an examination, 399 00:25:55,181 --> 00:25:59,090 and they said that the cancer was in her liver, 400 00:25:59,110 --> 00:26:02,040 and that she only had a short time to live, 401 00:26:02,060 --> 00:26:04,201 and they-- they couldn't do anything for her. 402 00:26:04,221 --> 00:26:08,040 It was only like two or three weeks 403 00:26:08,060 --> 00:26:12,021 from finding out to her passing. 404 00:26:14,021 --> 00:26:16,191 We were all devastated. 405 00:26:17,191 --> 00:26:19,241 Most of all, Do. 406 00:26:20,021 --> 00:26:24,050 How could this happen? It wasn't supposed to happen. 407 00:26:24,070 --> 00:26:29,151 We were all supposed to graduate together. 408 00:26:35,251 --> 00:26:38,050 TERRIE: When I didn't hear from her for a while, 409 00:26:38,070 --> 00:26:43,021 I was going every single day looking for a letter from her. 410 00:26:45,090 --> 00:26:47,171 I came home from school one day, 411 00:26:47,191 --> 00:26:51,021 and... I got this phone call 412 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,090 from members in the group. 413 00:26:53,110 --> 00:26:54,120 [phone ringing] 414 00:26:54,140 --> 00:26:57,030 A couple named Liv and Dick Joslyn. 415 00:26:58,191 --> 00:27:01,171 They wanted to come talk to me about my mom. 416 00:27:03,151 --> 00:27:05,050 When they showed up, 417 00:27:05,070 --> 00:27:08,151 Liv said something about my mom 418 00:27:08,171 --> 00:27:10,030 going to the doctor. 419 00:27:10,050 --> 00:27:11,231 She talked about my mom's eye, 420 00:27:11,251 --> 00:27:14,070 and that she was having trouble with it. 421 00:27:14,090 --> 00:27:18,100 And... out of the blue, I just looked up at her, 422 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:20,241 and I said, "Mom's dead, isn't she?" 423 00:27:21,021 --> 00:27:24,201 And, um, she said yes. 424 00:27:27,130 --> 00:27:30,060 At first, I mean, for the first few seconds, 425 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:31,171 you're in denial, you know, 426 00:27:31,191 --> 00:27:33,221 and is this one of those dreams I'm having, 427 00:27:33,241 --> 00:27:36,090 or is this a reality? 428 00:27:39,021 --> 00:27:42,060 I just felt like somebody had ripped my skeleton out of me. 429 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,021 You know, I just-- I just went limp. 430 00:27:48,241 --> 00:27:50,231 I was a total basket case. 431 00:27:50,251 --> 00:27:55,191 I mean, I... I was in shock. 432 00:27:55,211 --> 00:27:58,070 And I remember going to bed that night 433 00:27:58,090 --> 00:28:01,241 and... when I woke up the next morning, 434 00:28:02,021 --> 00:28:04,060 my pillow was soaked, my hair was wet, 435 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:05,211 my face was wet. 436 00:28:05,231 --> 00:28:07,181 I had cried all night long. 437 00:28:09,221 --> 00:28:12,090 These are the death certificates. 438 00:28:12,110 --> 00:28:17,171 And this was the first time I... I ever saw 439 00:28:17,191 --> 00:28:20,130 when my mom died. 440 00:28:23,161 --> 00:28:26,191 She died June 19th, 1985. 441 00:28:26,211 --> 00:28:31,251 I found out March 22nd, 1986, 442 00:28:32,030 --> 00:28:34,120 nine months after the fact. 443 00:28:34,140 --> 00:28:39,050 Ti's last wishes were to not tell Terrie 444 00:28:39,070 --> 00:28:42,120 about... her death. 445 00:28:42,140 --> 00:28:45,090 But she was able to talk some 446 00:28:45,110 --> 00:28:48,040 during that time too, so she could have called Terrie. 447 00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:50,140 But she didn't. 448 00:28:53,060 --> 00:28:54,251 And I know Terrie has a hard time with that, 449 00:28:55,030 --> 00:28:56,241 and I understand that, I'm sorry for that. 450 00:28:57,021 --> 00:28:58,161 I'm sure that's very painful. 451 00:28:58,181 --> 00:29:02,090 But Ti was not the same person as her mother. 452 00:29:03,201 --> 00:29:05,201 It was the same vehicle, 453 00:29:05,221 --> 00:29:08,100 but none of the mind came into that vehicle. 454 00:29:15,191 --> 00:29:19,060 TERRIE: I wanted to know more about my mom. 455 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,040 I tried to contact Herff Applewhite, 456 00:29:22,060 --> 00:29:25,251 and he wouldn't return any of my calls. 457 00:29:27,171 --> 00:29:29,211 He wouldn't respond to anything. 458 00:29:29,231 --> 00:29:33,110 I was constantly fighting to get answers. 459 00:29:33,130 --> 00:29:35,211 And then all of a sudden, he sent me a-- 460 00:29:35,231 --> 00:29:38,211 an audio cassette, 461 00:29:38,231 --> 00:29:42,021 and he talked about everything but what I wanted to hear. 462 00:29:47,070 --> 00:29:49,090 DO: Terrie, this is Do. 463 00:29:49,110 --> 00:29:52,251 I'm a bit embarrassed and awkward 464 00:29:53,030 --> 00:29:56,201 about the fact that I didn't contact you 465 00:29:56,221 --> 00:30:00,060 when Ti left her vehicle, or died, 466 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,221 or however you want to look at it. 467 00:30:03,241 --> 00:30:09,060 I was so torn between trying to comply with her wishes. 468 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,120 I guess, in honesty, I was so awkward, 469 00:30:12,140 --> 00:30:14,211 that I might have been chicken 470 00:30:14,231 --> 00:30:17,181 and not just taken it into my hands 471 00:30:17,201 --> 00:30:20,161 and talking to you. 472 00:30:22,130 --> 00:30:26,060 This task and her mission for the Kingdom of Heaven 473 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,171 was everything to her. 474 00:30:28,191 --> 00:30:32,080 She felt that this was the only consistent way 475 00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:35,191 to even end her part of the task. 476 00:30:35,211 --> 00:30:37,211 I think if you'll think about that, 477 00:30:37,231 --> 00:30:40,110 you can understand it, and certainly don't grieve 478 00:30:40,130 --> 00:30:43,030 in thinking that she didn't want you to know 479 00:30:43,050 --> 00:30:46,070 because of lack of love for you, or anything, 480 00:30:46,090 --> 00:30:49,030 'cause that certainly wasn't true. 481 00:30:49,050 --> 00:30:52,090 I'm going to pray for your release 482 00:30:52,110 --> 00:30:54,151 from this suffering. 483 00:30:54,171 --> 00:30:56,201 The suffering... [clears throat] 484 00:30:56,221 --> 00:30:59,120 [choking up] ...has been very great for me. 485 00:30:59,140 --> 00:31:03,100 And I want you to... 486 00:31:04,140 --> 00:31:06,191 [clears throat] ...know that I love you, 487 00:31:06,211 --> 00:31:10,171 and I wish I could do more for you. 488 00:31:13,050 --> 00:31:16,050 TERRIE: It hurt me to hear the emotion in his voice, 489 00:31:16,070 --> 00:31:18,241 because I understood it. 490 00:31:19,021 --> 00:31:24,080 But at the same time, this was my mother. 491 00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:27,080 This was a friend to him, a spiritual partner, 492 00:31:27,100 --> 00:31:29,080 or whatever you want to call it. 493 00:31:29,100 --> 00:31:31,151 It-- it's just not the same thing. 494 00:31:33,100 --> 00:31:36,181 I found out later that my mom lived in Dallas 495 00:31:36,201 --> 00:31:39,060 not far from where I was staying at the time. 496 00:31:41,201 --> 00:31:44,040 I had moved to Huntsville for college. 497 00:31:45,140 --> 00:31:47,181 I was four hours away. 498 00:31:50,130 --> 00:31:52,241 I should have been there when she was sick 499 00:31:53,021 --> 00:31:56,211 to hold her hand, to tell her I loved her, 500 00:31:56,231 --> 00:31:59,090 to-- whatever I needed to say. 501 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,060 You know, you took all that away from me. 502 00:32:11,181 --> 00:32:14,070 [interviewer speaking] 503 00:32:18,110 --> 00:32:21,120 No. Nobody seemed to be interested. 504 00:32:27,151 --> 00:32:30,211 Well, my doctor wanted me to see a psychiatrist 505 00:32:30,231 --> 00:32:32,191 because I was having... 506 00:32:32,211 --> 00:32:34,130 I gotta stop for a second. 507 00:32:41,161 --> 00:32:45,040 DO: I feared being left with the responsibility 508 00:32:45,060 --> 00:32:49,100 of the mission with my partner being gone. 509 00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:53,080 But I can remember in the first few weeks 510 00:32:53,100 --> 00:32:56,030 that I met Ti, that Ti said, 511 00:32:56,050 --> 00:32:58,120 "Why do I feel that this is something 512 00:32:58,140 --> 00:33:04,100 that I'm to give to you, and then I'm to go back?" 513 00:33:05,161 --> 00:33:08,211 And I didn't know what she was talking about. 514 00:33:12,021 --> 00:33:13,171 But I know now. 515 00:33:19,251 --> 00:33:24,241 Do's response was deep heartbreak. 516 00:33:27,030 --> 00:33:28,151 Grief. 517 00:33:30,211 --> 00:33:36,171 And... to the point where he questioned... 518 00:33:38,021 --> 00:33:41,140 whether he should continue the Class. 519 00:34:00,171 --> 00:34:05,080 So, since Erika and I were both visiting Calgary, 520 00:34:05,100 --> 00:34:07,181 'cause that's where our parents lived-- 521 00:34:07,201 --> 00:34:10,120 Do decided we should travel together 522 00:34:10,140 --> 00:34:12,160 as check partners. 523 00:34:12,180 --> 00:34:14,100 Of course, the understanding was 524 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,200 that that's all we were. 525 00:34:18,180 --> 00:34:22,080 When we stopped for a layover, 526 00:34:22,100 --> 00:34:25,060 and we're sitting on the same bench 527 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,071 in kind of a secluded area... 528 00:34:29,100 --> 00:34:35,240 I had this overpowering desire 529 00:34:36,021 --> 00:34:38,251 just to give her a hug. 530 00:34:52,231 --> 00:34:55,111 That was the first time we had touched 531 00:34:55,131 --> 00:34:58,040 in... about 10 years. 532 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:06,220 I just felt, let's run away together. 533 00:35:13,031 --> 00:35:18,180 If she had said, "Let's stop this... 534 00:35:20,111 --> 00:35:26,040 I've had enough, let's go do something else," 535 00:35:26,060 --> 00:35:28,100 I would have said yes. 536 00:35:35,060 --> 00:35:37,100 - Oh! - You want me to do some work? 537 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:39,060 [inaudible chatter] 538 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:40,200 Let's continue with the tour. 539 00:35:40,220 --> 00:35:42,140 NANCIE: He looked well. 540 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:47,071 Of course, it was absolutely marvelous seeing him. 541 00:35:47,091 --> 00:35:49,071 Phone calls are nice, letters are nice, 542 00:35:49,091 --> 00:35:50,220 but to actually... 543 00:35:53,051 --> 00:35:56,200 to see and hug him, and talk to him, 544 00:35:56,220 --> 00:35:59,021 and spend the couple of days together 545 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:04,160 was... very-- very important to me, and to all of us. 546 00:36:04,180 --> 00:36:06,151 ROBERT: And these parents literally didn't know 547 00:36:06,171 --> 00:36:07,251 if their kids were dead or alive, 548 00:36:08,031 --> 00:36:09,220 because they had not heard anything from them 549 00:36:09,240 --> 00:36:12,031 since '75. 550 00:36:12,051 --> 00:36:14,240 NANCIE: All right! [cheers and applause] 551 00:36:15,211 --> 00:36:18,120 ROBERT: One woman I talked to described her son 552 00:36:18,140 --> 00:36:20,151 when he came back on Mother's Day, 553 00:36:20,171 --> 00:36:23,160 she said she was shocked because he was clean-cut, 554 00:36:23,180 --> 00:36:26,231 he was polite, he was really helpful around the house. 555 00:36:26,251 --> 00:36:29,191 Called up his old friends, went out with them, 556 00:36:29,211 --> 00:36:31,231 stuck around for two weeks, and then all of a sudden 557 00:36:31,251 --> 00:36:33,180 said, "Well, it's time to go. 558 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:35,071 "I can't tell you where I'm gonna go, 559 00:36:35,091 --> 00:36:36,120 "what I'm gonna be doing, 560 00:36:36,140 --> 00:36:38,060 and I'll be back in touch again sometime." 561 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:39,220 And then, he vanished. 562 00:37:13,031 --> 00:37:15,211 If they were really these other beings 563 00:37:15,231 --> 00:37:19,111 that weren't really in this body, 564 00:37:19,131 --> 00:37:22,160 this body had nothing to do with them, 565 00:37:22,180 --> 00:37:26,131 why then did she die a very human death of cancer? 566 00:37:26,151 --> 00:37:29,180 So, this was one of the snafus that-- 567 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,080 that Do had to deal with. 568 00:37:32,100 --> 00:37:36,211 That was a very tough one for me, 569 00:37:36,231 --> 00:37:39,211 because Ti and I thought that-- 570 00:37:39,231 --> 00:37:44,120 we just knew, it seemed, that we would both be here 571 00:37:44,140 --> 00:37:46,160 for the full duration of the task, 572 00:37:46,180 --> 00:37:50,051 and it didn't occur to us that one might leave 573 00:37:50,071 --> 00:37:53,060 prior to the other one leaving. 574 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:57,200 One of the most powerful forces in religion 575 00:37:57,220 --> 00:38:00,251 suddenly reared its head there. 576 00:38:01,031 --> 00:38:03,091 It's what we call cognitive dissonance-- 577 00:38:03,111 --> 00:38:07,060 the moment in which an event occurs 578 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:10,251 that seems to undermine your very theology, 579 00:38:11,031 --> 00:38:12,111 your very doctrine. 580 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:20,040 BENJAMIN: The basic idea 581 00:38:20,060 --> 00:38:21,180 of Heaven's Gate up to that moment 582 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,100 was that you would chemically and biologically 583 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,240 transform your body from being a human being 584 00:38:27,021 --> 00:38:29,080 into becoming a Next Level alien, 585 00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:31,200 and then you would physically get on board the UFO, 586 00:38:31,220 --> 00:38:33,151 which would sail off into Heaven. 587 00:38:33,171 --> 00:38:36,060 What happens when Bonnie Lu Nettles, 588 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,021 when Ti dies? 589 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:39,231 The vehicle broke down, 590 00:38:39,251 --> 00:38:43,060 and humans would say, well, the vehicle died. 591 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,240 And so, how can you say she left her vehicle? 592 00:38:46,021 --> 00:38:48,080 The explanation which was given to members 593 00:38:48,100 --> 00:38:50,180 is that it looked to us 594 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,140 like she was suffering from cancer, 595 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,180 but in fact, her Next Level consciousness 596 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,071 burned up her human body. 597 00:38:57,091 --> 00:39:00,111 Cognitive dissonance comes in. 598 00:39:00,131 --> 00:39:06,071 Your faith system shifts to make room for the event. 599 00:39:06,091 --> 00:39:09,051 It tested me, it tested the Class, 600 00:39:09,071 --> 00:39:12,231 and we're all 10 feet taller because of it. 601 00:39:15,191 --> 00:39:17,131 REZA: There is a parallel here 602 00:39:17,151 --> 00:39:19,191 with Jesus and the Jesus movement. 603 00:39:24,131 --> 00:39:28,111 Jesus' followers believed that Jesus was the Messiah, 604 00:39:28,131 --> 00:39:32,171 according to the Jewish definition of the Messiah. 605 00:39:33,220 --> 00:39:36,151 But there was a huge problem. 606 00:39:36,171 --> 00:39:40,040 A dead Messiah is, by definition, 607 00:39:40,060 --> 00:39:42,091 no longer the Messiah. 608 00:39:42,111 --> 00:39:45,200 And so, Christianity didn't just go away. 609 00:39:45,220 --> 00:39:52,151 They fundamentally redefined what "Messiah" means. 610 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:56,200 Messiah is not an earthly King, 611 00:39:56,220 --> 00:39:58,131 it's a heavenly King. 612 00:39:58,151 --> 00:40:00,151 The Kingdom that the Messiah creates 613 00:40:00,171 --> 00:40:03,211 isn't on this world, it's on the next world. 614 00:40:03,231 --> 00:40:08,060 Understand that no one had ever said these things before. 615 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:09,251 And for Heaven's Gate, that big shift 616 00:40:10,031 --> 00:40:13,120 would be the idea that if it happened to her, 617 00:40:13,140 --> 00:40:15,220 it might happen to others as well. 618 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:20,111 Ti's thinking was, if that's what you have in mind for me, 619 00:40:20,131 --> 00:40:23,060 and if that's what you have in mind for Do, 620 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:27,051 and for the Class, then that's-- that's what we want. 621 00:40:27,071 --> 00:40:32,131 When Nettles dies, it undermines the entire point 622 00:40:32,151 --> 00:40:34,211 of the bodily transformation. 623 00:40:34,231 --> 00:40:39,031 And now, it's a spiritual transformation. 624 00:40:39,051 --> 00:40:42,180 We're going to leave our bodies behind. 625 00:40:46,211 --> 00:40:50,140 So, in a strange way, the tragedy of Heaven's Gate, 626 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,051 the suicide of all those people, 627 00:40:53,071 --> 00:40:59,091 is a direct result of the unexpected death 628 00:40:59,111 --> 00:41:01,131 of one of the co-founders. 629 00:41:01,151 --> 00:41:04,021 What it meant to me... 630 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:09,071 even though it still breaks my heart... 631 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:13,151 to recall the experience... 632 00:41:15,220 --> 00:41:19,240 it very swiftly 633 00:41:20,021 --> 00:41:23,080 and very solidly 634 00:41:23,100 --> 00:41:26,080 put me on firmer ground 635 00:41:26,100 --> 00:41:30,071 in relationship to my Heavenly Father. 636 00:41:30,091 --> 00:41:34,140 It put me in a better relationship with Ti 637 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,080 than I had before she left her vehicle. 638 00:41:38,100 --> 00:41:42,100 I know that Ti is still, to this day, 639 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:47,060 my primary, if not my total link 640 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:49,151 with our Heavenly Father. 641 00:41:51,171 --> 00:41:54,111 BENJAMIN: During her lifetime, she's called the Older Member. 642 00:41:54,131 --> 00:41:57,051 He deferred to her, and Do also said 643 00:41:57,071 --> 00:41:59,040 that his connection to the Next Level 644 00:41:59,060 --> 00:42:00,180 went through Ti. 645 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:04,051 After her death, Do looked to her 646 00:42:04,071 --> 00:42:08,021 as still guiding him, but now from outer space. 647 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:11,091 Ti is my Older Member. 648 00:42:12,151 --> 00:42:15,171 Ti is my Heavenly Father. 649 00:42:18,211 --> 00:42:22,120 And in fact, it's no more than a decade after her death 650 00:42:22,140 --> 00:42:24,071 that Do publicly declares himself 651 00:42:24,091 --> 00:42:26,251 Jesus returned to Earth, and declares that Ti 652 00:42:27,031 --> 00:42:28,151 was the one known as God the Father. 653 00:42:30,071 --> 00:42:32,140 ROBERT: Even though she was raised as a Baptist, 654 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:35,160 Bonnie was involved in metaphysical teaching. 655 00:42:35,180 --> 00:42:38,240 She's involved in New Age ideas, 656 00:42:39,021 --> 00:42:40,160 all of this stuff 657 00:42:40,180 --> 00:42:43,051 that must have just driven Do crazy, 658 00:42:43,071 --> 00:42:46,200 because Marshall Herff Applewhite, Senior, 659 00:42:46,220 --> 00:42:50,120 was a very prominent Presbyterian minister, 660 00:42:50,140 --> 00:42:52,051 and by all accounts, 661 00:42:52,071 --> 00:42:54,071 Herff really wanted to emulate him 662 00:42:54,091 --> 00:42:57,120 and become a minister just like he had done. 663 00:42:57,140 --> 00:43:00,071 And if you read the Heaven's Gate book 664 00:43:00,091 --> 00:43:01,251 that came out much later, 665 00:43:02,031 --> 00:43:05,040 Do is, like, really harsh on the New Age. 666 00:43:05,060 --> 00:43:08,021 And New Age is, like, that's one of the big ways 667 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:12,180 that Lucifer is trying to get his hooks in humans. 668 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:15,171 After Ti dies, 669 00:43:15,191 --> 00:43:18,251 the message becomes much more biblical, 670 00:43:19,031 --> 00:43:24,180 moving away from Ti's ideas to more Do's thinking. 671 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,051 DO: We see the world. 672 00:43:27,071 --> 00:43:32,091 We see the world as the anti-truth, 673 00:43:32,111 --> 00:43:33,251 the Antichrist. 674 00:43:34,031 --> 00:43:40,111 The world will see us as anti-truth, Antichrist. 675 00:43:40,131 --> 00:43:43,200 We know that that is inevitable. 676 00:43:50,140 --> 00:43:54,071 SAWYER: Ti gave us instructions before she died, of course, 677 00:43:54,091 --> 00:43:56,180 to make our commitment to Do. 678 00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:59,111 Ti trusted Do 100%. 679 00:43:59,131 --> 00:44:00,191 Do came to a meeting, 680 00:44:00,211 --> 00:44:03,100 maybe the second, or third, or fourth meeting 681 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:07,180 after Ti left, and... he said, 682 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,031 "There's something different about me. 683 00:44:09,051 --> 00:44:10,120 I want to play a little game." 684 00:44:10,140 --> 00:44:12,200 [people chattering] That's right. 685 00:44:14,021 --> 00:44:15,211 That's right. 686 00:44:15,231 --> 00:44:18,060 [chattering continues] 687 00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,191 ROBERT: Do called everybody together one day and says, 688 00:44:20,211 --> 00:44:22,120 "Well, I've got a little test for you. 689 00:44:22,140 --> 00:44:27,100 If you had $100 that you could spend 690 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:31,220 for something for yourself, what would you buy? 691 00:44:37,131 --> 00:44:41,040 Apparently, it just drove everybody absolutely bonkers. 692 00:44:41,060 --> 00:44:43,031 Here, they've been in the process 693 00:44:43,051 --> 00:44:44,131 of giving everything up, 694 00:44:44,151 --> 00:44:48,111 they have no personal possessions at all. 695 00:44:48,131 --> 00:44:51,160 And all of a sudden, $100 to buy something 696 00:44:51,180 --> 00:44:54,171 only for yourself, what would it be? 697 00:45:02,091 --> 00:45:04,100 DO: Now, when you become a candidate 698 00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,021 for our Father's Kingdom, 699 00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:09,040 our Father then says, "I'm a jealous god. 700 00:45:09,060 --> 00:45:11,160 "For a period of time, you might have thought 701 00:45:11,180 --> 00:45:14,231 "you loved me more than you loved those other things. 702 00:45:14,251 --> 00:45:17,240 "But if you're gonna get into my house, 703 00:45:18,021 --> 00:45:21,031 you have to love only me." 704 00:45:22,071 --> 00:45:23,160 ROBERT: What it was, the answer, 705 00:45:23,180 --> 00:45:28,040 was a very simple gold band, a cheap $100 gold band. 706 00:45:28,060 --> 00:45:29,211 A wedding ring. 707 00:45:29,231 --> 00:45:32,120 ["He Needs Me" playing] 708 00:45:41,100 --> 00:45:44,251 ♪ And all at once I knew, I knew at once ♪ 709 00:45:45,031 --> 00:45:48,051 ♪ I knew he needed me ♪ 710 00:45:48,071 --> 00:45:49,211 ROBERT: Herff doesn't have Bonnie 711 00:45:49,231 --> 00:45:52,080 as his support system anymore, 712 00:45:52,100 --> 00:45:56,131 so the Class itself becomes his support system. 713 00:45:56,151 --> 00:45:59,200 ♪ I knew he needed me ♪ 714 00:46:00,231 --> 00:46:04,220 FRANK: Do became even more obsessed 715 00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:09,171 with control after she passed on. 716 00:46:09,191 --> 00:46:11,220 And so, he had a little ceremony 717 00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:14,100 to where we were marrying him. 718 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:18,231 ♪ He needs me, he needs me, he needs me, he needs me ♪ 719 00:46:18,251 --> 00:46:23,060 ♪ He needs me, he needs me ♪ 720 00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:26,091 The instruction was to come up one by one. 721 00:46:26,111 --> 00:46:29,251 When I got to be the one to go up to him, 722 00:46:30,031 --> 00:46:31,180 he was sweating profusely. 723 00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:33,151 I could see the sweat on his brow, 724 00:46:33,171 --> 00:46:35,060 and he kissed me on the forehead, 725 00:46:35,080 --> 00:46:37,111 and he was weeping. 726 00:46:37,131 --> 00:46:41,180 ♪ It's like a dime a dance, I'll take a chance ♪ 727 00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:46,140 ♪ I will because he needs me ♪ 728 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,111 SAWYER: He was giving birth. 729 00:46:48,131 --> 00:46:52,180 ♪ Maybe it's because he's so alone ♪ 730 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:56,240 He was birthing students into the Next Level. 731 00:46:57,021 --> 00:46:59,071 ♪ ...had a home ♪ 732 00:46:59,091 --> 00:47:03,180 ♪ He needs me, he needs me, he needs me, he needs me ♪ 733 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:07,180 ♪ He needs me, he needs me ♪ 734 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:11,021 ROBERT: Up until this point, the focus was on the message 735 00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:13,191 or the process of overcoming. 736 00:47:13,211 --> 00:47:16,180 But what happens with this marriage ceremony 737 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:20,231 is now the loyalty is shifting from the message 738 00:47:20,251 --> 00:47:22,120 to the messenger. 739 00:47:28,140 --> 00:47:30,100 That is why ever after that, 740 00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:31,231 when you see people in the group, 741 00:47:31,251 --> 00:47:34,040 if there's a picture that shows their hands, 742 00:47:34,060 --> 00:47:35,191 they'll have wedding rings on. 743 00:47:46,211 --> 00:47:49,100 [music ends] 744 00:47:53,171 --> 00:47:55,200 BENJAMIN: It is a question that will not go away. 745 00:47:55,220 --> 00:47:58,140 What kind of messenger could convince 38 followers 746 00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:00,200 to commit suicide alongside of him? 747 00:48:02,191 --> 00:48:04,131 RIO DIANGELO: Do was a wonderful person. 748 00:48:04,151 --> 00:48:07,140 He was very helpful, a very good teacher, 749 00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:09,240 and we had a lot of reverence for him. 750 00:48:10,021 --> 00:48:11,151 Here's the problem-- 751 00:48:11,171 --> 00:48:14,100 once people's lives are conformed 752 00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:16,140 to predictable patterns through peer pressure-- 753 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:18,200 and you saw the people, they were dressed the same way, 754 00:48:18,220 --> 00:48:20,131 they sported the same kinds of haircuts-- 755 00:48:20,151 --> 00:48:22,120 virtually anything is possible. 756 00:48:22,140 --> 00:48:26,091 Ti and Do never... 757 00:48:26,111 --> 00:48:28,251 were out to con anybody. 758 00:48:29,031 --> 00:48:32,100 If they conned anybody, they conned themselves first. 759 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:33,211 REPORTER: Miss Lalich, let me start with you. 760 00:48:33,231 --> 00:48:37,200 Do you believe this was suicide or murder? 761 00:48:37,220 --> 00:48:39,171 I believe it was murder. 762 00:48:44,091 --> 00:48:47,220 ♪ You don't own me ♪ 763 00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:51,251 ♪ I'm not just one of your many toys ♪ 764 00:48:52,031 --> 00:48:55,100 ♪ You don't own me ♪ 765 00:48:55,120 --> 00:49:01,171 ♪ Don't say I can't go with other boys ♪ 766 00:49:01,191 --> 00:49:05,211 ♪ And don't tell me what to do ♪ 767 00:49:05,231 --> 00:49:09,051 ♪ Don't tell me what to say ♪ 768 00:49:09,071 --> 00:49:13,071 ♪ And please, when I go out with you... ♪♪