Bourbon, Horses, And Extraterrestrials: Scientists Trying To Contact Aliens With A Tourism Ad For Lexington, Kentucky

Scientists have sent a message off to a distant solar system in hopes of contacting extraterrestrial life and telling them about all of the fun that can be had in and around Lexington, Kentucky.

Hey, maybe all this time aliens have been looking for an authentic, affordable, and convenient travel experience.

According to The New York Post, this was the work of some scientists and some possibly bigger geniuses working for VisitLex.That's the city's tourism board, and they've decided that the best way to bring attention to their Earth-bound city was by shooting what amounts to a AAA brochure into space.

The team put together a coded bitmap that contains information about Earth. This includes some information about the periodic table as well as pictures of humans and horses because Lexington is synonymous with horse racing.

Do you know what else that area is now for? Bourbon.

Maybe aliens like to get their drink on. So, they sent the molecular structures of bourbon. They sent the same for dopamine too. That was because they wanted to let Extraterrestrials know that Lexington is fun, but I think that message was well sent with the bourbon info.

The star TRAPPIST-1 has seven exoplanets, some of which appear to be capable of sustaining life. (Photo digital Illustration by NASA/NASA via Getty Images)

The Lexington Message Is Being Sent Toward A Star Called TRAPPIST-1

While Lexington has a lot to offer everyone, they didn't shoot this message everywhere like some kind of cosmic buckshot. Instead, they focused on one part of the universe in particular: a star called TRAPPIST-1.

The reason? TRAPPIST-1, which sits 235 trillion miles away from Earth has 7 exoplanets orbiting it. The belief is that at least one of them could be capable of sustaining life.

"We are targeting the TRAPPIST-1 system because we might actually get an answer in somebody’s lifetime if there’s somebody there watching,” University of Kentucky professor Dr. Robert Lodder said.

It's going to take this flyer for Lexington about 40 years to make it to TRAPPIST-1. Then, if that's received, we'd have to wait the same amount of time for a return message. Unless, of course, the hypothetical extraterrestrials have found some way to bend time and space. That would get the job done faster.

As far as tourism board stunts go, this is one of the better ones. Way better than when some town is like "Hey, we made the biggest egg salad sandwich," or something stupid like that.

I hope in some 80 to 100 years it works.

Wouldn't the funniest thing ever be if decades from now this horrific-looking alien lands on Earth — much to the horror of all onlookers — but then its first question is about how it gets to Lexington?

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