December 13th 1973 was an extremely important day for what was to become known as the Raelian movement. It was then that visitors from another planet contacted Rael, a French journalist at the time, and expressed their wish of being welcomed back to earth, as the creators of mankind. On that December morning, Rael, whose real name is Claude Vorilhon, was driving to work in a provincial town in France, called Clermont-Ferrand. But it was a sudden and unexplainable impulse that made him drive to a nearby volcano, instead of going to the office. It was then that the encounter took place. He met an extra-terrestrial being, who was about four feet tall, had olive skin, long dark hair and almond-shaped eyes. Rael described him as being extremely similar to a Japanese, by saying that no one would have noticed him, had he walked down a street in Japan. The obvious conclusion was that these beings are very similar to us, or, to be more exact, we are very similar to them, as we have been created in their image, just as the Bible explains.



The extra-terrestrial creature that resembled a human being so much told Rael that they were the designers of life on earth, and that it was them who stood at the origin of our religions, and not the gods. This messenger of the extra-terrestrials also explained that they wished to begin official contacts with the people from Earth, and suggested doing so through an embassy, because the human race was now mature enough to understand what happened at our origins.

The messages that Rael received from this extra-terrestrial being explained very clearly that life on earth was not what we humans thought it was, neither the creation of a powerful god, nor evolution from other species, but that we were created by people who were scientifically advanced and used DNA to make human beings from their image. After the process was completed, humanity was left to progress at its own pace, but prophets such as Moses, Buddha and Mohammed were especially educated by our extra-terrestrial creators, so that they could stay in contact with us.

Many ancient texts from different cultures refer to out extra-terrestrial creators. The Bible, for instance, speaks of the Elohim, an ancient Hebrew word that stands for ?those who came form the sky?. Similar references can also be found in indigenous cultures from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

Since the encounter took place, a true Raelian movement emerged. The Raelians believe that the human soul dies when the body dies, which is how their interest in cloning could be explained. The solution that the Raelian movement offers for eternal life is recreation from one's DNA. In their opinion, eternal life is not in the soul. The Raelian movement advocates the use of birth controls, condoms, masturbation, sex-positive feminism, human cloning and genetically modified organisms.

Why is the Raelian tradition unique? Because it offers plausible answers to all the questions surrounding our creation, answers that are somehow connected to the sacred books of all the monotheistic traditions.