 In the wake of Nettles ' death , Applewhite became increasingly paranoid , fearing a conspiracy against his group . One member who joined in the mid @-@ 1980s recalled that Applewhite avoided new converts , worrying that they were <unk> . He feared a government raid on their home and spoke highly of the Jewish defenders of <unk> in ancient Israel who showed total resistance to the Roman Empire . Increasingly , he began to discuss the Apocalypse , comparing the Earth to an overgrown garden that was to be recycled or <unk> and humanity to a failed experiment . In accordance with the garden metaphor , he stated that the Earth would be " <unk> under " . Woodward notes that Applewhite 's teaching about the Earth 's recycling is similar to the cyclical perspective of time found in Buddhism . Applewhite also utilized New Age concepts , but he differed from that movement by predicting that apocalyptic , rather than <unk> , changes would soon occur on Earth . He contended that most humans had been brainwashed by Lucifer , but that his followers could break free of this control . He specifically cited sexual urges as the work of Lucifer . In addition , he stated that there were evil extraterrestrials , whom he referred to as " <unk> " , who sought to thwart his mission . He argued that many prominent moral teachers and advocates of political <unk> were actually <unk> . This theme emerged in 1988 , possibly in response to the lurid alien abduction stories that were <unk> at the time . 
