“I wanted to see if I could take the kinds of telescopes and lasers that we’re building today, and make a detectable beacon out of them.” James Clark, grad student, MIT Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
“If we were to successfully close a handshake and start to communicate, we could flash a message..." - James Clark, grad student, MIT Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
“With current survey methods and instruments, it is unlikely that we would actually be lucky enough to image a beacon flash, assuming that extraterrestrials exist and are making them.” - James Clark, grad student, MIT Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
"Whether or not this is a good idea, that’s a discussion for future work.” - James Clark, grad student, MIT Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Sources
MIT Press Release: "E.T., we’re home"
Research Paper: "Optical Detection of Lasers with Near-term Technology at Interstellar Distances"
Wikipedia Page: Boeing YAL-1"