hat lead them to their untimely deaths.The chain of events that resulted in the deaths of 39 mislead men and women was set in effect by what could have been mechanical error. An amateur astronomer reported photographing a huge “Saturn-like object” trailing the tail of the comet Hale-Bopp. Applewhite received news of this young mans discovery. He came to the conclusion that this object was a UFO that was meant to take the cult members to the ”next level”. The suicides occurred when this comet’s course was closest to the earth. The members were found in bunk beds wearing black Nike’s and black unisex costumes. They had plastic bags and purple shrouds over their heads. In their blood, medical examiners found a virtual cocktail of drugs. All of the members had ingested Phenobarbital that was, mixed with applesauce or pudding and most of them chased this with vodka. Some of the members also took Vicodin and numerous others suffocated under plastic bags.In late March of 1997, 39 men and women put themselves to death under the convoluted leadership of Marshall Herff Applewhite. Who is to blame for this tragic chain of events? Was it the amateur with the telescope? Was the Internet to blame? In my personal opinion, no one but Applewhite and his followers were culpable. Who knows, maybe the cult did hitch a ride with that UFO. Maybe they did make their way to the next level, but as far as I know they have been reduced to a mere bit of trivia here on earth. ...
