20 years on, Glynn Washington looks into one the strangest cults of all time – Heaven’s Gate, aka the ‘UFO cult’. Washington talks to the family members of the deceased members and the remaining members of the cult; weaving in sound bites from old news reports and archives, creating a phantasmagorical atmosphere to accompany this extraordinarily weird story.
In 1997, 39 partially decomposing bodies were found in a palatial mansion in a San Diego suburb. All the bodies were dressed in a black top, black tracksuits, complete with black and white Nike Decade trainers and draped in a purple shroud. This was the largest mass suicide in American history, which seemed to come straight out of a J G Ballard novel, and gripped a nation.
Washington takes you on a wild ride into the world of the peculiar and the occult. Best for freaking yourself out and giving you a fresh perspective on American society.