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Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite meet in a hospital in Houston, Texas. Nettles is a nurse while Applewhite is a patient. They form a relationship together.
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Nettles and Applewhite form the Heaven's Gate group. They believe that the Earth is about to be destroyed and that they are the only ones who will be saved.
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Applewhite and Nettles adopt a more active recruitment strategy. They begin to emphasize the idea that they are aliens who have come to Earth to help people prepare for the transition.
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Nettles dies of cancer. Applewhite becomes the only leader of the group.
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Applewhite and several members of Heaven's Gate purchase a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California, which they use for their rituals.
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Applewhite records a videotape in which he and other members of Heaven's Gate explain their beliefs and announce their intention to commit suicide – in order to join the Next Level.
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The Hale-Bopp comet reaches its closest point to Earth. This event becomes a focal point for Heaven's Gate, who believe that the comet is a sign of the approaching transition to the "Next Level."
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Applewhite and the 38 other members of Heaven's Gate commit suicide by ingesting a lethal cocktail of phenobarbital and vodka. They are found lying in neat rows in the mansion's bunk beds, covered with a sheet.
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The bodies of the Heaven's Gate members are discovered by a former member who had left the group before the suicide. This discovery prompts a media frenzy and widespread shock and disbelief.