Extraterrestrial

New message beamed into space invites aliens to visit Kentucky

By T.K. Randall
January 17, 2024

Image: OVRO 40 Meter Radio Telescope
Credit: Salvor Hardin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Not content with appealing to human visitors, the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau has decided to attract tourists from a little further afield with its latest advertising campaign.

According to a press release, scientists have used lasers to beam a message toward the TRAPPIST-1 system which is home to several potentially habitable worlds situated over 40 light years away.

"It was quite the team effort," said Dr. Robert Lodder - a computing engineer and astrobiologist with SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).

"We brought together experts in engineering, linguistics, digital media, philosophy, and science fiction to design, debate, and transmit this message."

The message itself contains everything from photographs of Lexington to recordings of local musicians."We included imagery representing the elements of life, our iconic Lexington rolling hills, and the molecular structure for water, bourbon, and even dopamine...because Lexington is fun!" said linguistics expert Dr. Andrew Byrd.

Of course, given that the TRAPPIST-1 system is 40 light-years away, it will take 40 years for the message to actually get there (and at least another 40 years to get a response).

If aliens do show up in the future and make a bee-line for Kentucky, however, perhaps it will have achieved its intended purpose.

"We believe Lexington is the best place on Earth," said VisitLEX President Mary Quinn Ramer.

"It's the ideal location for extraterrestrial travelers to begin exploring our world."


Source: Visitlex.com

Tags: Alien