Hale Bopp CometHale Bopp Planet was discover in the late 1950's because it was a "long period comet" and it was much brighter than any other comet anyone had ever seen. It was found right outside the orbit of Jupiter and after it was found, scientists knew that it would be a great and interesting find. Hale Bopp's Orbit
To be a member of the Heaven's Gate cult, one of the beliefs that you must have is the belief in UFO's and comets. The members believed that once they "graduated" from their formal life that a UFO would come pick their souls up from earth and they would be shipped off to Hale Bop Comet. You might think that when they got to the planet that they would be the same person as they were in their former life...
This is not the case! Members of Heavens Gate believe that once you get to the comet that you turn into an alien-looking thing (shown on right) until you are changed to your next part of life. |
The thing that got the scientists attention at first was the brightness of this comet through a normal, everyday telescope, which was the same thing that made Do, the heaven's gate leader, interested.
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