"A fart was a "POOFOOFUS" (that we needed to only release in the "BATH CHAMBER," writes Sawyer, a former member of the Heaven's Gate UFO cult who chose not to, um, "ascend" from Earth in 1997 aboard the spacecraft they believed was trailing Comet Hale–Bopp.
Created in the 1970s by Marshall Applewhite ("Do") and Bonnie Nettles ("Ti"), the group believed that Earth was about to be "recycled" and that they could transcend to a higher, more enlightened existence by shedding their earthly bodies. They taught that a UFO, which they called the "Next Level," would come to take them to safety. On March 26, 1997, 39 members of the group, including Applewhite, died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California, believing that their deaths would allow them to board the spaceship and head for the stars.
Weird Universe points us to a 2017 blog post by Sawyer in which the group's "new terms"—like "poofoofus"—were explained. Using such unique language was apparently meant to "set them apart" when they reach the "Next Level":
A new member of the Next Level was a "YOUNGER MEMBER." They called reproductive organs, "PLUMBING." Clouds of light, chariots of fire, whirlwinds were "SPACECRAFTS." A woman's bra they called a "SLINGSHOT." A fart was a "POOFOOFUS" (that we needed to only release in the "BATH CHAMBER." We rested in the "REST CHAMBER." They talked about the changeover recorded as happening as a "twinkling of an eye" as a "METAMORPHOSIS" compared to that of the Caterpillar to a Butterfly. We did not eat, we "CONSUMED" and it wasn't food, it was "FUEL." The brain was a "COMPUTER." Meals were "EXPERIMENTS." A recipe was a "FORMULA." The houses we lived in were "CRAFTS" as if they were spacecrafts, but they did nothing to make anything look that way. A job was an "OUT OF CRAFT TASK." The kitchen was the "Nutri Lab." The laundry was the "Fiber Lab." The workshop was the "IMPRO LAB," impro standing for Improvements. The administrative team worked in "COM CENTER," where "com" stood for "communications." They said they came from "Headquarters" in deep space. A toilet was a "COMMODE." Feces was "SOLID WASTE" and urine, "LIQUID WASTE." The auto repair shop and the hospital were referred to as the "HORSE-PISTOL" as both our automobiles and VEHICLES were also considered to function and serve us as horses can be taught/trained to. Assigned watching the heavens at night was called "Night-watch." Our internal bakery was called the "YEAST LAB."
Previously:
• New podcast episode about Heaven's Gate cult
• The undying web site of Heaven's Gate
• Heaven's Gate Away Team Patch
