Father-daughter duo deciphers ‘alien signal’ from Mars

A year ago, a mysterious signal was broadcast from Mars. And a father-daughter duo has finally cracked this alien code.

The signal, a series of white dots against a black background, was intercepted by radio telescopes on Earth. Intrigued by the enigma, a global community of citizen scientists came together to unravel its secrets. Among these dedicated individuals were Ken and Keli Chaffin, a US-based father-daughter duo.

However, this was not a real alien signal, but was sent in May 2023 by the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).

The orbiter sent the simulated alien signal as part of the multidisciplinary art project ‘A Sign in Space’. This project delves into the hypothetical scenario where humanity receives a real message from an alien civilization and explores how humans might respond to such events.

Mock alien signal

Three telescopes have the signal, and the raw data was released to the public. The challenge was to extract and decipher the message.

Within ten days, 5,000 citizen scientists picked up the signal. According to the press release, “the second task took longer and required visionary minds.”

The father-daughter duo ran simulations for days to crack the code. The duo discovered that the message alluded to cellular life forms and amino acids, the building blocks of life.

The breakthrough came on June 7, 2024, when the Chaffins sent the decoded image with the solution to Daniela de Paulis, the project’s founder and artistic director.

The message was a cryptic image, which was eventually decoded to reveal the structure of five amino acids. ESA publicly announced this achievement on October 22.

“Now that the cryptic signal has been deciphered, the search for meaning begins. The interpretation of the message, as with any work of art, remains open,” the ESA release said.

The exact meaning remains a mystery

Daniela and her collaborators, including experts from ESA, the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory, created the message. Now they observe how citizen scientists take the lead in solving the puzzle.

This wasn’t a real one alien messagebut a carefully crafted simulation designed to test humanity’s response to alien contact.

The picture of five amino acids raises more questions than it answers. What is the hidden meaning of this message from beyond the stars?

A global community of citizen scientists is now actively involved in unraveling the mysteries of the message on Discord. Participants must provide a clear and comprehensive description of their approach, allowing for replication and validation of their findings.

The messaging options are diverse and cover a spectrum of scenarios from peaceful dialogue to aggressive action. The question of extraterrestrial intentions continues to fascinate and challenge us all.

“Could this sign of alien intelligence be a recipe for destruction or a peaceful message?” ESA press statement noted.

This exercise seeks to determine humanity’s willingness to engage with an alien civilization should such an opportunity arise.