{"podcast":{"title":"Unexplained America The Podcast","slug":"unexplained-america-the-podcast-6730775","podcast_index_feed_id":6730775,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/edfbc1a4/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://unexplainedamerica.com/","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/39826993/39826993-1743797021261-8b8615d7aa5a7.jpg","author":"Unexplained America the Podcast","episode_count":132,"summary":"Unexplained America is a weekly podcast, hosted by Lisa Ponson. I discuss true crime, paranormal, cryptid, legend, and anything unexplained connected with America. Join me for episodes rich in researching the history, background and nuance of the story perhaps a bit quirky. If possible, I love to explore the places myself and discuss the story from a personal perspective. The more creepy and unexplained the better!!!","last_synced_at":"2026-06-08T18:18:20.270181+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unexplained-america-the-podcast-6730775"},"episode":{"title":"Heaven's Gate The Back Story (Part 1)","slug":"heaven-s-gate-the-back-story-part-1","published_at":"2026-04-06T15:10:21+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unexplained-america-the-podcast-6730775/heaven-s-gate-the-back-story-part-1","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unexplained-america-the-podcast-6730775","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unexplained-arkansas/episodes/Heavens-Gate-The-Back-Story-Part-1-e3hgl4a","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/edfbc1a4/podcast/play/118035018/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-6%2F4a835e7a-cfb4-ffa8-1dda-0e35631627e4.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Unexplained America, your host Lisa will discuss the group Heaven's Gate, primarily, diving into the groups leaders Bonnie Lou Trousdale Nettles and Marshall "Herff" Applewhite Jr. Listener Discretion-Mental Illness/Unaliving --more in Part 2. 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. In this Part 1, I discuss the background and history of Bonnie and Herff. I will outline their beginnings and how they met and how the group began. The time frame I cover in this episode is 1927-1986; in 1986 Bonnie's family will find out that she passed away on June 19, 1985. During Bonnie's life the group was NEVER called Heaven's Gate but went by H.I.M. Human Individual Metamorphosis or they went by Total Overcomers Anonymous. 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 Applewhite Jr."-Times Information Services--Corpus Christi Caller--Sat. Mar. 29, 1997 "Cult Video Discovered"--LA Times--The Cincinatti Enquier--Mon. May 12, 1997 "Harlinger AP"--Austin American-Statesman-Sat. Oct. 18, 1975 &q…","meta_description":"In this episode of Unexplained America, your host Lisa will discuss the group Heaven's Gate, primarily, diving into the groups leaders Bonnie Lou Trousdal…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4881,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/unexplained-america-the-podcast-6730775/episodes/heaven-s-gate-the-back-story-part-1/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unexplained-america-the-podcast-6730775/heaven-s-gate-the-back-story-part-1.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}