The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is joining in the technological effort to detect signals from other civilizations, called SETI. The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, a non-profit body, uses the Allen Telescope Array and other ground-based facilities to search for alien signals. They've also used the Hubble and other space telescopes.

LaserSETI is a new network of optical detectors under development since 2024. AlUla, in Saudi Arabia's northwestern region, is the fifth LaserSETI site, and the first one in Asia. The others are in California, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Arizona.

LaserSETI brings new capabilities to the SETI endeavour. It can watch the entire sky continuously, catching rare transient events. Most of SETI's other efforts are slower, or target specific targets in the sky.

Most of what LaserSETI detects will just be flashes of light from events in the cosmos. But, the hope is, it will one day detect a laser originating from another ETI.…