What Really Happened Inside The World's Most Dangerous Cult? 

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One of my favorite survivor stories is that of Hyacinth Thrash. At 73 years old, she escaped the massacre by hiding under her bed when the guards swept through the sleeping cabins. When the she came out from under the bed, everyone was dead. She would sit in Jonestown for an entire day, with the bodies of the dead all around, waiting for rescue.

There’s audio of the cult’s final hour. It’s bone chilling. Children screaming, psychotic singing and Jim Jones actively giving the orders and talking people through their death. It’s absolute nightmare fuel.

RIP Don Harris [one of the journalists slaughtered at the airfield] who was, for a time, a fixture of the Dallas news scene. Due to his demise, local coverage was extensive and images from the Jonestown Massacre coverage are etched into my memory, especially aerial footage of the unbelievable carnage. I distinctly remember having to turn off the television, put on my coat, and go for a walk to keep from losing it over all those dead children.

Marceline was a lovely, compassionate woman by nature. Loyalty to her husband was just what she knew until it was too late. Marceline was my father's aunt. She and Jones were married in a double wedding, along with my grandparents. My father was a member of the Temple in the redwood area of northern California. The stories I heard as a young teenager sparked a lifelong fascination with criminology, specifically in cases such as this. I always wondered what could drive a person to commit such heinous acts against those who had the deepest of trust in them. The idea still eludes me to this day. To all my family I lost in the most tragic way, you will not be forgotten. To Aunt Marceline, I know you wanted to stop him. It very well could've been you who dealt Jim his fate before taking your own life. I forgive you. My goal is to honor you and the many others who had been robbed of their lives, and punished for their faith. Rest easy.

I listened to his death tape a number of times. At first one asks how does he convince almost 1000 people to delete themselves over one speech. But after a few times you recognize that while there were a small number not wanting to do this, most of the crowd was already prepared and agreeable to dying long before that speech was made.

My mother told me that my grandparents had Jim over for Sunday dinner after church once. Apparently, he was a guest preacher at their church. It was something my grandparents never spoke about.

Moral of the story: Don't drink the Kool-Aid

I remember hearing the final tape long ago, and to hear the children in the background after being given the poison was heartbreaking.

I know this story front to back and this is the first time I heard the story of his wife! You always bring new things to the table!

your channel, the why files, and Mr. Ballen are the best ones. good storytelling, good voice to listen to and great stories every time

I remember when this first hit the news (on tv, of course). My first thoughts were “This can’t be true” and “It can’t possibly be that bad, right?”. It was so much worse than we even thought initially. I am fascinated by the psychology of cults, but I will never truly understand it. Then again, I’m a natural born atheist who never had any religious faith despite being raised Lutheran. I never bought any of it, even as a child, so I can’t comprehend how something like this happens to otherwise “normal” people. Still, it’s a fascinating subject.

I was 28 when this horrific event occurred. News programs showed helicopter footage of the camp with hundreds of bloated bodies lying on the ground - they had been there in the hot sun two or three days when they were found . I can’t imagine how the people who had to clean up that site were able to cope with the memories, especially of all the poor children who suffered so much. So many precious lives lost for nothing. May all the misguided and innocent victims rest in peace.

Another banger. The rate of information, the transitions, the sequencing, the animation - Everything is in perfect symbiosis. Nothing is even slightly obtuse. Very well-oiled machine, ya got.

as a Guyanese myself, alot of us don't know of him and what he did. I found out only a couple years ago and im very sure most of our population doesn't know too.

“A very naughty boy”: understatement of the century.

I think the Heavens Gate mass suicide was scarier although the body count was far less. The reason is, the Heavens Gate suicides were unforced, totally preplanned and voluntary. They all went to their grave "willingly" after weeks of advance notice that this was for sure a suicide cult. Indeed, they didnt think it was the end, they literally thought that they were going to a spaceship to be among angels. A few of the victims had even left the cult, but came back to die! And two former members who missed the mass suicide after leaving the group actually committed suicide in the following months or years. Their hypnosis under Applewhite's insane sermons is horrific, and some of the male members volunteered to be castrated and indeed followed thru with it. The whole thing is strange and sickening to the max.

Overall, this is a fascinating yet disturbing topic that serves as a stark reminder of the dark side of human nature and the dangers of groupthink. It's essential that we continue to educate ourselves and others about this tragic event so that we can prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

I feel like I take this channel for granted, so i just wanted to stop and say thank you for all your hard work that goes into the content, Arran. Another proper banger!

I have been OBSESSED with the story of Jones town since I was a kid! I just can’t fathom someone doing something so terrible. Great Video topic as always! ❤️❤️❤️ Edit: This story never gets easier to hear! If you ever hear the term “they drank the koolaid” or “don’t drink the koolaid” it’s in reference to Jones Town. That’s why education and history are so important. It allows us to learn from these terrible tragedies, and not make these horrific mistakes again…

I never thought Arran would do a story on Jim Jones. Good job, as usual. It brings back horrible memories. Our next-door neighbors lost their grandchildren in that tragedy. I was just a kid myself at the time, only a couple years younger than them. Their parents survived by being lucky enough to have been away from Jonestown when the mass murder took place.

Another way to look at apocalyptic scams is start with the punch line “give me all your money and property, then top yourself”, and work backwards from there.

Thoughty2 is my favorite youtuber, hands down. Every video oozes quality

I remember watching on TV the final footage from the news camera of the senator trying to get into the plane as everyone including the camera man was gunned down, it's amazing the film survived and all these years later it is still as gruesome as it was watching it only shortly after it happen!!!! 🥺

For those interested in more details about this story, like every possible detail and description of the rise and fall of Jim Jones i strongly recommend the podcast The Martyrmade - there are several hour long episodes but believe me its completely worth it.

I remember when this happened, I was 7 and it is one of those things that you just don't forget hearing about. I had a globe and I looked at it to find out where this "Guyana" place was, and it was far away, but the pictures from the newspaper and TV were definitely real. To this day I am still fascinated by this, and many other cults. When asking "how do people get sucked into a cult" I have learned that they don't start out as cults, but evolve to that over time. Such a sad existence and ending for those people.

You got it right and said it was Flavor-aid not Kool-aid ever though the phrase don't drink the Kool-aid came from this horrible event. One amazing story is about a woman who took a nap only to wake up and find everyone else dead including her family.

There were a lot of escapees at first. When they first went to Guyana, he had the policy that if you wanted to leave, leave and don't infect the people. They had regular truck shipments of stuff they made to be sold in town, so that was not a problem, but you were responsible for getting yourself home, which was a problem. They had a community basketball team that used to play regular league games in town, so people went in and out right up to the end. One of his kids was saved from the suicide by being in town for a game. Crazy.

I remember seeing it on the news, I was 11 and remember the story told then. I also remember how things kept getting twisted around and rumors and apologists and so on. I remember the report of senator Ryan being gunned down in Guyana. I thought I had forgotten about this evil time, but I'm glad I haven't.

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I was an army "guinea pig" in San Francisco between '72 and '74. Guinea pigs tended to be Conscientious objectors, willing to serve in the army but not willing to carry a weapon or kill. One of my fellow guinea pigs didn't live on base. He told me about the church that he went to which was where he lived in SF. We were both to be discharged about the same time in '74. I asked him what he would do after discharge. He said that the church he was part of was collecting weapons so that they could "take over San Francisco for the Lord". Though I thought that was a weird thing for anyone to do, let alone a CO, I suspected that that wouldn't happen. A few weeks later, he confided in me that the church leader had changed his mind. They'd purchased some land in South America and were building a farm on it. He was intending to go there. Usually, when I spoke with him, he had his best friend with him who also belonged to the church. One time they came in excited and told me about how the two of them were on their way to their church when they saw 2 identical motorcycles for sale. They saw that as a sign from God and bought both of them. Of the 3 events, they sounded excited about all 3 but finding these small motorcycles seemed to give them the most excitement. I never told anyone about the claims that they made about going to war with SF or moving to SA. Looking back on it, I would be surprised if they were not part of the People's Temple as that was about the time Jones had decided to move to SA. I have read a lot about Jones and the People's Temple but don't remember these guys' names and don't recognize them in the list of the dead. But I do wonder if I'm right that they were, at that time, a part of Jones' church. Yet I've never read anything about a Jones' plan of going to war against SF.

It was flavoraid. I dont know how this is always so overlooked. Koolaid gets all the bad rep and flavoraid dodged a serious bullet.

_"The kids aren't in pain. They're crying because of the bitter taste"_ - on cyanide poisoning. This was such a horrific event and like The Wave (1981), should be mandatory education in all schools about the dangers of ideological possession.

Seen so many docs on this but you always have something up your sleeve that I’ve never heard before or never thought of in a certain way

amazing video, yet i wish it was the plot of a stephen king book rather than a sad reminder of how evil humans can be. thanks for keeping the weekly schedule Arran its the only thing that makes me enjoy mondays.

I remember this all very well. Years later I joined an Independent Baptist Church in Arnold Missouri. The pastor seemed like a really great man. Very encouraging and fun to help. But as time went by I saw into his hidden life. He was an evil man who used his position to steal money and sexual favors from people. When he told everyone that they were either with him, or they were against him and had to leave, I knew he crossed the line. Shortly thereafter I took my family and left. He was furious and lied about me and anyone else who dared leave his cult. A few years later he died a relatively young man. I can see how these madmen can brainwash their church. Those techniques are taught by various Bible colleges. His was in Indiana, of course.

''A certain tiny mustached German'' is such a beautifully British way to describe him. We all know the history and the English peoples ability to banter

A bit conflicted here about giving this one a thumbs up. 😕 i remember when this happened. It was reported in the news that 'They all drank KoolAide laced with cyanide' and about the team that arrived in the aftermath finding bodies all over the place rotting in the tropical heat and humidity. But thanks for the much more detailed and nuanced recounting of Jim Jones and Jonestown than i've run into anywhere else, hadn't run into much of anything about Jones' backstory beyond 'cult leader' before.

My father was in the Missouri Air National guard for over 30 yrs and as a child I remember they were sent to Gyana with planes full of CASKETS for the victims.They didn't have to recover bodies .I recall the news and all so clear even though I was so young,being born in '69 Some of my earliest memories are of World events and political news,back when news was actually news(mostly).Dad did missions to I think every central American country.Many of those were under marshal law or Damn near.I remember how he told me of there being armed soldiers everywhere you went.Panama was still under control of the USA then and was of course more maintained and calm.He was there several times.The Gyana trip was in and out trip .I don't think they ever left the base. Very comprehensive coverage of his twisted life and Death in a short Documentary.Always Great Thoughty2 ! As always I learned a few new things

I was eight years old when Jones Town happened. In fact, I can still recall seeing the pictures of the dead bodies on my tv set. It was enough to make you sick. Sure enough a couple of weeks later I came down with a stomach bug and got dehydrated; spending a couple of days in the hospital.

I actually remember this bloke from when I was a child. He made the news and TV more then once here in Australia way back then. Before the massacre at Jonestown.

Thank you for this video, this is defintelly one of the scariest cult stories.

They had a fake poison drinking episode a week before. Some of the people who gave the drink to their kids thought the drink wasn’t really poisoned.

I was a kid when Jonestown happened. I remember my whole family watching the news. It was horrific 😢.

2:25 I have never seen anything besides Arran's upper body in all my years watching this channel (from the suit and tie days to the now more semi formal open collar shirts) and I must say, I am not disappointed. Man got looks, body and smarts 😅

So I’ve been trying to watch everything you have ever done and I just finished the video about the most mysterious disappearance, the one about the 5 kids who either died in a fire (no way) or were kidnapped (yup). And at the end you mentioned you had a podcast! That you apparently ditched like a year and a half ago 😢💔

It's kind of what is going on in our society today, except both sides are pointing at each other that the other side is in the cult.

I was 11 when the mass killing took place. It was so horrible and remember people crying and in shock. I remember hearing one man so afraid he left his own child there so he could run away. He should have drank the punch too to leave his son there.

I remember when this happened and watching the footage of the shooting at the plane and then later the scene at the campsite. Truly frightening stuff.

Man, this boils my blood. If I could I would do things to his remains. That guy doesn't deserve to rest in peace.

"National (Socialist) German Workers' Party" aka Nazi,. "Union of Soviet (Socialist) Republics" aka Soviet, communist. This is the Yin & Yang of totalitarianism that no one talks about with the common denominator being socialism.

I am still not convinced that this wasn't a CIA operation gone sideways. I usually don't put much stock in conspiracy theories but this one has all the earmarks of being more than just a cult with a charismatic leader.

One of the oddest things about this is, Fascism is different then Communism. The Reich was opposite/opposed in many ways beyond world conquest to the USSR partly related to governence. Fascism the State/Government owns any business/service that provides for all the populace (such as Electricity, Water, and other Infrastructure) but also can allow personal businesses/properties to be owned as well as a little more personal freedom. While Communism the Government owns/controls everything and doesn't allow personal freedoms or property.

I guess Paul Mackenzie was his student..did a similar thing in Kenya only that we're still unearthing bodies 💔

It's so not right to laugh but.... Ross Kemp popping up with a little sign nearly finished me😂😂😂quality storytelling as always with just the right amount of comic relief to a truly horrific event, well done Thoughty👏👏👏

i still cant believe events like this even really happened. i feel so terribly for the poor children just confused and looking for a place in the world, yet were led to a psychopath.

1:49 well you really know your audience im watching this in the morning after a night getting absolutely hammered

I’m doing backflips trying to figure out how Jones reconciled nazism, communism and racial harmony. I think he just liked having undue power. I’ll stop there.

Jones was just one of many! BSC/PHDS/8&3

I like that you spent so much of the time talking about his early years. I'd never heard of any of that!

The Jonestown tape is one of the most harrowing and heartbreaking things I have ever listened to.

Always in time for my night shift, shame I only realised you had posted until the very end had to listen to the rest driving home. Working a bank holiday as well who'd be me

Just a week ago I was looking up if you had made a video on the peoples temple, lo and behold, it comes out now! Really tragic event but a damn good video nevertheless. I would love to see more videos about cults

I first learned about this guy with a video that left me without sleeping for 4 nights straight.

0:50 that “The Life Of Brian” reference!! 😂

As someone that has never followed ANYONE in this kinda way or any group. I just don't understand that kinda mind set. Is it the fear of being alone and unloved that causes people to join this kinda groups?

Hey Thoughty2, could you make a video about Sergei Krikalev. The man who was lost in space for 311 days because the Soviet Union collapsed and they couldn’t bring him back down to Earth.

Time and time again. When someone starts selling you on the wonders of socialism? Run. "Nah, those people before me had it all wrong! I figured it out." No you didn't. It always ends up in death and suffering. But I guarantee someone will respond to me with, "That wasn't true Socialism!" Every effing time. And here we are, learning the lesson over and over again. Like Sysiphus.

„Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are kravenous wolves.“ -Matthew 7:15 The devil always hides behind the good or behind things we desire.

I'm not a stranger to the events but it was interesting to hear them retold by Arron.

that was dark af. Thank you for keeping this information active, hopefully it'll prevent a reoccurrance because people will be more aware

I am so happy and grateful for your hard work, dedication, and spiritual wisdom!

I like to think of the historical facts as a nice bonus to the actual video of the come-to-bed wink at the end

Plz do the Q cult next.

One of the very first news stories I remember as a kid was watching train cars full of coffins being shipped back to the United States

Keep up the great work ❤

the ad portion of the video probably explains what causes spontaneous human combustion

So he pushed socialism and social justice and wound up being a psycho mass murderer? Weird. Actually it’s not weird. More like predictable.

You should do a video on the Branch Dividians and the drive of Waco.

You missed Trump in the rogue’s gallery of cult leaders

Thought this was gonna be about zelensky😂😂😂

“Briefcase wanka”…..says thoughty with the clever inbetweeners reference 😅💼🤓

Bro, Hitler was Austrian

I mean, honestly, before the bloodshed, hes a good example of admiration doesn't mean emulation. But, catastrophically and heinously, it was then shown in other non-discriminatory actions.

Rise and fall. Man accomplished exactly what he wanted to

Never believe anything on faith! Always ask for verifiable evidence. Proof is key. Always think critically. Always ask questions and even question yourself. Always remember that hearsay and faith are the worst ways to acquire knowledge. This video is a perfect example for that. As soon as you start to follow blindly it'll be your downfall. (Oh and btw... this is true for everyone. No matter if you are religious or not.)

Yeah and we see a number of dollar preachers out there stealing Gods money 💰 to line their pockets. Nothing has changed

I’m glad he made the kids go first. If it was inevitable they were all going to die, I would want them to see as little as possible. That’s the only piece of comfort I could even squeeze out of this episode…

I thought it was going to be a Biden video...

The strangest thing happened as I was scrolling through videos I didn't get a good look at the thumbnail and read the title as. The terrifying rise and fall of Steven Segal.

Christians... Meh🤷‍♂

I’m obsessed with real crime.🖤this is one of my favorite stories. Insane!!!

Thanks for reloading this insane piece of iconic history. Prior to September 11th this was the largest single deadly attack on America in sheer numbers that didn't involve War.

I happened to have gone to the same exact Church organization I used to attend. The so-called United Pentecostal Church!!! He was heavily involved with this organization for a while. And, was even in their yearbooks. It's now considered to be one of the Top Ten Cults of America!!! Finally!!! I now have Complex PTSD!!! It was a beyond HORRIBLE experience!!! It was a nightmare!!! He was really involved in the so-called United Pentecostal Church before going to Guyana!!!

The msot dangerous is QUIBULOY from the Philippines, he once scored 130pts in 1 game of basketball

13:45 “Things are about to kick off” - genius touch there👍

This is Power.This is control. Excellent

8:29 … and all that crap 😂 Oh I do love your sarcasm 😂👏

Not sure I would have included karesh in that lineup. Cult leader? Sure. Terrible person? Meh...it depends on who you ask. Regardless, what happened to in Waco is a horrific example of government sanctioned murder.