As the days count down to Hale-Bopp’s arrival, 39 people prepare for ascension. They’d abandoned their old lives, embraced a new ideology, weathered the death of a beloved leader… and finally, made themselves worthy of the Next Level. Now, the comet was coming. And with it, the spaceship that would ferry them onward. In March of 1997, they left everything behind.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

The group’s belief system had never been infallible. There had been adjustments along the way; revisions meant to keep the wheels turning whenever prophecies didn’t manifest. But then, in 1985, Bonnie Lu Nettles died. And her passing threw Heaven’s Gate’s whole world askew.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

1976 was a turning point for Heaven’s Gate. The spaceship that was promised had not arrived. Members were defecting. Nettles and Applewhite gathered their truest believers in Wyoming and made it clear: Things were going to be different from here on out. Much different.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

In 1986, Alice Lakawena formed the Holy Spirit Mobile Force. Their goals were utopian and their tactics were nonviolent. But going up against rival armies in Uganda with hardly any weapons eventually led to mass casualties — and Alice was all too ready to blame them on her soldiers’ lack of belief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

On February 26, 1980, three former members of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple were shot and killed in their California home. Many believed it was an act of revenge by their former cult, but police suspected somebody else. From Today in True Crime, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

Scott Caruthers’ community of “Next World Alien Lovers” in Maryland believed their leader when he told them he was an alien sent to save them from the apocalypse. But despite his insistence that he was a savior, Caruthers manifested doom at every turn — from a failed business plan that cost some investors everything, to a failed murder plot that put him and his followers behind bars.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

The young co-founder of a church grew into a business tycoon who courted controversy until his death in 2014. Yoo Byung-eun built an empire on the backs of his devoted followers, who traded their money and labor for salvation. In 1987, a group associated with the church took part in a mass suicide. Nearly thirty years later, more than 300 people died in a ferry disaster that many believe Yoo Byung-eun was responsible for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

By 2004, James King and Barbara Loran were well-versed in violating ethical boundaries. But that year, the church leader and his mistress crossed a new line when they groomed and seduced the 17-year-old daughter of two congregants.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

Nearly two decades after the Waco Siege, people are still wondering what transpired at the Branch Davidian compound. Though the government officially investigated and exonerated the FBI, some have found evidence of a massive cover-up. Did the government actually fire the first shot that led to 81 deaths? This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more

On February 28th, 1993, ATF agents raided a compound in Waco, Texas, belonging to a religious group known as the Branch Davidians. A 51-day standoff ensued, ending in a violent siege. Eighty-one people lost their lives, many of them children — but to this day, no one knows which side fired first. This episode is a crossover with Conspiracy Theories and originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices ..read more