Father and daughter decode mysterious signal from space: what does it mean?

A fake extraterrestrial message sent to Earth from Mars in 2023 was decoded in June by Ken Chaffin and his daughter Kelly Chaffin through nearly a year of persistent efforts. Created by the SETI Institute as part of the “A Sign in Space” project, this message displays five forms of amino acids, although its meaning is unclear. Daniela De Paulis, SETI’s artist-in-residence and a licensed radio operator, designed the project with other international scientists and artists to explore what an alien signal might be like.

Signal reception and decoding process

In May 2023, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter transmitted a signal intended to simulate an alien message. It was captured by three Earth-based observatories: the Allen Telescope Array in California, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, and the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station in Italy. Released online, the raw data allowed citizen scientists from around the world to engage in decoding efforts through a community platform. Decoding required Chaffins to use cellular automata algorithms to visualize what appeared as a “starmap” of white pixels, which eventually revealed the clusters that represented amino acids.

interpret the message

Chaffin’s discovery has been confirmed by the project team to be amino acids, representing essential molecules in life forms. However, no explanation is given as to why these particular configurations would have been chosen. DePaulis and his team say deciphering the message’s intent is left up to those examining it, which mimics the real-life scenario of receiving an alien transmission without guidance.

Open interpretation and ongoing discovery

This simulation invites global citizen scientists to theorize about the importance of the message. Speculation ranges from the combination of life-creating compounds in space to a simple extraterrestrial greeting. Recognizing the difficulty in reaching universal consensus on its meaning, de Paulis plans to document public interpretations in a forthcoming book. Ken and Kelly Chaffin, although unsure of the exact intention, have expressed excitement at their role in the discovery of this unique cosmic message.