Lexington, Kentucky, bills itself as the horse capital of the world, but if its tourism board has its way, it will someday be a place to see little green men.
The Lexington Convention and Visitor Bureau is looking for some way-out-of-town visitors: It sent a message into outer space using an infrared laser to the TRAPPIST-1 star system 40 light years away.
The message included a coded bitmap image describing the sights and sounds of Lexington, and a recording of blues musician Tee Dee Young. Under that, there’s a legend in English reading “Visit Lexington, Kentucky.”
Dr. Andrew Byrd, a linguistics expert at the University of Kentucky, explained in a news release, “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.”
Further, computer engineer and ET researcher Dr. Robert Lodder offers to any potential alien visitors, “Lexington would be a great place to make first contact. 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 tourism board even set up a website just to get the extraterrestrials’ attention. “So far, no unusual activity has been reported in the skies above Lexington,” it explains.
Apparently the tourism board is thinking ahead: It will take some 38 years, 357 days and counting for the message to reach its intended destination.