Away Team: The Story of Heaven's Gate

Away Team: The Story of Heaven's Gate

Author: True Crime Campfire January 3, 2025 Duration: 54:05
I have vivid memories of the night of March 22, 1997. Part of it has to do with, y’know, young dumb love—but most of it has to do with the Hale-Bopp Comet, also known as the Great Comet, which was brilliantly visible from my hometown that night. I had a huge crush on this guy, and he invited me to watch the comet with him. We climbed up on the rooftop of this neighborhood bar with a bottle of screw-top wine, and we watched the sky—and suddenly, there it was, a bright silvery ball with a long glowing tail. Magic. I’ll never forget it—wrote some bad poetry about it later that night. And then a couple mornings later, I woke up to the strangest news story of my life. A group calling themselves Heaven’s Gate had taken their own lives en masse out in California—and they’d left behind a video explaining why. They were catching a ride on the comet, with the full certainty that it would take them to paradise. They were leaving their human bodies behind, chasing the pure perfection of enlightenment. These were smart, educated people with families who loved them. What led them to this? Join us for the story of one of the deadliest cults in American history: Heaven's Gate. Sources:Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO Religion, Benjamin Zeller https://web.archive.org/web/20081003124716/http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070318/news_lz1n18timelin.htmlCult Education Institutehttps://www.heavensgate.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20080122002236/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986136-1,00.htmlWikipedia "Comet Hale-Bopp" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93BoppFollow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.comMERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gather round the True Crime Campfire with Katie and Whitney, where the stories are dark but the atmosphere is surprisingly warm. This isn't your standard procedural recap; it's a narrative journey into the human condition, exploring societal undercurrents and the strange, often forgotten corners of history through the lens of true crime. You can settle in for a long, chilling tale with their first season, a deep dive into the bizarre case dubbed The Puppet Master and the Prince of Darkness. Or, if you prefer your mysteries in weekly installments, their second season serves up a new stranger-than-fiction story with every episode. What makes this podcast so compelling is the balance struck by the hosts: their meticulous research provides a solid foundation, while their natural chemistry and well-timed comic relief make even the most complex cases accessible and strangely welcoming. The storytelling is seamless, pulling you into each twist without sensationalism. It’s the kind of show that makes a long drive disappear or turns a household chore into an immersive experience, proving that the most haunting stories are often those told with a human voice and a thoughtful perspective.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

True Crime Campfire
Podcast Episodes
Payback: The Murder of Ted Ammon, Pt 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:00
As much as most of us might try to live easy, conflict-free lives, sometimes you just can’t avoid an uncomfortable interaction. Maybe an unpleasant neighbor gets in your face about nothing at all, maybe someone behind a…
Let the Right One In: A Halloween Special [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:36
Monsters in folklore are easy for us to comprehend. You can only kill a werewolf with a silver bullet, to stop a zombie for good, you have to destroy its brain, and vampires can’t enter your home without your permission.…
Stranger Than Fiction Vol. 5: Petty Motives Edition [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:42
We tend to cover strange cases on our show. We seek them out, because we find that there are always interesting lessons to be learned there. But when it comes to weird, some cases are in a category all their own. Like a…
Lightning Strikes Twice: The Crimes of Harold Henthorn [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:21
The philosopher and all-round barrel of laughs Albert Camus wrote, “To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” Like any good philosophical quote, you can interpret it in a few ways. To not worry overly much…
Listen Now: Kill List [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:13
In the depths of the dark net, tech journalist Carl Miller makes a disturbing discovery: a secret Kill List targeting hundreds of innocent people on a murder for hire website. When the police decide not to investigate, C…
Ambush: The Murders of Alan and Terra Bates [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:56
There’s an old saying: Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? The answer, for most of us, is obvious. We want to be happy. And sometimes, that means compromising. Not getting exactly what we want. Not winni…
Enlightened: The Bizarre World of the Breatharians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:35
For thousands of years, human beings have sought spiritual connection and enlightenment. A lot of us are seekers by nature, we want to know why we’re here and what—if anything—comes next. Sometimes it can seem like most…
Prey: The Story of the Beast of Gevaudan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:58
Like a lot of fairy tales, early versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” were quite a bit different from the story most of us heard growing up. There was no heroic huntsman with an axe, there was no tricking the wolf into a…
Less Dead: Serial Killer Robert Willie Pickton, FINALE [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:54
Psychologist Rolio May said, “Hate is not the opposite of love. Apathy is.” Over the course of the last three episodes, we’ve discussed how apathy paved the way for a horrific criminal to wreak havoc on the women of Vanc…
Less Dead: Serial Killer Robert Willie Pickton, Pt 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:34
Once an avalanche starts, there’s nothing that can be done to stop it. You can prevent them, you can prepare for them, but by the time you start to hear the ice cracking, it’s almost always too late. The case of Willie P…