The sect, which believes humans were created by extra-terrestrial beings who had mastered genetic engineering, was founded in France in 1973 by a former journalist, Claude Vorilhon, who worked for a racing car magazine.
On the 13th of December 1973, he was on his way to work in the French provincial town of Clermont-Ferrand but instead following an impulse, he drove to a nearby dormant volcano.
There, he says, he was contacted by an extra-terrestrial being who emerged from a flying saucer and told him – in fluent French – that humans were created in laboratories by people from another planet. In the days following, Vorilhon-Rael (Rael being the name given to him by the space visitor) allegedly ”received commentaries on the most significant parts of the Bible”. These teachings by the extra-terrestrial and notes taken by Rael were later published in his book, The Messages Given to Me by Extra-Terrestrials
Later in 1975, the space visitors took Rael aboard their space ship to the planet where they lived, Elohim, and introduced him to such noted earthlings as Jesus, Buddha, Joseph Smith and Confucius. The Elohim, a word which, in ancient Hebrew, meant “those who came from the sky” are little human-shaped beings over a metre in height, with pale green skin, almond-shaped eyes, long dark hair, olive skin and exuded harmony and humor.
They informed Vorilhon that he was the final prophet — sent to relay a message of peace and sensual meditation to humankind under his new name of Rael — before the Elohim would return to Jerusalem in the year 2025. They didn’t however, oblige him to give up race-car driving, and Rael spent much of the ’80s and ’90s whipping around the world’s racetracks in his beloved Mazda RX 7 Turbo.
Faithful to his commission, Rael has established a movement to spread the message of the Elohim and to build an embassy to welcome the extra-terrestrials back to earth. The message in large part explains who the Elohim are and how life on Earth came to be. Also, it is important for the embassy to be built in order for the Elohim to return to earth and share their scientific expertise. It has been revealed that the Elohim ”will only come when we build their embassy, such is their love and respect for us”
While Raelians do not believe in the eternal life of the soul, they do believe that the Elohim’s scientific advancements have allowed them to provide eternal life to a relatively few individuals, including Jesus and Mohammad, who live with other worthy human beings on another planet. When Rael wrote his message, he claimed that there only 8,400 individuals deemed worthy enough to live on this planet, Marsic says. While it is believed that Mother Theresa and Gandhi have passed muster, most others will not be so lucky.