(copycat monolith?) Large Metal Monolith Mysteriously Appears

from
https://www.npr.org/2020/11/24/938572857/helicopter-pilots-spot-strange-sci-fi-looking-object-in-utahs-red-rock-country

Large Metal Monolith Mysteriously Appears In Remote Region Of Utah's Red 
Rock Country
November 24, 20204:20 PM ET
REESE OXNER

This monolith was discovered in rural Utah, but officials do not know 
its source or reason for being installed.
Utah Department of Public Safety

State officials were flying over southeastern Utah looking for sheep as 
part of a routine task. Instead they found something straight out of a 
sci-fi movie.

 From a helicopter, officers from the Utah Department of Public Safety 
spotted a large metal monolith — a single block of metal — last week. It 
was sitting in Utah's Red Rock Country in the southeast. Officials have 
no idea how or when it got there — or who might have placed it.

"That's been about the strangest thing that I've come across out there 
in all my years of flying," helicopter pilot Bret Hutchings told KSL TV.

Hutchings said the structure appeared to be 10 to 12 feet tall and 
looked like it was planted there — not dropped from the air. In any 
case, officials said it isn't legal.

"It is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on 
federally managed public lands," said the Utah Department of Public 
Safety in a statement, "no matter what planet you're from."

It also referenced the structure's out-of-this-world appearance on 
social media.

"We came across this, in the middle of nowhere, buried deep in the rock. 
Inquiring minds want to know, what the heck is it? Anyone?" wrote the 
department in an Instagram post.

As for would-be visitors, officials decided not to disclose the exact 
location of the monolith. It's in a remote area — and if people attempt 
to visit it, "there is a significant possibility they may become 
stranded and require rescue," the department said in its statement.

Utah's Bureau of Land Management is assessing whether further 
investigation is necessary.

Hutchings has his own theory.

In the classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, a group of prehistoric 
ape-men was baffled by a large black monolith that appeared in an 
African desert.

"I'm assuming it's some new-wave artist or something," Hutchings said, 
according to KSL TV. "Somebody that was a big fan [of the film]."


One man stands on the shoulders of another to peer on top of the monolith.
Utah Department of Public Safety
metal monolith
space odyssey
public safety
utah
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