The Galileo Project Founded at Harvard

On 26 July 2021 astrophysicist Avi Loeb and chemist Frank Laukien announced the founding of the Galileo Project, the first academic research programme to apply calibrated, multi-modal scientific instrumentation to the search for physical evidence of extraterrestrial technological artefacts. The founders cited the anomalous interstellar object 'Oumuamua and the June 2021 ODNI preliminary assessment on unidentified aerial phenomena as catalysts. Initial private funding was approximately 1.75 million US dollars.