Raëlism: How to watch Raël: The Alien Prophet, what is Raëlism, who is Claude Vorilhon, UFO religion explained

Netflix's new documentary Rael The Alien Prophet will tell the story of Claude Vorilhon and his controversial UFO-inspired religion Raëlism.

Raël: The Alien Prophet will tell the bizarre tale of the UFO-inspired religion. Cr. Netflix

Raël: The Alien Prophet, one of Netflix's most bizarre docu-series ever, is set to land on the streaming platform this week and will have many asking the following question - who, and what, is Raëlism?

The new Netflix TV series will feature interviews with the UFO religion's followers, critics and founder Raël himself as it traces how it spiralled into a controversial cult, leading to a number of court cases and shocking TV appearances.

Wanting to watch the show but want to know more about Raëlism, Raël and what he believes about the world? Here is everything you need to know about the highly anticipated series.

Watch the trailer for the docu-series here.

Who is Raël, who is Claude Vorilhon and where is he now?

Born in Vichy, France, in 1946, Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon is a French journalist and the leader and founder of the Raëlian Movement, an international UFO religion.

Prior to founding the religion, he worked as a sports journalist for car racing magazine Autopop. However, his life changed after an alleged encounter with an alien called Yahweh in December 1973. Following this he formed the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël. He has written many books since his purported close encounter with Yahweh and has travelled the world to promote them.

He has been accused by ex-Raëlians of plagiarism in his works, with some passages compared to the works of author Jean Sendy, which include many similar concepts. It is also claimed much of his Raëlian philosophy matches that of Osho, the founder of the Rajneesh movement.

During a TV appearance in the 1990s, his practices were critiqued by a priest, a social worker, and a psychologist, while one former follower of the religion, Jean Parraga, claimed his wife and children were being held as prisoners and were 'treated like criminals' during orgies and sacrifices that involve children at a Sensual Meditation camp run by Raël.

Journalist Stephane Baillargeon was sued by Raël after writing in the Montreal daily Le Devoir that the religion has defended paedophiles and that Raël liked very young girls. Latterly Le Devoir published a letter from Raël which denied the claims as "ignominious defamation" and further claimed the Raëlian Movement had "always condemned paedophilia and promoted respect for laws that justly forbid the practices that are always the fault of unbalanced individuals".

More recently, in 2007, he was denied a move to the Swiss Canton Valais. This was partly because he was feared to be endangering public values due his promotion of sexual liberty and the education of children on how to obtain sexual pleasure. He was also denied entry in part due to his belief in 'Clonaid human cloning', which is forbidden in the country.

What is Raëlism?

Known as Raëlianism, the religion was founded in France during the the 1970s by Claude Vorilhon - who is now known as Raël. It is a new religious movement and is led by Vorilhon/Raël. Raëlians meditate daily and believe physical immortality to be possible through human cloning. They promote a liberal ethical system and have a strong emphasis on sexual experimentation. They also believe in 'sexual self-determination' which is thought to be an act that precedes a sexual act rather than the sexual act itself.

The religion is an atheist one and its teachings say that an extraterrestrial species called 'Elohim' is actually what created humanity using advanced alien technology. They believe that the Elohim have created a total of 40 Elohim/human hybrids and that they serve as prophets and who preparing humanity for news about their origins. They believe those prophets include The Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, while Raël claims he is the 40th and final prophet.

What do followers of Raëlism believe?

Followers believe that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 saw humanity enter the 'Age of Apocalypse'. Raëlism claims humanity must harness new new scientific and technological development in order to bring forth peace and that, when that is achieved, the extraterrestrial species of Elohim will come back to planet Earth and provide their own advanced technology to humans which will then bring forth utopia.

They plan to build an embassy that will allow the Elohim to have a landing pad for when they return to Earth.

Raël: The Alien Prophet Netflix release date, run time, how many episodes

The documentary is available to watch on Netflix as of this morning (February 7) and is split into four episodes.

You must have a Netflix subscription to watch the series, which is available to purchase here. Prices start at £4.99 per month.