Called the Galileo Project, it envisages the creation of a global network of medium-sized telescopes, cameras and computers to investigate unidentified flying objects, and has so far been funded with $1.75 million from private donors.
Given recent research showing the prevalence of Earth-like planets throughout the galaxy, "We can no longer ignore the possibility that technological civilizations predated us," Professor Avi Loeb told reporters at a news conference.
"The impact of any discovery of extraterrestrial technology on science, our technology, and on our entire world view, would be enormous," he added in a statement.
The project includes researchers from Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Caltech and the University of Stockholm.
It was announced a month after the Pentagon released a report about unidentified aerial phenomena, which stated that their nature was unclear.
"What we see in our sky is not something that politicians or military personnel should interpret, because they were not trained as scientists, it's for the science community to figure out," said Loeb, adding that he hoped to increase the project's funding tenfold.
The Galileo Project was announced a month after the Pentagon released a report about unidentified aerial phenomena, which stated that their nature was unclear.
Avi Loeb stoked controversy when he suggested an interstellar object that briefly visited our system in 2017 could have been an alien probe sailing on solar winds.