Marshall Applewhite of Heaven's Gate asked his followers to commit suicide so as to shed their earthly bodies (or "containers") and depart in an UFO to a higher plane of existence

Psychology Feb 23, 2021

Marshall Applewhite of Heaven's Gate asked his followers to commit suicide so as to shed their earthly bodies (or "containers") and depart in an UFO to a higher plane of existence. The UFO was supposedly travelling behind the Hale-Bopp comet. In late March 1997, all 39 cult members obeyed and took their own lives in a mass suicide (Source: CNN). What theory is this?