Cosmic Reviews A

The Unexplained: UFO Cults

This is an on-demand copy of a 1997 episode of The Unexplained, which originally aired on A&E following the Heaven's Gate incident.

The first segment is about Heaven's Gate itself, and follows the strange trail that inspired 39 people to commit suicide. Relatives of the deceased, former group members and several experts attempt to shed light on what may have transpired. The experts, and the shadow of Heaven's Gate, follow us into the rest of the show.

The second segment focuses on Unarius, which is not a cult as it encourages students to have an open mind and arrive at their own conclusions in their own way. Charles Spiegel was the Director at the time and his comments, as well those of the students interviewed (Lani Calvert, Marianna and David Keymas, William Proctor) clearly demonstate that Unarius is a resilient system of study. The UFO landing that was anticipated in 2001 did not come to pass, yet there were no extreme reactions from Unarius beyond concluding that humanity wasn't ready, then proceeding on the positive note that we will be, someday... if we apply ourselves.

The third, and last, segment is an interview with Reverend Northdurft of Sedona, a retired Methodist Minister who saw three UFOs in NYC. His subsequent study of UFOs in the Bible was not very well received by his congregation. This interview demonstrates the difficulties one may experience if they venture too far 'outside the box'. Alas, UFOs, regardless of what you believe them to actually be, always call to us from somewhere far beyond our current comfort zone.

Review by Hercules Invictus