What was the significance of Comet Hale-Bopp to Heaven’s Gate?

Early in 1997 a rumor circulated among the New Age and UFO communities that an artificial object, or spaceship, was following, hidden behind the tail of the recently discovered Comet Hale-Bopp. The group’s cofounder and leader, Marshall Applewhite, believed that Hale-Bopp was a sign that a UFO was coming to take Heaven’s Gate members, finally, to the Next Level, where they would reunite with cofounder Bonnie Nettles, who had died in 1985.