UFO Group Behind Cloning Effort
Dec. 27, 2002 -- For the group that claims to have created the first human clone, the announcement is an important step toward fulfilling the mission given to them by beings from another planet.
The Raelians believe that space creatures used genetic engineering techniques to create all life on Earth 25,000 years ago.
"All life on Earth, human included, has been scientifically created in laboratories by the Elohim, people from space, who had developed a perfect mastery of genetic engineering and DNA synthesis," the group's founder, Claude Vorilhon, claims in his book, The True Face of God.
Vorhilon, then a race-car driver and editor of a small racing magazine, took the name "Rael" after a purported encounter with short, green aliens while he was hiking near a volcano in France 29 years ago.
"I could see then this was certainly no child even though the figure was only about four feet tall. His eyes were slightly almond shaped, his hair was black and long, and he had a small black beard," Rael recounts in his book.
The aliens took him to visit their planet, he says, where he met with Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha, who were all disciples of the alien beings.
The group now claims more than 55,000 members in 84 countries. Most of the believers are in French-speaking areas of Europe and Canada, according to several published reports about the group. Canada officially recognized Raelianism as a religion several years ago.
Headquarters in UFOland, Canada
The Raelians have created a headquarters and theme park called "UFOland" in a rural community outside Montreal. The facility features a replica of the shiny silver spaceship that Rael says he first saw in 1973.
Long before today's announcement, Rael and his followers courted publicity and controversy from an incredulous public.
They advocate open sexual relations among members, but angrily deny coercing followers for sex or money.
Wearing a white jumpsuit and his hair knotted atop his head, Rael appeared before a Congressional subcommittee in 2001 to argue for legal cloning.
"Human cloning will make it possible for us to reach eternal life," Rael told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
After Dolly, the world's first cloned animal, was unveiled by Scottish scientists in 1997, the Raelians founded Clonaid, the company that claimed today to have produced a cloned baby girl.
The head of Clonaid, a former chemistry professor named Brigitte Boisselier, is herself a bishop in the Raelian sect, according to The Associated Press.
"I'm creating life," she said during the announcement today. "I'd like to think of science for good, science for creation of life and this is the message that Rael has been giving."
Genetic researchers were deeply skeptical of the Raelians' claim to have cloned a human, because of the difficulty involved in creating a clone and the group's eccentric history. Clonaid says independent scientists will report on the genetic makeup of the baby girl in the coming days.