Buzz
For centuries, humans have been intrigued by the possibility of connecting with extraterrestrial life. While our attempts to send messages into the cosmos have yet to receive a response, some of the transmissions featured in this list are so bizarre and cryptic that it might actually be for the best if they go unnoticed. Should any intelligent beings intercept these signals, it's hard to predict what impression they would have of humanity—but it's safe to assume they'd consider us quite odd.
10. Crop Circles and Burning Canals
Although crop circles are commonly linked with alien communications, some of the earliest instances were actually created by individuals attempting to reach extraterrestrials. In the 1820s, German mathematician Carl Friedrich proposed that the most effective way to contact aliens was by leaving a message visible from above. He ventured into the Siberian wilderness, cutting down trees to form a vast triangular pattern, and planted wheat within it. He also developed and used 'sky telegraphs'—a system he invented involving a heliotrope that reflected sunlight toward other planets.
Two decades later, astronomer Joseph Von Littrow, who believed the moon was inhabited, proposed the idea of creating massive, symbol-shaped trenches in the Sahara Desert, filling them with oil, and setting them alight at night. His goal was to use the bright flames to signal extraterrestrial beings of our existence on Earth. Like Friedrich, Littrow believed geometric shapes were the key to communicating with aliens, assuming that mathematical principles were universal.
9. Focused Light
After observing bright spots of light on Mars and Venus (likely atmospheric phenomena), French inventor Charles Cros became convinced that these lights were signals from faraway, alien cities. In 1869, he advanced Carl Friedrich's ideas by using parabolic mirrors to direct beams of light from electric lamps toward other planets. Through a type of Morse code, Cros sent flashing light signals, hoping they would be noticed by intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe.
Though Cros was uncertain about the effectiveness of the small mirrors, he remarked that if they were successful, “It will be a moment of joy and pride. The eternal isolation of the spheres is vanquished.”
As expected, Cros received no response from the Martians. Despite this disappointment, he continued to petition the French government to construct a colossal mirror capable of burning enormous symbols into the Martian and Venusian deserts. For several reasons—primarily the sheer impossibility of the idea, and also because setting a fire on another planet might not be the best way to introduce ourselves—the French government rejected Cros' proposal, and he was never able to realize his dream of communicating with aliens.
8. Pioneer Plaque
In the early 1970s, NASA launched two space probes, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, with the goal of exploring the gas giants, the asteroid belt, and the far reaches of the solar system. Along with the spacecraft's scientific instruments, the astronauts decided it would be a good idea to attach a message to any extraterrestrials that might come across them—because you never know.
Renowned astronomers Carl Sagan and Frank Drake designed the Pioneer Plaque. This six-inch by nine-inch gold anodized tablet features diagrams of the universe (in case the aliens need a map), a schematic of hydrogen (the most abundant element in the universe), and images of two naked humans—once again, why not? Identical versions of the plaque were attached to the frames of each spacecraft.
NASA lost contact with Pioneer 10 in 2003 and with Pioneer 11 in 2005. While both spacecraft provided valuable data about our solar system, the ultimate question remains unanswered: can aliens decipher our peculiar symbols? Some argue that the symbols are too abstract for extraterrestrial intelligence to interpret, while others worry that we're inadvertently giving potentially dangerous life forms a roadmap to Earth. There are also concerns that the nude depictions might make humans appear somewhat inappropriate. And, of course, all these views are overshadowed by those who believe the entire endeavor was a pointless use of time and taxpayer dollars. Until a little green alien shows up, plaque in hand, thanking us for the directions—we’ll never know.
7. Arecibo Message
Around the same time the Pioneer probes were launched, astronomers began experimenting with the idea of using focused, amplified radio waves to communicate with extraterrestrials. They knew radio waves were less susceptible to interference from cosmic dust than light and had figured out how to target radio waves to specific locations many light years away. As a result, radio seemed like the perfect medium for reaching out into the vastness of space with a message.
Once again, Frank Drake and Carl Sagan joined forces to create another attempt at human-alien communication. This time, their message consisted of seven elements, including an image of a human, the structure of DNA, the atomic numbers of common elements, and the digits from one to ten. They transmitted the message in binary code, with zeros and ones represented by two different frequencies. Incidentally, the resulting images resembled something from an Atari game, so if any aliens decode the message, they may assume we're huge fans of 80s video games and decide to steer clear of us.
In 1974, astronomers utilized the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico to send a message toward the star cluster M13, which is rich in stars and thus more likely to host intelligent life. The only downside to M13’s position is that it lies 21,000 light years away, meaning if an alien civilization ever responds, it will take over forty thousand years for us to hear back.
6. Voyager Golden Records
It seems that scientists in the 1970s were quite determined to make contact with extraterrestrials—or at least with future humans. In 1977, NASA launched a third major message into space with the help of the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft. Once again, Carl Sagan and his team devised what they thought aliens would most need to know, encoding the information onto two gold-plated, twelve-inch gramophone records (one for each probe). These records contained sounds of nature, a variety of languages, music, images, and other elements meant to capture the essence of life on Earth.
The covers of the records featured many of the same images found on the Pioneer Plaque, though NASA decided to leave out the nude man and woman after receiving many complaints about the previous inclusion. The records also included instructions for playback, as well as a needle and cartridge for use.
Currently, Voyager 1 and 2 are on the outskirts of our solar system, or perhaps even beyond it. They are the farthest man-made objects from Earth. Surprisingly, they continue to send data back to our planet—though, regrettably, none of these transmissions have come from extraterrestrial beings.
5. Poetica Vaginal
While some viewed the nude couple on the Pioneer Plaque as borderline pornographic, others—like artist Joe Davis—argued that the images were not explicit enough. He believed that a hairless man and a woman without visible genitalia were too sterile and did not accurately depict the human body or convey anything about human reproduction. In 1986, he took it upon himself to address the ‘problem’ by creating a space message that would be unmistakably sexual and deeply human: it would feature the sounds of vaginal contractions.
Somehow, Davis managed to convince a group of ballet dancers to allow him to record their vaginal contractions using a special device he had designed, which included a sensitive pressure transducer. With the help of MIT’s Millstone Hill Radar, Davis transmitted about twenty minutes of his recording into space before the US Air Force became aware of the project and intervened. Nonetheless, his transmission outlasted Carl Sagan’s Arecibo message, and it has already reached two star systems: Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti.
4. The Cosmic Calls and Teen Age Messages
Aleksandr Leonidovich Zaitsev, a Russian radio engineer and astronomer, sent at least five radio messages into space, including two Cosmic Calls and the Teen Age Message.
The first Cosmic Call was transmitted in 1999 as part of the publicly funded Team Encounter program. It contains what experts in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) refer to as the 'Rosetta Stone' of interstellar communication. This 'Rosetta Stone' is a bitmap, featuring symbols that explain everything from basic mathematics to Earth's chemical and physical processes. Let’s just hope aliens are better at solving puzzles than humans, as the pages of seemingly random dots and lines would confuse the average person.
Also included in the Cosmic Call is a bilingual glossary, another copy of the Arecibo message, and—to acknowledge those who funded the project—a collection of images and videos contributed by ordinary citizens. The second Cosmic Call, launched in 2003, is almost identical to the first, with more content from everyday people. Both messages were transmitted from the Evpatoria Planetary Radar in Ukraine.
In 2001, Zaitsev and his team initiated another radio transmission, this time with the collaboration of teenagers from Moscow, Kaluga, Voronezh, and Zheleznogorsk. For this broadcast, Zaitsev felt it was essential to emphasize the distinctiveness of human culture, as opposed to mathematics, which advanced extraterrestrial beings would likely already be familiar with. Thus, he enlisted the help of the teens in choosing artwork, music, and even deciding on the message’s destination. The group selected Ursae Majoris and five other stars with solar systems resembling ours. If there are any civilizations near Ursae Majoris, they will be able to hear Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Gershwin in 2047.
3. Telepathy
While most high-profile efforts to reach out to extraterrestrials rely on advanced technology, some argue that the only device necessary is something everyone already has: the brain.
One of the most renowned self-proclaimed E.T. communicators is Dr. Steven Greer, featured in the recent alien documentary 'Sirius.' Several times each year, Greer leads groups to secluded locations for meditation sessions aimed at reaching higher levels of consciousness. During these events, participants claim to connect with extraterrestrials and even recall past lives. Greer asserts that these 'contact expeditions' are always successful and that the participants serve as ambassadors for the universe.
Who knows what Greer's followers are relaying on our behalf; let’s just hope they’re only engaging with benevolent, peace-loving extraterrestrials.
2. The Last Pictures
Since the world didn’t actually end in December 2012, the title of this cosmic time capsule, 'The Last Pictures,' turns out to be a bit of a misnomer. However, it's currently journeying through space aboard a communications satellite, patiently awaiting the opportunity to explain our existence to future earthlings or any other beings that may encounter it after the planet's inevitable demise.
The project was conceived by artist and author Trevor Paglen, who likely took advantage of the end-of-the-world hysteria to gain some publicity for his work. Regardless of his motivations, the one hundred photographs included on the ultra-archival disc are truly spectacular—ranging from cave art to nuclear explosions. To accurately represent life on Earth, Paglen spent five years collaborating with scientists, anthropologists, artists, and philosophers to understand mankind's most significant cultural achievements.
The Last Pictures are etched onto the disc at a nano scale, encased in gold, and are expected to endure for billions of years.
1. Doritos Commercial
In 2008, the EISCAT research institute transmitted a Doritos advertisement into space for six hours straight—surprisingly, the Earth wasn’t immediately obliterated by angry extraterrestrials. Naturally, we can’t blame EISCAT too much for flooding the cosmos with junk-food commercials, as it was part of a creative marketing strategy to secure funding after the space center faced a significant financial setback.
The radar transmission was encoded as an MPEG in binary (1s and 0s) and directed towards a potentially habitable star system in Ursa Major, located just forty-two light-years away. The astronomers involved pointed out that while typical television broadcasts also travel into space, their signals weaken and eventually get lost in the background noise of the universe. However, the Doritos broadcast was transmitted using a 500MHz ultra-high frequency radar, and fortunately, it 'will reach its destination intact.'
