On October 24, 2023, an unusual message streaked into the sky from a horse park Lexington, Kentucky. It was perhaps the strangest transmission from the Bluegrass State since Hunter S. Thompson penned a “decadent and depraved” account of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville more than five decades ago. Translated into binary code, pointed towards a solar system 40 lightyears away and beamed there using a telescope fixed to a modified engraving laser, the message read, “Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington.”
In less than 40 years, that message will reach whatever inhabitants await in TRAPPIST-1, the most studied planetary system outside of our own; a solar system that so far features the largest number of potentially habitable, Earth-sized planets known to humans.
Along with an invitation to the self-proclaimed horse capital of the world, the beacon includes photos, music and symbols for the elements of life on Earth like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen alongside the molecules for two primary ingredients in Kentucky bourbon—water and ethanol.
VisitLEX, the tourism board beating the drum behind what is being described as the world’s first interstellar tourism campaign is serious about the possibility of attracting extraterrestrial visitors to the heart of Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail. “With heightened interest in space exploration and celestial events, we wanted to be the first tourism brand to think way outside the box when it comes to marketing to a whole new type of potential visitor,” said VisitLEX President Mary Quinn Ramer.
“We believe that Lexington is the best place on Earth, and that many of the attributes of our destination would give extraterrestrials a great first impression—like our bucolic horse pastures with wide open spaces, award-winning bourbon, and an eclectic blend of inspiring arts and sciences.”
In partnership with the University of Kentucky and SETI expert Dr. Robert Lodder, VisitLEX worked with experts in engineering, linguistics, digital media, philosophy and science fiction to design and transmit the message.
The news generated cheers and chuckles among America’s travel community. However, recent global events dictate that this interstellar message be taken seriously. Extraterrestrial visitors could visit Kentucky in the future; and if they do, it might not be the first time.
Could Interstellar Tourists Exist?
In recent years, the U.S. Government has quietly released its chokehold on a generations-old mantra that intelligent, extraterrestrial life does not exist. In 2020, The Pentagon de-classified and released a trio of videos taken by flight records on U.S. Navy fighter jets showing inexplicable encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena—formerly known as UFOs—just five years prior. By then; however, the videos had already been leaked by a private company co-owned by Blink-182 musician Tom DeLonge.
Though the Pentagon has studied unidentified aerial phenomena in the past, the most recent videos spawned a renewed interest in just how much the U.S. Government does know about extraterrestrial life. In August of 2023, The Pentagon unveiled a new website serving as an online clearinghouse for all declassified information on UAPs. A month later NASA chimed in stating that the study of UAPs will require new scientific techniques, while also releasing the results of a year-long study on data collection used to research the phenomena. Also in 2023, former Air Force intelligence offer Maj. David Grusch testified to Congress before a House Oversight subcommittee that the Pentagon has a longstanding program to retrieve and reverse engineer unidentified flying objects.
Grusch testified that he was tasked with identifying highly classified programs as part of a UAP taskforce. That mission led Grusch to receive testimony that the United States has been engaged in a “multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program.” Grusch also testified that the United States has been aware of “non-human” activity since the 1930s.
The Pentagon denied Grusch’s claims.
Kentucky’s Most Famous Interstellar Visitors
If potential inhabitants of TRAPPIST-1 do exist, can decode the message from VisitLEX and have the ability and desire to make a journey to Kentucky, they may not be the first extraterrestrial visitors to the Bluegrass State. In fact, Kentucky is already home to one of the most mystifying and well-known alleged interactions with extraterrestrials of all time: the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter.
Located about 200 miles southwest of Lexington, not far from the Tennessee state line, the town of Hopkinsville has been immortalized in UFOlogy lore by the events of August 21, 1955. During the encounter, five adults and seven children engaged in an armed standoff with what they would later tell police was a group of small, alien creatures from a spaceship attacking their farmhouse.
“It’s one of the most controversial and well-known tales in the history of UFOlogy,” said Astonishing Legends co-host Scott Philbrook, whose paranormal podcast launched in 2014 and has since topped 100 million downloads. “It also ranks pretty close to the top of encounter stories with cryptids like Momo or the Mothman when it comes to the creepy factor. The difference in Kentucky is that there was a group of multiple beings—almost like an invasion in a way.”
During the encounter, area residents Elmer Sutton and Billy Ray Taylor described shooting at short, dark figures that popped into their doorway and peered into the windows of the farmhouse. The families were so startled by the event that they drove to the Hopkinsville police station to report the incident that same night, and eventually abandoned the farmhouse altogether after claiming the visitors returned in the pre-dawn hours.
Time Capsule Awaits Extraterrestrial Arrival
Should visitors from TRAPPIST-1 arrive in Lexington, they may also find a time capsule from 2023 now on display at the VisitLEX Lexington Visitor Center. The time capsule contains components of the events at Kentucky Horse Park in October, including an example of the type of laser used to transmit the message, apparel worn by the crew and a diagram of the message.
“After our extraterrestrial visitors have made such an effort to get here, we’ll want to ensure they’re welcome with our signature Lexington hospitality,” said Leslie Miller VisitLEX Vice President of Marketing. “Hopefully by then, we’ll know a bit more about life beyond our galaxy and can customize our plans for their arrival as we do for human guests today.”
Miller said she would encourage extraterrestrial visitors to begin their tour of Lexington at the visitor’s center before joining her at Kentucky Horse Park for a glass of bourbon.