------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Ndunlks@aol.com
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 1997 13:25:11 -0500 (EST)
To: Skywatch@phoenix.net Subject:
Fwd: Cult Members Had ``Earth Ship''

Cult Members Had ``Earth Ship''

.c The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Until last year, many members of the Heaven's Gate cult lived about 55 miles southeast of here in an isolated compound with a wall of tires. They called the compound their ``Earth Ship.''

The cult abandoned the compound near Mountainair last year, leaving behind much of their equipment, The Albuquerque Tribune reported Friday.

Jim Thorsen, who bought the property from cult members, said the place was partly surrounded by walls of dirt-filled tires as high as 20 feet.

The tire walls were part of the plans for an ``Earth Ship'' culled from a book called ``Earth Ship, How to Build Your Own,'' Thorsen said.

Thorsen said cult members did not tell him why they were selling the land or where they were going. They left behind bunk beds, power tools and portable generators.

Cult members lived in a metal-walled, factory-like building, in cabins dotting the property and in two 60-square-foot tents.

They had planned to build an infirmary, a nursery, a bakery, a pharmacy and workshops there, he said.

ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) - NBC News is suing a minister who the network says backed out of a $45,000 deal to sell farewell videotapes of the Heaven's Gate cult because ABC offered him more money.

The network sued the Rev. Rick Strawcutter, pastor of a non-denominational Christian church in Adrian, saying he had agreed to sell the tapes before selling them to ABC News for $50,000.

``We drafted an agreement, they agreed, and we signed it. They reneged,'' NBC News spokeswoman Barbara Levin said.

Judge Timothy Kenny heard arguments in the suit Friday and more are scheduled for Monday.

Strawcutter and his attorney, Patrick Edwards, are named in the lawsuit, which seeks a court order compelling them to surrender the tapes.

In an affidavit, Edwards said NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw screamed at him and pledged that Edwards ``would never work in the city of Detroit again,'' The Detroit News reported today.

Brokaw disputed his account.

``I raised my voice a little. I thought he was not being honorable,'' Brokaw told the News.

Strawcutter said he does not know why the cult sent the tapes to him.

CBS obtained a segment of the tapes Thursday from its Toledo, Ohio, affiliate, WTOL-TV. It was unclear how the affiliate got the tape.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) - A day or two before authorities believe the first Heaven's Gate cult members killed themselves, members dined on turkey pot pies and squeezed extra lemon in their iced tea at a restaurant here.

``I thought they were all cancer victims,'' said Chris Turner, manager of the Marie Callendar's restaurant. ``I thought it was kind of a sad scene.''

They each wore a different-colored button-down shirt for the March 21 visit. They insisted that one particular table be served first, workers said. The group stayed less than 45 minutes and paid the $350 bill in cash.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The stench was unmistakable. Sheriff's Deputy Robert Brunk knew it instantly when he and Deputy Laura Gacek were the first to answer the 911 report of mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe.

``Once you get that smell, it doesn't leave your head,'' Brunk said.

``We knew there was going to be death inside,'' said Gacek, who's been with the department four years. ``But you just didn't know the magnitude or what condition they were going to be in.''

The decomposition smell from the 39 bodies was so bad that the hazardous materials squad was brought in. The deputies were checked out at a hospital.

The sight was ``nothing I'd wish on anyone, but it had to be done,'' Brunk said. ``I think it's helpful for the victim's families to know what we found. It was serene.''

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Heaven's Gate leader Marshall Applewhite's life as a cult leader was made into a 1982 made-for-TV movie starring John Forsythe.

Clips from the movie were aired Friday on NBC, showing Forsythe wearing a strange-looking white costume. He was standing in front a white light and preaching to a field of people.

``That is what we offer, our tomorrow, a tomorrow more wonderful than anything you have every dreamed,'' he intoned.

The movie was titled ``The Mysterious Two.''

According to the Blockbuster Video Guide, the plot concerns two space aliens who try to get mankind to send emissaries into space with them. It also starred Noah Beery and Vic Tayback.

CLOUDCROFT, N.M. (AP) - The astronomer who shares credit for discovering the Hale-Bopp comet says he isn't surprised it's linked to the mass suicide near San Diego.

``I fully expected there to be suicides,'' said Alan Hale, who discovered the comet in 1995 along with amateur astronomer Thomas Bopp of Arizona.

Cult members left word that they wanted to shed their earthly bodies to rendezvous with a space ship they believed was trailing the comet, which is passing close to Earth.

He also said people historically have linked comets - chunks of rock and ice that periodically pass near the planet - to earthly disasters.

``Score another victory for ignorance and superstition,'' he said.

AP-NY-03-29-97 0509EST

Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.