text: Marshall Applewhite was the leader of the UFO religious millenarian cult Heaven’s Gate, whose members committed mass suicide in March of 1997 after drinking applesauce laced with phenobarbital, believing the oncoming Hale-Bopp comet was being trailed by a spaceship that would absorb their souls
  On March 26, 1997, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult were found dead in a mass suicide. Led by a self-described prophet named Marshall Applewhite, followers believed that a heavenly UFO was trailing the Hale–Bopp Comet — and this was their only chance to escape Earth before it was “recycled” and wiped clean. Once they hopped aboard, they would be on their way to a much better planet. And since their human bodies were merely “vehicles,” they could safely leave them at any time and ascend to the “next level.”
  Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.