Voyager in space

Was It a Mistake to Broadcast Earth Coordinates on the Voyager Spacecraft?


According to the science fiction novel Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard, the answer is yes.

“Man apparently sent out some kind of probe that gave full directions to the place, had pictures of man on it and everything. It got picked up by a Psychlo recon…. The probe and the pictures were on a metal that was rare everywhere and worth a clanking fortune. And Intergalactic paid the Psychlo governors sixty trillion Galactic credits for the directions and the concession. One gas barrage and we were in business.” —Chapter 1, Battlefield Earth

In the novel, the Psychlo invaders consider Earth part of a “rim star system,” way out on the edge of a galaxy in the 16th universe. This was the last universe to be discovered by their race and was never wholly mapped.

The Golden Record

And Earth might have gone overlooked had it not been for the Voyager probes.

Instead, with the discovery of the gold disks they carried, the Psychlos invaded, gassed the planet and wiped out most of the population so they could mine Earth for gold and its mineral resources.

Pretty much a routine matter for the Psychlos and all in the name of intergalactic mining, profits, and banking. From their perspective, they owned the intergalactic rights and through the power of gold, they could secure control of whole planets and galaxies.  To find out what happened, download the first thirteen chapters for free.

True Events

Attached to the outside of Voyagers 1 and 2 is the Golden Record, inscribed with a map showing our solar system’s position relative to its 14 nearest stars.

The record includes images, scientific information written in a universal language, greetings in 55 languages, a collection of music and a message from the then President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. Here’s a video of the 116 images NASA wanted aliens to see.

Both spacecraft will continue to drift for billions of miles carrying their message to any intelligent spacefaring civilization that might happen to discover them.

Where is the Voyager Now?

Today, the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft probes still receive routine commands and return data to Earth. They are not expected to lose power until the 2020s. Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space in 2012 and Voyager 2 is now traveling through the outer layers of our solar system.

At their current speed of 10 kilometers per second, it will take roughly 40,000 years to go from one star to another. So chances of a sufficiently powerful radar being able to detect them seem unlikely.

Friendly or Hostile Aliens

Not everyone believes it was a mistake to send out the coordinates of Earth.

Back when the Golden Record was created “all the people I dealt with were optimists and they thought the ETs would be friendly,” says Frank Drake, designer of the map on the record. “Nobody thought, even for a few seconds, about whether this might be a dangerous thing to do.”

With what we know of the galaxy and the number of inhabitable planets there could be, some think it is dangerous to freely broadcast our exact location. Hostile aliens, like the Psychlos in Battlefield Earth, could be the end result.

Others think the method used to design the map was clever but inherently flawed as long-term changes in space will render the map useless. Possibly by the time anyone finds it, they will encounter a riddle that will be very difficult to decipher.

Regardless, the truth is the Voyagers spacecraft probes are out there, the map can be found, the code can be broken and a hostile alien race could very well invade our planet. Much like the scenario in Battlefield Earth:

Or, on the other hand, we could establish interstellar friendships with the likes of E.T. and the “heptapods” described in the 2016 movie Arrival.

So, was it a mistake to send out a map of Earth’s coordinates?

To find out what could happen if the Psychlos find the Voyager spacecraft, read the first 13 chapters for free.  Battlefield Earth Sample Book

Additional articles you may be interested in:

  1. Jim Marrs Discusses: Is Earth Prepared for an Alien Invasion?
  2. UFO Sightings: A Peaceful Union or a Battlefield Earth?

58 replies
  1. Peter
    Peter says:

    No! We are much too far away from the next closest life forms to ever have a probe like Voyager contact anything; Especially something with bad intentions. Totally impractical!

    Reply
  2. 1resolute
    1resolute says:

    The encounters with aliens I’ve read about show no evidence whatsoever that these beings are friendly. Quite the contrary. Apparently they treat their “victims” as our scientists treat our animals. Inspecting, probing and never once considering the feelings or trauma being caused by the alien “scientist”. Per these stories by those who have undergone “being taken”, ET, as in the movie, is surely an anomaly. I certainly would not try to shake hands with one. Who has and had a pleasant experience, besides in the movies?

    Reply
    • Dave
      Dave says:

      Why would you assume the aliens would be hurtfull to us.
      Just because of the movies you watch or stories you read. You do know all those are fictional. And people who say they had those experiences are liars. They most likly had a near death or a death experience. And caused them to think this. I was clinically dead for a few minutes twice. And saw things I had no idea of. But not aliens.

      Reply
      • Dave
        Dave says:

        We sent our information out into the unknown, that is dangerous no matter how u look at it ! Here on Earth only the strongest or most intelligent survives why should nature be any different out there.

        Reply
        • John Goodwin
          John Goodwin says:

          While no one knows for certain (until possibly too late), I personally agree with your comparison to how things happen here on Earth.

          Thanks for your comment.

          Reply
      • Les
        Les says:

        Why would anyone assume that aliens would not be hurtfull to us? Are we ready to take that risk? I say we should avoid any contact with aliens. In fact I believe that if aliens are allowed to land, that’s the end for us.

        Reply
        • John Goodwin
          John Goodwin says:

          Hi Les, I must admit that I agree with you. It is a fairy tale (not Grimms) to assume that alien life form would be any different than us in dealing with lesser life forms.

          Reply
      • Dave
        Dave says:

        Look what we do to lab animals and what you did to bugs as a child out of “curiosity ” or just plain meanness or ignorance. Human nature is not exactly historically loving..

        Reply
    • Rick
      Rick says:

      I agree. There is no reason whatsoever to expect that highly advanced alien species will be friendly. We have no idea what they might be like and they have no reason to expect that any species they encounter is going to be “friendly.” They might not even comprehend the concept of “friendly.” It seems foolish to me to think that beings we know nothing about would somehow naturally be amiable. They may be planet killers, slavers, or hunters, we have no way of knowing and no reason to expect any particular behavior.

      Reply
  3. shawn o'reilly
    shawn o'reilly says:

    The excuse that there is NO alien life aka extra-terrestrial life out among the stars, at the level of technological advancement of our human species those alien races that know of our human race might have already thought to stay away from us due to thinking that it might be more harmful the beneficial. some of these alien races are a threat to us, some with be beneficial to us, some with be borderline with us depending on how we interact with them. as for me and our level of technological advancement and if I ever meet an alien race that is beneficial, I would suggest to them limited contact with a select few individuals so as to SLOWLY warm up the rest of the populace to that specific alien race

    Reply
  4. Larry Cox
    Larry Cox says:

    What was put on the disk was silly, but the question of the article is moot.
    LRH had already done the research in 1952! Anyone can read his books and listen to his lectures and find out what he discovered. And by all accounts – except the official account – they have already returned. They know where Earth is and what Earth is and they have for millions of years.

    Reply
    • rgdio
      rgdio says:

      If you have the technology to travel that far though space I don’t think they have to or need to probe anyone.
      Unless they are just perverted . in which case plenty of humans are perveted all ready and will join them freely!!

      Reply
  5. Jerry F Harding
    Jerry F Harding says:

    It would be nice to know who these aliens are. Within our Mikky Way Galaxy there may be 100’s if not thousands of inhabited world’s. Many of them may contain humanoid type beings. Others may have different life forms. Some of them may be far more advanced in the technology or their intellectual property. All it would take would be one of the advanced races to be out on space patrol and spot our Voyagers and seize it. It has gold wrapped around it. Gold may be scarce n very pricey around their home planet. Here’s this little thing with gold and a map to where they can get more. I wouldn’t take long for some greedy aliens to follow the map and show up here and find out where the gold is and realize we have no defences. Be an easy take over. Now if they were friendly, they’d have to come and integrate among us and then Rob us nicely of our gold and precious metals. Either way is a possibility and a chance we take when we send it small satellites with gold on them and a map to where and who we are sitting our here with no defences against an attack from these high tech beings. See Battlefield Earth for the destructive aliens. See Mission Earth for those could infiltrate among us. Enjoy them both.

    Reply
    • Larry Cox
      Larry Cox says:

      Well, for those who wish to keep all this in the realm of fiction, perhaps is is just as well.
      While we have some idea what the society that set up Earth, current iteration, was like – and many other such societies as well – we have no guarantee that the ones visiting now are the same as those we remember. Without any broad-scale interaction with them we are at the mercy of the story-spinners. So it might as well all be fiction.
      Though the story-spinners have included several accounts of Earth actually preparing quite thoroughly for ET contact – in secret – I would feel more comfortable personally if I were more certain about the level of truthfulness in these various accounts.

      Reply
      • Rolland M.0
        Rolland M.0 says:

        Any aliens that have the technology to travel vast distances are surely evolved way past our human evolution and technical development.

        In laymans term could you communicate with a slug?
        A slug cannot comprehend what a human is and the technical advancement we have, because a slug’s brain does not have the capacity to do so.
        If some miraculous way they can,
        slugs would see us as Gods.

        A slug to us…

        is exactly what we are to an advance alien race.

        Its a cook book…
        a cook book…

        Reply
    • Rick McGilvray
      Rick McGilvray says:

      The universe is RIFE with resources, gold or otherwise…. No neeed to destroy a sentient civilization in order to get your hands on more.

      Reply
  6. Bill bailey
    Bill bailey says:

    You never know. The aliens who find it might not think gold has much value. Their planet is rich in gold. The steal or iron on the probe might have more value to them because their planet has very little iron.

    Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      Jim Marrs used to talk about this on interviews he would do for us talking about Battlefield Earth as well as the subject of aliens on Earth. I think his book was “Alien Agenda” that went into this subject.

      Reply
  7. Ken
    Ken says:

    What’s to say one of the Voyagers hasn’t already been found, the information deciphered and that we have been determined to be unworthy of further exploration?

    Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      Or this planet quarantined because it is so whacky! L. Ron Hubbard wrote a book called Mission Earth which explored the idea of EArth’s insanities being exported to other worlds, nearly destroying them, and so Earth being erased from astral charts so no one else connects with them.

      Reply
  8. Aubrey
    Aubrey says:

    This is designed to make us all think that ETs aren’t already here. The new proposed Space Force is a soft disclosure of what have been going on for decades. Some of you will be totally shock by the deception we’ve been under.

    Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      It was mostly designed to make us think — period. And to get a few more people to pull their heads out of the sand, or any place else “the sun don’t shine.”

      Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      I missed out on Slim growing up, so had to quickly watch some YouTube videos to see what you were referencing. It’s amazing how much music has changed since 1967!

      Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      Kind of an odd twist to the “War of the Worlds” theme that bacteria on Earth won the day. Now it’s Chuck Berry that wins our continued freedom!

      Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      A definite possibility provided they haven’t already been picked up otherwise — as mentioned in the opening of Battlefield Earth (the premise of the story).

      Reply
  9. will bill
    will bill says:

    From one (a man)who was on tv around the 60’s or 70’s spoke on national telavision and stated something to the likes of (the best way to hide something, is to hide it in plain site) whome also had a person dressed up in an alian costume standing next to him by tbe podium. I also heard on a video one time basicly the best way to break the news to the world about alians being here without freaking people out, was to brake it to us slowely, like what they’re doing now all over the media. Ive watched videos and dug deep for years, ive seen a so called ufo in Miami Florida, i know without any doupt we are not alone, even on this earth.

    Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      That is definitely a good way to hide something (in plane sight). The other thing to do to keep something hidden is to make it so unbelievable that anyone asserting it is made to look the fool. Real observations of UFOs are surrounding with fake UFOs and charicatures of aliens that renders any discussion of UFOs and aliens as nonsense.
      Breaking the news little by little to sensitize a population may bring about awareness as you state. But it might also just be that as we send more and more people into space and tackle Mars in the next several years, that the fact of UFOs will be fully realized.

      Reply
      • Rudy
        Rudy says:

        Regardless of whether they are here or coming here we had better get off of this Black thing ,White thing ,Red thing or Brown thing and get it together as Earthlings. History has shown that a people fighting among themselves,are easily conquered.

        Reply
        • John Goodwin
          John Goodwin says:

          That is absolutely true. The easiest way to dominate a population is to keep them so involved with in-fighting (which becomes a separate topic of the continued effort to keep us fighting each other) and with such internal strife, even a moderately effective opponent can easily overwhelm and conquer.

          Reply
  10. Rudy
    Rudy says:

    Regardless of whether they are here or coming here we had better get off of this Black thing ,White thing ,Red thing or Brown thing and get it together as Earthlings. History has shown that a people fighting among themselves,are easily conquered.

    Reply
  11. Jim B.
    Jim B. says:

    The way I see it is if any technically advanced alien race capable of deciphering the messages on the Voyager missions would be intelligent enough not to “destroy” another race or interfere with they’re development.Simply because of their intelligence.

    Reply
    • John Goodwin
      John Goodwin says:

      In other words, let’s hope they aren’t like us! The more technically advanced we have become as a race, the more that the small destrcutive percentage of the race are able to reek havoc on a broader scale, e.g. atomic bomb, psychotropic drugs. We have definitely had no qualms destroying lower life forms on this planet. Why should a superior alien lifeform not view us any different than the Passenger Pigeon?

      Reply
  12. Chris
    Chris says:

    It will be 40,000 years before it gets as far as the closest star, and it will be nowhere near any stars for millions of years. It is small and space is very big, the odds of someone finding it are very small.

    Reply
  13. Duane Posthumus
    Duane Posthumus says:

    We are forgetting the most important part here, the thing is not whether or not it was a good idea i feel it is about the fact that as a human species we managed to put that thing all the way out there that in itself is damn sweet on our part so i kinda hope it gets found something as monumental as that deserves to be regardless of what the outcome may be. We can’t be fearful of everything out there at least not at the cost of progress.

    Ps. Really cool article bro, thanks!

    Reply
  14. Nald
    Nald says:

    The probability of having other inteligent lifeform is not zero. We dont know yet what will happen if some other lifeforms find us. If they are inteligent enough they might know how important lives are same as their race.

    Reply
  15. Tired of living
    Tired of living says:

    I hope the aliens find us soon while I’m still alive. I hope they invade our planet and vaporize all its living inhabitants, especially the humans.

    Reply

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