In March 1997, all thirty-nine members of a UFO cult known as Heaven's Gate committed mass suicide in an exclusive suburb of San Diego, California. Their leader, Do, believed a spacecraft was about to take them to the Kingdom of Heaven, where they would be reunited with his partner, Ti, who had died in 1985. To make the transition, Do claimed that he and his followers had to shed their bodies since the body was only a decaying container for the soul.

The suicides had been carefully planned. Two notes found by the sheriff's deputies spelled out the details – a mixture of barbiturates and alcohol to induce unconsciousness, followed by suffocation caused by a plastic bag placed over the head and secured at the neck with rubber bands. The bodies were dressed in black uniforms displaying colorful shoulder patches with the words “Heaven's Gate Away Team,” and each body had a travel bag next to it on the floor. The bodies were also neatly covered with purple shrouds. The evidence amassed by the sheriff's department and the medical examiner indicated that the suicides were undertaken voluntarily. No signs of struggle or violence were found, and the preparations included making two farewell videos in which the members appeared to be excited by the prospect of taking their lives.

The suicides were especially surprising because Ti and Do originally claimed that the only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven was in a living physical body.