Heaven's Gate was a religious group founded in the early 1970s by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. The group combined elements of Christianity with beliefs in extraterrestrial life, claiming that members could transcend to a higher existence by leaving their physical bodies. They believed that Earth was about to be "recycled," and the only way to survive was to ascend to a spacecraft following the comet Hale-Bopp. In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven's Gate died in a mass suicide in California, believing they would join the spacecraft. The event drew significant media attention and raised discussions about cults, mental health, and the influence of charismatic leaders.