The Raëlian Agenda The Raëlians are led by a prophet, Claude Vorilhon, who says he encountered scientist-aliens in 1973 on a volcano crater in France. The aliens renamed him Raël; they told him that they had created earth people in their own (genetic) image, and they gave him a task. The true task Raël was given was to build a suitable embassy for his alien visitors to meet with earthlings, preferably in the Holy Land. According to the group's Web site, www.rael.org, it has not been easy, with $7 million raised for a project that could cost three times as much. Following are excerpts from the group's own account of its long, lonely quest for an embassy — and a country to put it in.