I can tell you exactly why "That Alien Message" gets more attention: because it's a story, and a cracklin' good one. Human brains are hard-wired to be attracted to good stories. This is why mythology is so powerful.

BTW, there is a pretty well worked out theory of what makes a good story. Geeks tend to pooh-pooh this theory because it's associated with the "squishy" field of stage and screen drama. IMHO this is a serious mistake. The world today really needs a better mythology. Those in its current inventory are getting obsolete. Some of them are becoming actively harmful. Coming up with a good mythology is not so easy. The last person I know of who did a notable job was L. Ron Hubbard (at least, he's the last one who did it intentionally). Imagine how much better off the world would be if Hubbard hadn't been a psychopath. I hope some people reading this might start devoting a little time to thinking about this problem.