Frequently Asked Questions

The Alien Challenge is a platform designed to invite Non-Human Intelligences (NHI) or advanced beings to communicate with us. To ensure authenticity, any message submitted must solve a cryptographic challenge that is impossible for humans or current technology to solve within the given time limit. It's an experiment in cryptography, transparency, and cosmic curiosity.

Every visitor who submits a message must solve a SHA-256 cryptographic challenge based on a real Bitcoin transaction hash.

Here's how it works:

1. You submit a message.
2. The site generates a SHA-256 hash derived from the latest Bitcoin transaction.
3. You're given 300 seconds (5 minutes) to provide the plaintext solution that produces this hash.
4. If the solution is correct, your message and proof are published.

SHA-256 hashes are secure, widely used cryptographic algorithms.

• Deterministic: The same input always generates the same hash.
• One-Way: It's practically impossible to reverse-engineer the input from the hash.
• Secure: Finding a solution through brute force would take billions of years with current technology.

This makes the challenge impossible for humans but theoretically solvable for advanced intelligences.

If the solution isn't submitted within 300 seconds:

• The current challenge expires.
• A new hash is generated from the latest Bitcoin transaction for the next visitor.

This ensures fairness and prevents anyone from working on a single hash indefinitely.

Each published message includes:

1. The plaintext solution provided by the submitter.
2. The corresponding SHA-256 hash.
3. A link to the Bitcoin transaction used for the challenge.

To verify a message:

1. Check that the plaintext solution produces the published hash.
2. Confirm that the hash matches a valid Bitcoin transaction using the provided blockchain link.
3. Ensure the transaction timestamp aligns with the submission time (within 300 seconds).

This process ensures full transparency.

No. With today's computational technology, it's impossible for humans to brute-force a SHA-256 hash in the given 300-second window. The challenge is specifically designed to filter out human-generated submissions.

Bitcoin transaction hashes serve as the foundation of the cryptographic challenge for several reasons:

• Immutable: Once a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, it cannot be altered. This ensures that the hash tied to the challenge is permanent and untampered, creating a fair and transparent process.
• Public: Blockchain data is publicly accessible, allowing anyone to verify the hash against the actual Bitcoin transaction. This ensures the challenge is entirely open and verifiable by anyone—not just the site author.
• Real-Time: The blockchain is constantly updated with new transactions, providing a fresh and unpredictable source for challenges every 300 seconds.

By tying the challenge to Bitcoin transactions, the process remains transparent and ensures that I, the author, have no control over the hash used for the challenge.

Yes, I could technically generate my own hash to create a challenge. However, that would defeat the entire purpose of the system. Here's why:

1. The Public Nature of the Hash Matters:
   The system is built on public Bitcoin transaction hashes, which are tied to specific timestamps and verifiable blockchain entries. If I generated a private hash, there would be no way for users to confirm its origin or authenticity.
2. Why It's Important:
   Using Bitcoin's blockchain ensures the challenge is:
   • Random (unpredictable)
   • Public (anyone can verify it independently)
   • Immutable (tied to a real transaction that cannot be modified)

A privately defined hash would erode transparency and the trustworthiness of the system. The whole point is to remove control from any one individual—author included.

Bitcoin transaction hashes, secured by the SHA-256 algorithm, are computationally infeasible to crack. Here's why:

1. Decentralization:
   The Bitcoin blockchain is maintained by a global network of miners. For someone to tamper with a transaction, they would need to control 51% of the network's computational power—an astronomical and currently impossible task.
2. Cryptographic Security:
   The SHA-256 algorithm ensures that:
   • Hashes cannot be reversed to determine their input (password or data)
   • Collisions (two inputs producing the same hash) are extraordinarily rare, making forging a match effectively impossible
3. Relation to Cryptocurrency Security:
   If someone could "hack" Bitcoin transaction hashes, it would compromise not just this project, but the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem, rendering Bitcoin and other SHA-256-secured coins worthless. The fact that Bitcoin has remained secure for over a decade demonstrates the robustness of this technology.

No. Every valid message must meet these criteria:

1. The plaintext solution must produce the hash tied to a real Bitcoin transaction.
2. The transaction must have occurred within 300 seconds of the submission.

The author cannot:

• Create fake Bitcoin transactions.
• Alter the blockchain.
• Insert unverifiable messages into the system.

Even if a message is added manually, it won't pass the verification process, which any observer can independently perform.

Even if the site is hacked, a valid message requires:

1. A solution to the cryptographic challenge.
2. A matching Bitcoin transaction hash.

Hackers cannot manipulate the blockchain or bypass the verification process, so illegitimate messages would be easily flagged as invalid by observers.

The creator of the site has written one, and only one, message to demonstrate the system. If you verify it using the protocol, you'll see it doesn't meet the criteria for authenticity. This message serves as a baseline for comparison. From now on, only advanced intelligences capable of solving the challenge can post valid messages.

This project is an experiment in:

• Exploring cryptography and verification.
• Imagining how advanced intelligences might communicate with us.
• Building a transparent platform for observing the impossible.

It's not just about whether NHIs exist, but about preparing a system to verify their messages if they choose to reach out.

You can:

1. Try solving the cryptographic challenge (if you think you can!).
2. Explore the published messages and verify their authenticity yourself.

Observers are encouraged to review the system and provide feedback or suggestions.

If no messages are submitted or no solutions are provided within the 300-second window, the system will generate a new hash for the next visitor. The site remains ready for participation at all times.

No. Any attempt to fake a message would fail the verification process, as it requires:

1. Solving the cryptographic challenge.
2. Linking the solution to a real Bitcoin transaction within the given timeframe.

Without these, a message cannot be considered valid.

Verifying messages ensures:

• The integrity of the system.
• Transparency for all visitors.
• Proof that any valid message meets the strict criteria and could not have been fabricated by humans.

This makes it a reliable platform for evaluating advanced communications.

This site is a starting point for experimentation. Future iterations may include:

• More advanced cryptographic challenges.
• Additional verification layers.
• Broader community engagement and feedback.