Netflix viewers were left disturbed by the streaming site’s new alien docuseries.
Raël: The Alien Prophet was released on February 7 as a four-part documentary covering the life of Claude Vorilhon, who adopted the titular name.
Vorilhon was a French journalist who promised “out of this world” ecstasy and enlightenment to anyone, especially women, who followed the teachings he claimed to have learned through his alleged alien abduction in 1973.
One viewer commented on X after watching the series, calling it “a remarkable, surprising and often disturbing story.”
In addition to accusations that Raël forced women to sign “a contract” that made them “sexually exclusive” to him, and wild accounts of naked “sensual meditation,” the documentary delves into the Raëlians’ dubious claim to have dominated human cloning.
Netflix fans have described the platform’s new docuseries Raël: The Alien Prophet as “disturbing”
The four-part documentary is about the life of Claude Vorilhon (pictured)
After claiming to have an interaction with god-like aliens, Vorilhon adopted the name Raël and launched his ‘UFO cult’.
Other Netflix subscribers who watched the documentary commented: “The Netflix documentary about Raël and his cult is as horrifying as it is exciting…
‘The Netflix documentary about Raël is incredible…
“If you haven’t watched ‘Raël: The Alien Prophet’ on Netflix, do so…
‘It’s… awkward… I knew the name but not the story… I’m going to take a break to clean up.’
The journey of this oft-described “UFO cult” spanned decades of controversy and sensational television appearances.
In a 1975 book, Raël described his encounter with aliens deep in the crater of a volcano in France. The beings, he said, had explained that all of humanity was created from the DNA of their most advanced alien race, the ‘Elohim’.
These beings supposedly encouraged him to pursue human cloning, but he also launched his ‘Raelian’ religion.
In the early 1980s, the Raëlians purchased a camp in southern France, which they used for mass naked worship ceremonies to “welcome the Elohim.”
The group called their retreat in the French wilderness Eden.
“He had a catchphrase: ‘If you want to get your pants off your head, you first have to get your pants off your ass,'” according to a former fan named Jean-Paul.
‘Finding myself in a group blatantly naked. It wasn’t easy but we did it.”
One Netflix subscriber wrote: “Netflix’s documentary about Raël and his cult is as creepy as it is exciting.”
During the 1990s, Raël and his followers became the subject of numerous talk shows and daytime news shows as the group’s following became more international.
In 1992, the movement purchased a 284-acre property in Quebec, Canada, which they named Le Jardin du Prophète (‘the Garden of the Prophet’). They built a museum there for UFO research in order, they claimed, to raise money for their ‘Elohim Embassy’.
‘Raëlism’ became so important internationally that its supposed prophet was brought before the US Congress to discuss human cloning when debates reached a fever pitch in 2001.
In March of that year, Raël and others were called to testify about the ethics of their company, as lawmakers debated a ban on human cloning.
That same spring, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations inspected a Raelian-run Clonaid laboratory located in a rented room at a high school in Nitro, West Virginia.
In the end, the FDA, Clonaid, and the former West Virginia state legislator who had helped Clonaid purchase its lab equipment, Mark Hunt, reached an agreement not to carry out their attempts to clone Hunt’s son in the United States. .
Undaunted, the group announced their first supposed success in human cloning in December 2002, at a Holiday Inn in Hollywood, Florida.
Dr. Brigitte Boisselier, who served as chief scientific officer of movement cloning company Clonaid, attended interviews with the creators of the new series.
In the trailer, she says she would “laugh” but “wouldn’t change anything” if she found out it had all been a “scam.”
Along with the dubious claims about cloning, there were accusations of sexual abuse against Raël and some of his top lieutenants, who first emerged from Canada.
Brigitte McCann, a Canadian journalist who worked undercover within the group, said: “Ultimately, they were sex slaves.”
Within the culture of the Raëlians, however, they were known as the “Order of Angels”.
Raëlism became a global phenomenon, claiming to be able to clone humans inspired by the extraterrestrial ‘Elohim’, culminating with the supposed prophet testifying on the subject before Congress.
In 1992, the movement purchased a 284-acre property in Quebec, Canada, which they named Le Jardin du Prophète (‘the Garden of the Prophet’). It was in Canada that the darkest allegations of sexual abuse by Raël and some of his top lieutenants first emerged.
Brigitte McCann, a Calgary-based journalist who infiltrated the group and witnessed their practices firsthand: “Ultimately, they were sex slaves.”
Raël married Sophie (left) when he was 16 years old. Her mother, who was also a member of Raëlism, had recruited her into Raëlism and gave her permission to marry.
McCann reported seeing ceremonies in which naked ‘angels’ attended to the prophet’s every whim.
Nadine Gary, a member of the order, who had been recruited by her mother at age 18, described how Raëlians explained the order to themselves: “They are in the service of the Elohim and to honor and serve Raël.”
‘Then I thought, “You must be part of this order” and when I became Angel, it was moving. I felt immense love.’
Another supposed angel, Sophie, became Raël’s wife at just 16 with the permission of her own mother, herself a member of the fringe “alien worship” group.