[rurban]

Nope, they sent a rocket or satellite. The positive doppler shift means it's heading towards us, fast.

If we would fly there, we would need about 80 years with our current rocket tech. It's the nearest earth-like planet afterall. They could be more advanced and be here earlier. We'll see.

[u801e]

The voyager 1 probe is about 21 light hours from us after 43 years even with gravitational assist. Proxima Centauri is about 4.2 light years away.

[rurban]

Current rocket tech, not stone age.

[u801e]

Even the New Horizons spacecraft's speed relative to earth is less than Voyager 1, and it was launched back in 2006.

[rurban]

Still plain old conventional rockets. This would need 78.000 years, impossible.

Eg with a lightsail or StarChip it would need 20 years. There are also other possibilities. My neighbor is rocket technician. https://earthsky.org/space/alpha-centauri-travel-time

[u801e]

You did specify current rocket tech. The technologies you're talking about have not been tested or used commercially or by any space agency as far as I'm aware.