The UFogs

The UFogs cult, based in Barlaston, is lead by the charismatic Ferria, a former titty bar owner born in 1965 as Paul Gristle. The cult believes that it is in contact with a race of aliens called The Aubreys. The leader of the aliens, Kengo Gash-Rar, is a close personal friend of Ferria; his inter-dimensional spaceship orbits the Earth protecting the UFogs (but not the rest of the human race) from potential alien attack. When its believers die, the Aubreys will transport the UFogs to another dimension for eternal life. The UFogs believe in free love. As leader, Ferria is required to take the virginity of all female followers.



Ferria (aka: Paul Gristle)



Ferria claims that Kengo is a messiah figure who will declare his presence to the wider world when the time is right. The Aubreys come from an alternate dimension Mars, and their mother ships are shaped like chicken drumsticks. Kengo told Ferria that humans are descendants of these Martians, who came to Earth 1 million years ago on holiday and never left.

The Franciscans

Pete Clark was playing frolf [frisbee golf] in the Barlaston Desert in 1968 when he claimed to have made contact with a UFO. He says that he was lining up a tricky shot around a cactus when he started receiving telepathic messages of advice form a nearby UFO, which also happened to be invisible to all human eyes except his own.

Returning home to Boothen, Clark changed his name to Janey Lee Franciscus, in honour of the name of the alien with whom he had been in contact. In 1969, the newly renamed Janey Lee moved to the northern edge of the Barlaston Desert and opened a diner. He lived on a commune in Meir Heath, working as a sex observer when not at the diner.

In 1972, he opened a vegetarian restaurant at the entrance to the commune. His increasing influence at the commune was completed when he was elected leader of the group. He moved the compound to Barlaston and renamed the group The Franciscans. He then wrote a combined gospel and cook book: 'How To Get To Heaven: Religiously and Foodly'.

Franciscus ran for Mayor of Stoke in 2002, challenging favourite Mike Wolfe for the title! Franciscus's first pledge was that, during his first term in office, he would spend the city's entire transport budget to make Stoke a major player in the space race. The public vote for Mayor was close, but Wolfe won by 7 votes to 6.

Paris Hilton meets some of her fans

Increasingly disillusioned with life in Stoke, Franciscus moved the world headquarters of the church to California in 2004, where he enjoyed a brief relationship with heiress Paris Hilton.