Lexington, Kentucky Launches World’s First Extraterrestrial Tourism Campaign, And You Can Join In
By Will Suphan|Published February 26, 2024
×
Will Suphan
Author
Will has been living in Arizona off and on for 30+ years in the Phoenix Metro and Tucson areas. He has traveled all over the state as well as having lived all over the Southwest. He's been writing for OnlyInYourState for one year and has previously written for Digital Journal. Will has a passion for travel and writing and combining the two is what he loves most. He loves solo international travel and has been to Thailand, France, Japan, and Cambodia.
In Kentucky, we love to bring visitors in from all over the country — and all over the world! And in the spirit of Southern hospitality, we are extending that invitation to visitors from outside Earth! We’re the first state to create a tourism campaign aimed at attracting extraterrestrial visitors thanks to the city of Lexington and its new VisitLEX program. Lexington, Kentucky, is proud to be the home of the world’s first extraterrestrial tourism campaign!
The “Horse Capital of the World” may be seeking to become the “Horse Capital of the Galaxy” and is inviting extraterrestrials to visit the fair city of Lexington in the country’s first tourism campaign aimed exclusively at otherworldly visitors.
With permission from the FAA and cooperation with local scientists and scholars, an infrared beam is being aimed at the TRAPPIST-1 solar system with an encoded message inviting any beings that can decipher it to come visit Lexington, Kentucky, on planet Earth.
The TRAPPIST-1 system is 40 light years away, so it will take 40 years for the message to reach it and any reply would take 40 years to arrive back to us. Yet, it is hoped that within the lifetime of young, budding scholars, scientists, and astronauts, we may make some new friends.
Lexington locals are always happy to share the love of horses, Bluegrass, bourbon, and everything Kentucky has to offer with anyone and everyone. Why not aliens? Everyone can write a personal invitation on the VisitLEX website.
Though we don’t know how long it will take for visitors to travel 235 trillion miles, the friendly messages sent from Kentucky Horse Park including from the scientists and scholars themselves like computer engineering and SETI expert Dr. Robert Lodder (pictured) are hopeful, humorous, and friendly.
“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.”
Even if we never hear a peep from the stars, this campaign is bringing together a love of science, education, and everything wonderful about Lexington and fostering a sense of community and camaraderie, and the more of that, the better!
What do you think about the VisitLEX tourism campaign inviting visitors from another world to the Bluegrass State? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. If you’re a visitor here yourself, you may want to take a look at great reasons to live in Lexington.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
