The series is a thorough examination of the infamous UFO cult through the eyes of its former members and loved ones. What started in 1975 with the disappearance of 20 people from a small town in Oregon, ended in 1997 with the largest suicide on US soil and changed the face of modern new age religion forever. In the first episode, Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite begin to recruit individuals interested in end-of-the-world Christianity, new age religion, and UFOs - but the disappearance of new members soon drives media attention and family concerns.
The Hale-Bopp Comet is passing Earth and rumours of a mysterious object following the comet could mean the sign that the Heaven’s Gate community could be looking for. With plans for the Exit, the group members begin saying goodbye to the world. In the aftermath of the suicides, the world and the surviving former followers react.
Our strange rock itself can also be lethal. We tend to think of Earth as our life support but it's not there to support us at all. It's a place that's violent, that's beautiful, that's crazy, that's intense. Mother Nature is a serial killer. We wouldn't be here without mass suicide and events so devastating it makes the extinction of the dinosaurs looks like a tea party. There have been 5 mass extinctions on the planet and 99.9 percent of all species that have ever lived are gone. Explore the story of how life on Earth has evolved, becoming lethal for life to thrive.
The series examines Rev Jim Jones' transformation from charismatic preacher and champion of civil rights into egomaniacal demagogue who led the biggest mass suicide in American history. On the 40th anniversary of the deaths of more than 900 people in the Peoples Temple in Guyana, the film hears from the handful who made it out alive. The first episode shows how Jim Jones forms the Peoples Temple after an unusual childhood. Members are captivated; his lust for power becomes unstoppable. The press exposes the dark side of Jim Jones, causing a mass exodus to Jonestown. His followers soon realize it's not the utopia their leader promised.
A heroic congressman, Leo Joseph Ryan Jr, travels to Jonestown; some Temple members plot their escape. Jim Jones realizes the walls are closing in and plans his final stand. After the massacre, the world learns about mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, orchestrated by cult leader. Survivors try to piece their lives back together.
A war story unlike any ever seen. A story of what happens when one ordinary man, Time magazine war correspondent Michael Ware, transplanted into the Middle East by the reverberations of 9/11, butts into history. Ware handpicked and given a shattering video tape by the most feared, most hated terrorists on the planet to announce his arrival of the world stage sets out on an epic journey into the deepest recesses of the conflict as he seeks answers. Answers that he thinks will lead him to the Truth.
The invasion of Iraq has ended, and the Americans are celebrating victory. The year is 2003. Alone and in secret one man, Abu Musab al Zarqawi is planning the real war. Step- by-step he lays out his plan in a letter to Osama bin Laden: the suicide truck bombings; the bloody horrors of the civil war; the televised beheadings. He carries out his grand design to transform the invasion into one of the most brutal conflicts our time and a catastrophe for the planet...and he does it all on camera. He gives the tape to Michael Ware. The tape sets our correspondent off on an epic voyage as he seeks answers. As he seeks what he thinks will be the Truth.
In the first episode, Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite begin to recruit individuals interested in end-of-the-world Christianity, new age religion, and UFOs - but the disappearance of new members soon drives media attention and family concerns.