
Heaven's Gate The Back Story (Part 2)
From Unexplained America The Podcast by Unexplained America the Podcast
May 17, 2026 · 2h 46m · Season 1 · Episode 129
About this episode
This episode concludes the discussion on Heaven's Gate, detailing the events surrounding the mass unaliving in 1997.
In this episode of Unexplained America, your host Lisa will finish discussing the group Heaven's Gate, picking up where I left off in Part 1 in the year 1986, Listener Discretion-Mental Illness/Unaliving --- On Wednesday, March 26, 1997, the San Diego County Sheriff's office received a 911 telling them that there was a mass unaliving at the location of 18241 Colina Norte in Rancho Sante Fe. The deputies really thought that this must be a crank phone call. When the deputies go to the house what they find there is anything but funny. They find 39 bodies at this location--they will received 1500 calls from around the country from concerned family and friends of these individuals. Hearts will be broken and the leader (Herff) will be on the cover of Time Magazine--but not for any good reason. We will also discuss the present day and my email exchange.--Make sure to listen to the end because I had two add on thoughts that I forgot. Listen to the whole episode for a deep look at the group. References for this Episode: "Heaven's Gate America's UFO Religion"- Benjamin E. Zeller--https://www.amazon.com/Heavens-Gate-Americas-UFO-Religion/dp/1479881066 "Marhsall Herff…
People in this episode
Host: Lisa
Topics covered
- Heaven's Gate
- mass unaliving
- mental illness
- UFO religion
- cult history
Keywords
- Heaven's Gate
- mass unaliving
- cult
- UFO
- mental illness
- Lisa
- Herff
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Time Magazine
Books & works: Heaven's Gate America's UFO Religion
Places: San Diego County, Rancho Sante Fe
More episodes of Unexplained America The Podcast
- Slenderman Case of Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser · June 8, 2026 · 1h 28m
- The Omen (1976) Scary Heifers Movie Reivew · May 21, 2026 · 1h 7m
- Heaven's Gate The Back Story (Part 1) · April 6, 2026 · 1h 21m
- Sadness in Iowa: The Mollie Tibbetts Case · March 23, 2026 · 59 min
- Friday the 13th Sharon Gregory Tragedy · March 13, 2026 · 57 min
- Lindbergh Baby: Crime of the Century (Part 3) · March 4, 2026 · 1h 16m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Unexplained America The Podcast podcast page.