by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 1:15 PM ET, Wed January 3, 2024
VisitLEX, the tourism organization for Lexington, Kentucky, beamed a coded message into space to attract alien tourists in a new campaign called, “Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington.”
The campaign included a partnership with local experts in engineering, linguistics, astrobiology and SETI to create an FAA-approved message, which was beamed into space towards the TRAPPIST-1 solar system during an event at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The solar system is located 40 light years away, or the equivalent of 235 trillion miles.
The bitmap message for the "Hey, Aliens!" space message, which was beamed to the TRAPPIST-1 solar system. (Photo Credit: VisitLEX)
The message, which is estimated to take over 38 years to reach its destination in outer space, included a coded bitmap image with clues of its origin in Lexington, along with photos of the destination and an audio recording from legendary blues musician Tee Dee Young.
“Lexington would be a great place to make first contact,” said Dr. Robert Lodder, expert in Computer Engineering and SETI, who participated in the efforts. “You can land your spacecraft here. You can see the Bluegrass. You may even be able to ride a horse, depending on how big you are.”
The destination predicts that if aliens view the message and accept the invitation to visit, they’ll arrive around 2103.
Travelers visiting Lexington can leave a postcard to the extraterrestrials in a time capsule at the Lexington Visitor Center, while visitors to the VisitLEX website can add their greetings digitally.
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