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UFO cult, currently in the news for its efforts at cloning human beings. (See Religion News Blog for
current news about the Raelians claims).

Who are the Raelians?

The Raelian movement is the founder of the Clonaid company which claims to have
produced the first cloned baby.

The movement claims to have about 40,000 members in several countries, although
the number is difficult to verify.

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
who worked for a racing car magazine.

One December morning in 1973, journalist Claude Vorilhon was on his way to work in
the French provincial town of Clermont-Ferrand.

But - according to a book written by Mr Vorilhon, who is now known as Rael - instead
of going to the office, on an impulse, he drove to a nearby volcano.

International movement

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.

The creators were known as the Elohim - a word which, in ancient Hebrew, meant
"those who came from the sky".

It is used in Jewish prayers to refer to God.

Mr Vorilhon was told to spread the word of the Elohim on Earth in preparation for their
return.

He describes them as being little over a metre in height, with pale green skin,
almond-shaped eyes and long dark hair.

Since then the Raelians have grown into an international movement. Rael himself has
reportedly relocated to the United States after complaining of harassment by the
French authorities.

Eternal life

The Raelians' interest in cloning seems to stem from their belief that the human soul
perishes when the body dies.

Therefore, they believe, the key to eternal life is not the soul but the recreation of
individuals from their DNA.

In 1997, the group founded Clonaid, which now says it has cloned a human being.

In 1990, the Raelians changed their symbol, originally a Swastika inside a Star of
David.