Visiting another city is common for most of us.

For some, it’s a daily trek we make to work. For others, the bright lights of the city beckon you for vacation.

But in the case of Lexington, Ky., they are seeking a different sort of visitor.

The tiny green kind. From outer space.

The Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau has beamed a message to TRAPPIST-1, a star that is more than 40 light-years away from Earth. 

The VisitLex campaign sent the invitation to space telling whomever (or whatever) might be out there that they were welcome to come see the bluegrass fields of Lexington and sample their bourbon.

Aliens, if you’re out there, greetings! This is your guide to experiencing the Horse Capital of the Galaxy. We think it’s well worth the 235 trillion-mile trip,” VisitLex said.

But officials said their primary goal was to find more Earthbound visitors by making sure people (and aliens) knew that the city was a friendly place to visit.

The message sent to TRAPPIST-1. Photo by Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau

“What better way to do that than … bring the first tourism ad (for) Lexington to extraterrestrials and invite aliens to come here?” said Leslie Miller, vice president of marketing at the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Miller said the campaign was inspired by recent congressional hearings on the existence of UFOs and future space travel.

But the space portion of the campaign was taken seriously, using research that showed where potential for habitable planets were, as well as prior attempts to send messages to the stars, said experts. Which means Lexington has a minute chance of being able to actually invite an alien to visit.

“A lot of people think Kentucky is a flyover state, and it’s nice to give them the impression that maybe we’re not,” said Robert Lodder, a professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky who worked on the message sent to space. “… And that Earth is not a flyover planet.”

The message had a pattern of prime numbers, the elements that make up life, as well as water and ethanol (the elements that create bourbon), dopamine, horses, and Lexington’s Bluegrass landscape. It also had images of the city, as well as a recording of local blues legend Tee Dee Young.

Of all the things that we’ve been beaming into space, why not a positive, friendly message?”

“I think saying, ‘Hey, we’re nice, friendly people, and we have horses and bourbon and dopamine. Please don’t eat us,” said Dr. Brenna Byrd, an expert in Germanic languages and linguistics who also helped on the campaign.

Children watch the skies during VisitLex’s message to the stars campaign. Photo by VisitLex

The message, once approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was beamed into space on Oct. 24th, Now, Miller said, it’s just a matter of waiting 40 years for the message to reach TRAPPIST-1. And then 4o more years for a response.

Is there a chance this might work? Probably not, said Andrew Siemion, the chair of SETI research at the SETI Institute.

“If they weren’t looking in our direction in 40 years, at that particular hour, then they would miss it,” Siemion said. But the message was impressive, he said, and officials had chosen their target well. NASA, he said, has promoted TRAPPIST-1 as a promising prospect for extraterrestrial life.

And Miller said at the moment, the city has no idea how they would entertain actual alien visitors.

“I don’t know that we’ve gotten that far yet,” Miller laughed.

Take a look below at the campaign, and share amongst your alien friends!

Sources: Washington Post | WFLA