Broadcasting Earth's location into space could cause an alien invasion, expert warns

An alien invasion of Earth could be provoked by revealing the location of our planet, according to an expert.

In 1974, space agency NASA launched a basic broadcast called Arecibo, but now scientists want to launch another message using updated technology to potentially make contact with lifeforms in space.

But, the suggestion has come with a warning from Dr. Anders Sandberg from Oxford University, who believes the idea could be risky.

He told The Telegraph that “it has such a high impact that you actually need to take it rather seriously”.

The Beacon in the Galaxy is a new space-bound message that will contain information about where the Earth is.

Our solar system’s position within the Milky Way in relation to clusters of stars will be included, as well as information about the Earth’s terrain, drawings of human beings and technical information on how to reach us would also be included.

But, according to Sandberg, the message has a relatively low chance of reaching any other lifeforms.

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But, if it did, he said the broadcast probably read like “a postcard saying, ‘Wish you were here’”.

The proposed message is one of many communications played in the space with the intention of getting the attention of aliens.

Sanberg said: “The poor aliens might already be getting various messages sent for all sorts of reasons.”

He continued: “Many people just refuse to take anything related to it seriously – which is a shame, because this is important stuff.”

Professor Steven Hawking has previously made a similar warning, suggesting the messages could potentially endanger our planet.Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.