Claude Vorilhon
Claude Vorilhon (born 1946), better known by the religious name Raël, is a French former racing journalist and sports car driver who founded the Raelian movement in France in 1973. Raelism is a UFO religion centered on the belief that an advanced extraterrestrial species called the Elohim created all life on Earth using biotechnology, and that human religious figures throughout history were Elohim-human hybrids serving as prophets.
| Role | Founder of Raelism |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Raël |
Claimed Contact
Vorilhon claims that on December 13, 1973, near Clermont-Ferrand, France, he encountered a small extraterrestrial being who emerged from a spacecraft and revealed to him that the word "Elohim" in the Hebrew Bible refers not to a singular god but to the plural extraterrestrial creators of humanity. The being reportedly identified Vorilhon as the final prophet of the Elohim and gave him the name Raël.
Raelian Doctrine
The movement Vorilhon founded teaches that:
- All life on Earth was genetically engineered by the Elohim, an advanced civilization from another star system
- Key religious and historical figures including Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad were Elohim-human hybrids (40 such hybrids have existed throughout history, according to Raelian doctrine)
- The 1945 Bombing of Hiroshima marked humanities entry into an "Age of Apocalypse" that could culminate in nuclear self-destruction
- Humanity must build an official embassy with a spacecraft landing pad to receive the Elohim and avert this apocalypse
The Raelian movement claims tens of thousands of members worldwide and is legally registered as a religion in several jurisdictions.