What’s the Mystery Behind the Appearance of These Remote Monoliths?

Three mysterious silver structures straight out of a sci-fi movie have been discovered in different remote spots around the world in the last two weeks. Now the original has disappeared.  

Utah

Wildlife officials made a startling discovery when they were tracking sheep from a helicopter in a remote area of Utah. They touched down and found a 10-12 foot high metal monolith of unknown origins. 

A Weird Monolith Is Found in the Utah Desert

A team surveying bighorn sheep in Utah found the strange #monolith, 10 to 12 feet tall, embedded in the ground in a remote part of Red Rock Country. It looks like something out of “2001: A Space Odyssey. GPS: 38°20'35"N 109°39'58"W pic.twitter.com/bWvU5Z391Q

— UFO Research Project (@UFOResearch7) November 25, 2020

Aliens

Conspiracy theorists went wild, claiming aliens were responsible for erecting the monolith, which eerily resembles a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.   

https://twitter.com/MKvaich/status/1333191385860644865

John McCracken

But those grounded in reality pointed out that the structure appears to be almost identical to the work of late minimalist artist John McCracken.  

#UtahMonolith Update: The monument appears nearly identical to minimalist work by the late John McCracken 1934-2011. #monolith #unsolvedmysteries pic.twitter.com/gKfnor6BW8

— Austin Grant (@AustinBGrant) November 24, 2020

Google Earth

An eagle-eyed Redditor used Google Earth to discover the structure had been erected at the remote location since at least October of 2016. 

The #Utah #Monolith has apparently been out there since at least October 2016, but was not there in August of 2015. pic.twitter.com/P928blHPaQ

— AI6YR (@ai6yrham) November 24, 2020

Romania

Days later another monolith appeared in Romania.

#Monolith reappears in Romania?!?? pic.twitter.com/Rmif04oda7

— GOLDEN EYE STRETCH ??️✨ (@StretchTaylor) December 1, 2020

Shoddy Construction

Much to the chagrin of conspiracy theorists, the Romanian version appears to be a copycat knock-off with visible seams and swirl marks.

A new #monolith has been discovered in Romania with a similar appearance to the one in Utah. this one was clearly thrown together in a few hours with visible seams. but I like the spirit. pic.twitter.com/2bcpihXbrW

— ?✨It's Full of Stars✨? (@IFOS9000) November 30, 2020

Viewing

After the monolith’s coordinates were released, travelers flocked to the remote area to get a snap of the structure, despite warnings to avoid the dangerous area. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Surber (@davidsurber_)

Disappearing Act

On Saturday November 28th, the monolith had disappeared. Southwest Airlines cheekily posted that they needed it back.  

Sorry y’all, we needed it back. https://t.co/tuOKj1igF7 pic.twitter.com/d3SOF4GeMS

— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) November 29, 2020

Gonolith

A photographer captured four men knocking down and dismantling the monolith. 

Gonoliths are now my favourite thing. I love the fact that they were there and then they weren't. The temporary nature of them is what makes them cool. They looked permanent, they looked like part of the landscape, as if they belonged. Their disappearance is beautiful #monolith https://t.co/VXioFHW0GA

— Emma Woodhouse-Lockdown ??? (@EmmisStories) December 3, 2020

Another One

A new monolith popped up days later in Atascadero, California.  

and a third #monolith has been discovered in CA pic.twitter.com/cn2Ze1bRx9

— ?✨It's Full of Stars✨? (@IFOS9000) December 3, 2020

Not the Same

The California copy-cat is not the monolith that disappeared from Utah. BASE jumper Andy Lewis claimed to have removed it from nature after witnessing “the damage caused by the Internet sensationalism.” 

Marie Finn