The Raëlian movement’s first public claims

Record summary

Claude Vorilhon, later called Raël, founded the Raëlian movement after reporting encounters with extraterrestrial beings in France in 1973 and publishing related teachings during the 1970s. The movement combined UFO contact narratives with an explicitly materialist and anti-traditional religious program, promoting the Elohim as technologically advanced creators rather than gods. It is useful for comparing contactee traditions, new religious authority, and science-oriented esotericism. The movement and its texts are documented, while the alleged encounters are matters of religious testimony and cannot be independently verified.