One of the foundational books for the Intelligent Design movement is "the Design Inference" by William Dembski (btw-published by Cambridge University Press and peer reviewed, probably published before the implications were apparent to the publishers). In it, Dembski describes the process for determining whether something is designed or not. Eliminating causes and chance, etc. are all part of that. In other words, exactly what you mentioned SETI is trying to do.