Raël[a] (born Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon,[b] 30 September 1946)[2] is a French journalist who founded and leads the Raëlian Movement, an international UFO religion.

Before becoming a religious leader, Raël, then known as Claude Vorilhon, worked as a sports-car journalist and test driver for his car-racing magazine, Autopop.

[8] He attended a Catholic boarding school in Le Puy-en-Velay and caused a scandal by taking part in communion without being baptized.

[9] At age 15, Vorilhon ran away from boarding school and hitchhiked to Paris, where he spent three years playing music on the streets and in cafés and cabarets.

[10] He took on a new identity, assuming the name Claude Celler, and released six singles, including a minor hit song, "Le miel et la cannelle" ("Honey and Cinnamon").

[7] He was saving up his money to buy a racing car, a dream he had since he was a young boy, but his prospects as a singer came to an abrupt end when Morisse killed himself in September 1970.

[20] Raël said he was given the mission to inform the world of humanity's origins in anticipation of these extraterrestrials' return by building a residential embassy in neutral territory.

He stated that his second book, Les extra-terrestres m'ont emmené sur leur planète (Extraterrestrials Took Me To Their Planet), relates the teaching he received from these people.

[24] Shortly after a first public conference, Raël founded MADECH, a group of people interested in helping him in his task, which later became the International Raëlian Movement.

[27] Sociologist Susan J. Palmer said that Cristini, a nurse, diagnosed Raël as clinically depressed after he appeared at her doorstep in 1987, burnt out from the tasks he carried out within the movement.

In the 1990 Radio Canada television documentary They're Coming!, Raël is seen with four women,[29] while Lisa, in slow motion, wears a pink tutu and holds hands with him.

During a December 2001 interview with Palmer, Sophie spoke positively about Raël, despite their divorce the previous year; they continued to live together.

[43] Nanostructures control biology, so Raël expected that meat and salads will someday be grown in a machine via molecular construction.

Most of Raël's book Sensual Meditation is said to have been derived from the Silva 'Mind Control' Method, which was allegedly taught to him by ex-level-5 guide of the Canadian Raelian Movement, Jean-Denis Saint-Cyr.

[citation needed] In 1992, Raël appeared on Ciel mon Mardi, a French talk show hosted by journalist Christophe Dechavanne.

A former Raëlian, Jean Parraga, believed that his wife and children were being held as prisoners, and that Raël attempted to break up his family.

[52] In 2004, Raël appeared on the first airing of the Quebec version of the French talk show Tout le monde en parle, hosted by Guy A. Lepage.

The situation reached its peak when caricaturist Serge Chapleau called Raël a "farce" and a "nerd", ridiculed his clothes, and grabbed him by the back of his neck.

Another suit was brought against journalist Stephane Baillargeon for writing in the Montreal daily Le Devoir that Raëlians defend pedophiles and that certain ex-Raëlians claim the "gourou" likes very young girls.

[54] On 26 January 1994, in emergency proceedings by the Appeal Court of Reims, Myriam Assan was accused of defamation for claiming in her book that "Raël was often sentenced for corruption of minors".

[55] In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.

[56] A planned Raëlian seminar continued, with Raël making some brief "big screen" video-camera appearances via the internet for the several hundred who attended.