 The group received an influx of funds in the late 1970s , which it used to pay housing and other expenses . In 1985 , Nettles died , leaving Applewhite distraught and challenging his views on physical ascension . In the early 1990s the group took more steps to publicize their theology . In 1996 , they learned of the approach of Comet Hale – <unk> and rumors of an accompanying spaceship . They concluded that this spaceship was the vessel that would take their spirits on board for a journey to another planet . Believing that their souls would ascend to the spaceship and be given new bodies , the group members committed mass suicide in their mansion . A media circus followed the discovery of their bodies . In the aftermath , commentators and academics discussed how Applewhite persuaded people to follow his commands , including suicide . Some commentators attributed his followers ' willingness to commit suicide to his skill as a <unk> , while others argued that their willingness was due to their faith in the narrative that he constructed . 
