Alien obsession! What’s that all about? [1] For most this is only a term of endearment used by those married to Star Trek fans but for others it can be a lifestyle that leads to obsession with deadly consequences! Are we alone? Is there a hidden agenda behind the increase in mysterious sightings and visitations? In his book, Alien Obsession, Ron Rhodes takes you behind the scenes for a close look at the facts and provides the information and tools you need to discern the true nature of UFO sightings and alien abductions.

As Editor of The Apologia Journal a number of years ago I had been in correspondence with Terrie Nettles. [2] Terrie is the daughter of Bonnie Nettles, the wife of Marshall Herff Applewhite, founder of the Heaven’s Gate UFO cult and the man responsible for the ritual suicides of 39 members in Rancho Santa Fe California in March of 1997. The following is her story called …

From The Narrow Gate to Heaven’s Gate [3]
Terrie Nettles

Many wonder how a cult like Heaven’s Gate gets started. After all, mom had a strict Baptist upbringing, and was a regular churchgoer as a kid. As an adult she didn’t go as often, but she and dad would occasionally attend. The purpose of this article is to show how easy it is for groups like Heaven’s Gate to get started. I will do this by tracing back some of the events I remember during my time with mom and Herff. Many are personal, but they are vital in showing the atmosphere in the early days that led to the formation of this group.

Heaven’s Gate was founded by Bonnie Nettles (my mom) and Herff Applewhite (referred to as Marshall by the press). Mom was known by various names - Bonnie Lou Trousdale, Bonnie Nettles, Peep, Te, partner of The Two, two olive trees, two lamp stands. Herff was known by the names Marshall, Bo, Do partner of The Two, two olive trees, two lamp stands. Eventually they became convinced they were the two witnesses of Revelation 3:13.

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth…These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”

When I was growing up mom and I used to go to Theosophical Society meetings, see psychics, play with a Ouija board, and sit around after school talking about the spiritual world and UFOs.

When I was in the eighth grade, we were outside stargazing and saw a light that appeared to move around, up and down sideways. We hoped that it might be a UFO and that they would take us away. It was a secret dream we shared. A science teacher said that it was the time of the year for Jupiter or Venus to be close and bright. It was sad when we finally decided that it was a planet. We had both read about Betty and Barney Hill, and others who had spoken about seeing UFOs. We wanted very much to experience these things as well.

Once in 1969 mom and I decided to go see a spiritualist. Mom went first. When she came out, she had a strange look on her face. Mom had never looked so worried about anything. She hesitated about letting me go in, but I convinced her that it would be okay. The psychic told me that my father would die soon, but than mom would meet another man, whom she described. When she finished I ran to mom in tears. She tried to calm me down, saying that this psychic was probably no good, and that she couldn’t believe anyone would tell a kid such things. Mom said we would go and see Brother Parson, because she knew he was legitimate. He claimed to have a 2,000-year-old spirit that would talk through him. He was also in communication with ‘Jesus,’ so you could ask Him things as well. After the reading with Brother Parson we decided that what was really meant was that the relationship would die, and that another man would come into the picture. This other man fit the description the psychic and later, other psychics, described.

It was nearly three years later that I met Herff at the theatre (where I introduced him to mom - contrary to newspaper reports that they met at a psychiatric hospital). A strong spiritual relationship developed between them and our families’ lives changed forever. (There was never a romantic relationship). My dad is still alive.

Mom and Herff started a place called ‘Know Place’ in 1972 on the outskirts of Houston where people could learn about astrology, spiritualism, theosophy, etc. Mom would give readings with astrological charts, and she had a spirit that would speak through her known as Brother Francis, a Franciscan monk from around 1818. I moved there to be with mom, but only lasted four days because it was just a little too weird. It was a duplex, so mom lived on one side and Herff on the other. Their meeting place was generally in the middle room, living area or outside under a tree.

One night I went to the kitchen to get a drink and then got ready for bed. As I was lying in bed, I heard noises in the kitchen, paper cups dropping from the dispenser, glasses being picked up and set down,and talking. I woke up mom and she said it wasn’t unusual for spirits to gather in the kitchen. We went into the kitchen and discovered that things were not in the same place as when I had left the kitchen earlier. We checked to see if Herff had been there, but he said that he had been asleep. I moved out. I believed in this stuff at the time, but it still scared me.

Late in 1972, ‘Know Place’ moved into the Montrose area of Houston, which at that time was where the ‘hippies’ lived. It was a fun place and mom and Herff got another duplex. I stayed with her for a month. Late in December mom told me that she and Herff felt like the Lord was leading them to leave for a while. She said that it felt like a magnet pulling them away and that they would leave January 1, 1973 around midnight. There was a hint of excitement in her eye. I did not want her to go, but she said that it would not be forever, just long enough for them to discover what they were supposed to do with their lives. She explained that their meeting wasn’t an accident, and that they felt they were being called for something special. She promised to keep in touch and she kept her word.

.Here are some excerpts from her letters:

March 1973 “…nothing gives you permanent happiness, and I have found out only one thing does and that is what Herff and I are doing. We chose serving the Master of greater and higher….We are anxiously waiting to see just what our mission is going to be.”

October 1973 “Believe me when I say this Terrie, there is nothing on this planet that can compensate for the love, the marvellous feeling that comes with His guiding you. You have looked for a place in this world the same as I have and it wasn’t until He picked me that I found it. I hope you too can…find your place.”

On July 26, 1973, I received a letter in which she shared with me who they thought they were. I was very uneasy and scared. She told me to look up Revelation 11:3-13. I didn’t like verse 7. It said “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and kill them.” All that I knew and could understand was that once you die, you’re dead. I wrote mom a letter telling her how I felt about her death and resurrection, and she wrote back to me explaining what the verse really meant. I still didn’t understand, nor did I like it.

October 17, 1973 “You talk as though I am not going to be around…we aren’t going to die. Did I not tell you I would be closer to you once this occurs than I am now? And I do not mean I will be a ghost. I will have my body - but it will not be as it is now.”

April 25, 1974 “We have come to truly realize that we are not of this planet and came into this incarnation for the sole purpose of the mission…to be murdered in order to prove that indestructibility (eternal life) can be attained.”

April 16, 1975 “It will not be long before our demonstration - maybe within months - maybe sooner.”

In October 1973 a group of us drove to Dallas to meet with mom and Herff. They would travel around the countryside telling the good news of everlasting life - but it was different from what the Bible said. I didn’t know that at the time though. The gates to heaven only opened once every 2,000 years, so it was an opportunity that needed careful consideration. Who wanted to have to reincarnate over and over again until the doors reopened?

Being alone with mom and Herff was awesome, like I was in the presence of these higher beings. I felt honored and privileged to be in their company. Mom told me how special and how much more spiritually ready I was than anyone and urged me to join them. Boy! I really felt special and lucky now…my mom was doing something really big, almost as big as what Jesus had done. How many kids have a mom that special?

Originally, no one in the group could keep in contact with their families. It had to do with breaking their earthly ties and included no contact, no sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. The members had only a few changes of clothes and small necessities like a toothbrush and comb. I don’t know why it was okay for mom to keep in touch with me, unless it was because of who she supposedly was. My last letter was in March 1977. Because of this, I knew that they had not ‘departed’ yet. I always felt mom would come and get me before they left because of how special she said I was. I had no ties with anyone, but I was having too much fun to make the transition into joining the group, although I always believed that I would join at some point.

On June 6, 1979 my life changed drastically. I accepted Jesus into my life and my ideas about the group and my reasons for trying to contact mom had changed dramatically - it was now a matter of life and death. I spent many hours researching the Bible for scripture verses to answer the questions she would throw at me when we finally got the opportunity to talk.

In August 1982 I received my first letter since March 1977. Mom said something in the letter that really concerned me: “Be good, strive for goodness and by all means conform to society so you will have peace of mind.” “Conforming to society” wasn’t their philosophy. It could be that mom knew that she was dying. She’d had her eye surgically removed before May 1982, and the letter was dated August 1982. I did not know about her eye then, so my impression was that she wanted out. They had been on this journey for over 10 years and she might have been tiring and was trying to figure out a way to bow out gracefully.

Early Saturday morning February 1, 1986 I got a phone call telling me that my maternal grandmother had died. I made calls to my contacts that I had made over the years in order to tell mom. I did not want her to find out from the newspaper or a stranger…she needed to hear it from someone who loved her and could comfort her…me.

I’ll never forget when I dialed my contacts’ number for the first time. I heard a female voice and I told her who I was. She abruptly asked me what I wanted. I told her that I was trying to reach my mom with an urgent message. She asked “What is this regarding?” and I told her that it was personal. She again said that she needed to know what this was regarding, and I repeated what I had said. She said that she couldn’t help me. The conversation continued a couple of more times before I bluntly said “I don?t mean to be rude or disrespectful, but this is a personal matter, and quite frankly it is none of your business.” She hung up on me. I couldn’t believe how cold she was. For all I knew, my mom could have been in the other room. I couldn’t believe it. How could I be this close and not get to speak with her?

A few days later two people called and asked if they could come over. They introduced themselves as Dan and Liv, and they talked about mom for a couple of hours. I wasn’t paying careful attention until I heard the words that, “she had gone to the doctor with an eye problem.” She said that it turned out to be melanoma and that she had needed surgery. I asked “are you telling me that my mom had her eye removed?” Liv said yes and that the doctors had felt like they had gotten it all. She continued about mom going to the doctor a couple of years later and then I interrupted her. Without ever expecting an affirmative answer I asked “Is mom dead?” She said yes. I was sitting on my bed with my legs crossed and I felt as though I was in a different dimension. Then it was a though someone hit me as hard as they could in my stomach and ripped out my guts. As it turned out, she had died nine months before. The group would probably have never told me about mom’s death had it not been for me trying to get in contact with her.

As a Registered Nurse, mom must have known that the likelihood of surviving melanoma very long was impossible since it is a blood-born disease. Maybe because of this she realized that what she had believed all these years was false. Was she trying to set me straight, to no longer believe in the ways I was taught by her for so many years? Did she finally realize that what she had spent the last 12 years of her life doing was wrong and that’s why she urged me to conform to society, and to get married and have a family? Did she think that it was too late for her to repent, or was she really saved when she was eleven years old like my grandmother had told me? Only in eternity will those answers be revealed.

Something that I have thought about a lot since the Heaven’s Gate suicide in March 1997 is why I never joined the group, even if only to be with her. Mom really wanted me to join and usually if mom wanted me to do something she was really excited about, I’d give in. So why not now? I’m still not sure why I didn’t, other than the fact that I believe that the Lord had His hand on me.

I wish I’d been allowed to be there when she was dying - only four hours away by car - hold her hand, to tell her that I loved her, that Jesus loved her and it was never too late, and to tell her good-bye. I sometimes blame myself for not witnessing to her. I mean we talked a few times on the phone since she made contact with me on January 1, 1984, but I was waiting for the right time. She died before that right time came along.

The rest you heard about in the media. Dabbling in the occult may seem harmless and even fun, but it isn’t (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). It’s dangerous and can lead to what we saw in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Notes:
1.) Dr. Ron Rhodes’ book Alien Obsession - What Lies Behind Abductions, Sightings, and the Attraction to the Paranormal is available in Christian bookstores and from his online bookstore.

2.) Terrie and I were introduced through a mutual friend, Bob Hunter. Bob Hunter works as a full time cult researcher in Southern California. You can visit his web site the heresy hunter.

3.) Originally published in The Apologia Journal - Winter 2000 - Vol. 1 No. 2 - New Religions and World Views pg.8 by permission of Terrie Nettles. From The Narrow Gate to Heaven’s Gate is copyrighted 1999 by Terrie Nettles and not to be reproduced in any way without express permission of Terrie Nettles.
Posted by David_Upton at September 3, 2004 03:11 PM

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