The Arecibo message was an attempt to contact alien races across the galaxy in an interstellar missive containing basic infomation about humanity. Named after the remodelling of the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico it included depcitions of chemicals vital to humanity, like carbon. Then, 27 years after it was sent, it seemed extra-terrestrials had not only seen the Arecibo message but had sent a response. A crop circle appeared in a field in Hampshire in 2001 and seemed to be a direct mirror of the original message sent from earth. These criticisms of sending messages out into the universe have been around since just after the launch of the Arecibo message.

Source: Daily Mirror June 23, 2020 13:01 UTC