Kentucky tourist board urges UFOs to visit: ‘Just don’t eat us’
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A tourist board in Kentucky has decided to expand their reach and entice extremely far-away visitors – no, not distant countries, in fact, not even to anyone on Earth; their new advertising campaign is targeting something a bit more extra-terrestrial.
Recent UFO ‘revelations’ (plus maybe the odd congressional hearing on aliens) have pushed VisitLEX, the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau, to prepare and be the first in line for outer-space tourists, just in case aliens do turn out to exist.
While aliens may not yet be able to visit their website or keep up to date on all things Kentucky on social media, VisitLEX has found a way around this by literally beaming their advertising campaign into space, they announced in a press release.
Teaming up with a group of scientists and scholars in Lexington, VisitLEX used an infrared laser to beam a message towards different planets in the TRAPPIST-1 solar system 40 light years away.
This solar system was chosen because it is the most studied planetary system outside of our own and contains the largest number of potentially habitable Earth-sized planets, according to the press release.
The beam has been sent to the TRAPPIST-1 solar system 40 light years away.
(VisitLEX, Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau)
The message was beamed up from the Kentucky Horse Park, and invited any potential extraterrestrial beings who might fancy a trip to the Bluegrass state.
The FAA-approved message contains a range of photos of Lexington, audio recording of blues musician Tee Dee Young, the elements of bourbon, and a coded bitmap image of the origin and intent of the transmission.
Aliens depicted in Hollywood blockbusters have usually targeted the likes of New York City or areas in California, but Lexington is adamant about making their city the real-life hotspot for outer-space travellers.
“We believe Lexington is the best place on Earth,” said VisitLEX President Mary Quinn Ramer.
Their infared message incudes information about Lexington, including horses and bourbon
(VisitLEX, Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau)
“It’s the ideal location for extraterrestrial travellers to begin exploring our world.”
Tourist campaigning knows no boundaries at VisitLEX, while others are looking at Artificial Intelligence as the future of travel; Ms Ramer said they are “thinking even further ahead and looking to deep space.”
However, there is a catch to their groundbreaking advertising campaign; their message will reach its “interstellar destination” in just under 39 years and a possible 40 years after that to receive a response from any potential other-worldly holidaymakers.
While Lexington waits for their invite to arrive, they haven’t forgotten about all their visitors currently here on Earth, who can go and visit artefacts from the historic message-beaming event and even leave their own note for the aliens if and when they arrive.
“Of all the things we’ve been beaming into space, why not a positive, friendly message?” Dr Breen Byrd, an expert in Germanic Languages and Linguistics, said in a video promoting the campaign.
“Come to Lexington,” she added. “We have horses and bourbon. Just don’t eat us!”
