The Hale Bopp Comet As I am sure all of you know, we have recently been able to see a new but not permanent additon to the night sky. This addition is known as Hale-Bopp, a comet that is about 122 million miles (about 1.3 times the distance of the sun to the earth) from the earth and is approximately 25 miles wide. Hale-Bopp was discovered on July 23,1995 by two scientists named Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona. This is the first discovery for both of them, although Alan Hale is
Heaven's Gate. Led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, this seemingly ordinary group harbored an extraordinary belief system centered around extraterrestrial salvation and the imminent arrival of an alien spacecraft concealed behind the Hale-Bopp comet. Through methodical analysis of their doctrines and the events leading up to the tragedy, we can gain insight into the complex interplay of faith, delusion, and desperation that culminated in this devastating outcome. Heaven's Gate emerged in
Comets Have you ever looked up in the sky and seen a little ball creeping by? If so, did you wonder what it was? That little ball is called a comet. Comets are small, fragile, and irregularly shaped. Most are composed of frozen gas. However, some are composed of frozen gas and non-volatile grains. They usually follow very strict paths around the sun. Comets become most visible when they cross the sun. This also applies to people who view comets with telescopes. When a comet gets near the
meteoroids, stars, and comets. Some of the most famous comets are Hale-Bopp, Swift-Tuttle. However, Halley’s Comet is the most famous due to its frequent returns to Earth. A comet is a celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun. Halley’s Comet is most famous for its seventy-five year orbital. Edmund Halley, whom the comet is named after, thought that this comet was the same comet to have appeared in
On planet Earth, people like to place themselves into different social groups based on their likes, beliefs, and backgrounds. One of the more peculiar groups some people categorize themselves in is a cult. A cult is a group of people who find meaning in anecdotes preached to them by a charismatic leader and that carry out socially unacceptable acts. Heaven’s Gate, founded in 1974, would be classified as a cult due to the fact that its founder and leader, Marshall Herff Applewhite, spoke actively
Seeing a comet with the naked eye is a somewhat rare occurrance. On the average we get a naked-eye comet once every five or six years and this includes comets that become barely visible to the naked eye. Classic comets with long tails only appear about once every 10-12 years. The motion is very difficult to detect and comparing its place with naked-eye stars over several days is the only way to see it move. In general, comets are best observed with telescopes or binoculars. What are They? Comets are
theologies. Applewhite encouraged sexual abstinence, and many of the male cult members followed his lead and underwent castration operations. In addition, in that same year the Hale-Bopp comet was seen. Members of Heaven’s Gate believed, with great certainty, that another object was hidden from human detection behind the comet. They affirmed that the object was a spacecraft, with which they could
Religion is doctrine centered on belief and worship of a higher being. The First Amendment guarantee of Religious Freedom means all people have the right to choose any religion they desire; similarly all people have the right choose no religion at all. Each person is guaranteed this right without resistance or opposition from the government. The Amendment assures that the citizens will enjoy freedom from religion – that is, freedom from imposition by the government of any certain religious beliefs
No one could have predicted the strange circumstance of the mass suicide of thirty-nine people that happened on March 26, 1997 in San Diego, California. To fully understand the bizarre case that is the cult of Heaven’s Gate one must first go back before the group was founded and understand the creator and self proclaimed prophet that was Marshall Applewhite. Marshall Applewhite was born on May 17, 1931, in Spur, Texas. Through the help of his second wife Bonnie Nettles they created a strange cult
The Heaven’s Gate Cult was founded in the early 1970’s by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Applewhite was recovering, under the care of his nurse Ms. Nettles, when he claimed to have has a near death experience. Applewhite claimed that he and Nettles were the two witnesses spoken of in the Book of Revelation. And they were to prepare the worlds inhabitants for recycling. In order to gain supporters/followers Applewhite and Nettles began by opening a specialty bookstore. The bookstore was greatly
Social Influences On Behavior It is not surprising that philosophers and scientists study what effects the social environment has on the thoughts, emotions, and behavior of the people because the world is very converse. Social psychology is the study of what effects groups have on individuals and how experiencing part of a group affects a person’s thinking, feelings, and behavior. People like to reflect themselves as independent, however, a person’s actions is influenced by the perspectives and engagements
73. Furthermore, the group said its understanding of suicide was not at all conventional: ''The true meaning of 'suicide' is to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered.'' In the group's thinking, a spaceship, thought to be following in Hale-Bopp's wake, would be offering just such an opportunity. In conclusion, the entire aura of the Heaven’s Gate cult seems like something straight out of a late night TV movie. Like most millennialist groups, members held a firm belief in an oncoming
Heaven’s Gate was a cult founded in 1972 by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. The beliefs behind the Heaven’s Gate cult was based around unidentified foreign objects (UFO). Members of this cult believed the Earth was about to be “recycled” and that the only way to survive was to leave Earth. The members commit suicide with the belief it was the only way they could make it to the “Next Level”. Marshall Applewhite was born on May 17, 1931 in Spur, Texas. Applewhite grew up very religious
Do you expect the world to end? Will humans leave the world to another life form soon? These questions have plagued man since his inception on this planet. Humans have, in every culture, have made predictions of how and when the world will end. We have done this either through religion or just average men or women who say they have the sight to see the future. Do we consider religion false and seers charlatans? We must first look at the worlds myths about the end of the world, or as is called from
The mind is an amazing tool! Many philosophers believe that this amazing tool needs something to keep it distracted and fulfill a purpose. Philosopher Eric Hoffer believes that the fanatic mind needs something to worship. A fanatic mind will not only worship the idea or object that it is being directed to, but sacrifice all for the impossible dream. A fanatic mind is one that desirers an obsession for something. Some peoples’ fanatic minds come together to form what is known as a cult. A cult is
A cult is defined as a small group of people that do not adhere to the larger widely accepted belief system, instead they are often regarded to have extreme or dangerous beliefs (Cult). Cult leaders engage in many different methods and actions to gain their followers. Some cults last for a long period, others end shortly after creation. Cults nevertheless hold a stigma that brings terror and confusion to many outsiders looking in. The public questions why people could become so consumed in someone
Vonnegut also shows meaningful language can be to certain people depending on whom is transmitting those words. Since language is the chief way of communicating ideas and beliefs, it can be easily manipulated by others to produce a specific outcome. In a note left by Bokonon the religious leader explains, To whom it may concern: These people around you are almost all of the survivors on San Lorenzo of the winds that followed the freezing of the sea. These people made a captive of the spurious man
A cult can be roughly defined as a relatively small body of people having, often religious, beliefs and practices that are regarded by others as dark or menacing. Some more formally known as New Religious Movements (NRM), cults come in many various categories and extremes from religious, racist, and terrorist cults to mass transformational, new age, and commercial multi-marketing cults- but the list goes on. (Lalich, 2006). Cults deploy several methods to draw in potential members. They frequently
Thirty-six years ago, on Nov. 18, 1978, 913 members of the People’s Temple Cult committed mass suicide in the Guyana jungle, under the direction of the Reverend Jim Jones. Most of the victims seem to have taken their own lives by ingesting grape Kool-Aid laced with cyanide, while a few had been shot. The grisly event was triggered by the ambush of U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan and other Americans who were attempting to investigate mistreatment of Rev. Jones’ followers; the cult apparently felt threatened
Is there life out there in the great beyond? It is a question that many of us have asked, but there is no real answer, no tangible evidence to validate the existence of other intelligent beings. All we have are so-called experiences that earthly people have had with these beings, like me. I remember, as a child, I stayed awake late one night. I was lying in bed admiring the stars outside my window when I saw a bright light in the distance. It moved in impossible ways I could not explain, even