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Updated: June 20, 2024
No sooner was the mysterious Utah monolith discovered than it disappeared. What gives?
Let’s break it down by what we know so far and see if we can detect any clues.
Utah monolith: The discovery
There it was, sitting all alone in the desert minding its own business, when state biologists from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources flew over during their survey of bighorn sheep on November 18, 2020. One of them told the helicopter’s pilot, Bret Hutchings, to turn back around.
So they did.
What they ended up finding was a 9.5 feet tall triangular metal structure that appears was made from stainless steel or aluminum. Which, spoiler alert, means it not likely some interplanetary marker left by extraterrestrials or even an interdimensional portal.
Bummer, I know.
It’s likely an art…what? Installation? Prank? That’s yet to be determined. Or was it an earthling’s experiment to try and make contact with life in space or create a portal of some kind?
So. Many. Mysteries.
One thing it’s not, however, is a true monolith, but that makes it sound as mysterious and intriguing as its discovery so the name stuck. Let’s see how it came to get its moniker.
Monolithic
A true monolith is defined as: “a large single upright block of stone, especially one shaped into or serving as a pillar or monument.” A similarly mysterious structure composed of monoliths is Stonehenge.
The three-sided metal pillar found in Utah quickly earned the distinction of “monolith” when the Utah Highway Patrol posted it on their Instagram. But as noted by one commenter, it was easy to miss because they didn’t lead with the photo of the metal pillar.
News outlets immediately picked up on the strange find. Because let’s face it, it was kind of exciting.
The Utah monolith’s location
The Utah Department of Public Safety didn’t want to disclose its location. As related in a DPS News post about the monolith in Red Rock Country on November 23:
The exact location of the installation is not being disclosed since it is in a very remote area and if individuals were to attempt to visit the area, there is a significant possibility they may become stranded and require rescue. We are encouraging anyone who knows the location of the monolith to not attempt to visit it due to road conditions.
However, the Utah monolith’s Wikipedia page (yep, it has one) shared that a Reddit user had found it using Google Earth. Also, thanks to Google Earth satellite images, it was determined it was “installed between August 2015 and October 2016.”
So that sucker’s been out there for a while, which means it really must be some pretty remote territory because you know that would be a selfie destination if it wasn’t.
The illegal monolith
There is no record of anyone asking permission to erect the Utah monolith, which they would’ve needed to do as it’s on public grounds.
In an update on November 24 to the DPS News post, they included an Official Statement from the Bureau of Land Management:
“Although we can’t comment on active investigations, the Bureau of Land Management would like to remind public land visitors that using, occupying, or developing the public lands or their resources without a required authorization is illegal, no matter what planet you are from.”
I suppose if it was aliens they could claim ignorance, but just because you profess not to know the laws doesn’t mean they don’t exist and aren’t still enforceable.
A case for metal art
A lot of people want this 2001: A Space Odyssey-like creation to be otherworldly and proof of a visitation.
However, one of the best arguments for why it’s highly likely that it’s manmade by one (or more) of us boring old Earthlings comes from an analysis Dave Sparks, from the Diesel Brothers TV show, did and posted on his Instagram.
His inspection reveals it has rivets, is made of 1/8 inch stainless steel sheet metal that they used a concrete saw to cut into the rock. He shows the overcuts in the rock and even the silicone they used at the base. Even with the overcuts, he praises their handiwork and gives them props.
Art installation or Hollywood prop?
Wikipedia identifies some possible artist culprits who may be responsible.
One is John McCracken, except he died in 2011. He was a minimalist artist known for sculptures that looked very similar to the Utah monolith. He lived in the southwest, believed in aliens, and had expressed leaving behind a piece of work in the desert. Maybe someone finally made that a reality four to five years after his death?
Or maybe it was someone”paying homage” to McCracken?
Petecia Le Fawnhawk, an artist who lives in Utah and has installed sculptures in desert locations, denies that it is one of her creations.
Photographer Eliot Lee Hazel suggested it might be another Utah-based monolith builder, Derek DeSpain. He allegedly lives near where the Utah monolith was discovered, but he has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement.
KIRO 7 posed some other possibilities. The area had been the backdrop for some westerns from the 1940s through the 1960s, but that seems an unlikely explanation.
The movies 127 hours and Mission: Impossible 2 were also filmed near there. Again, not likely sources.
But one that may be plausible would be HBO’s Westworld. It had filmed in that area.
However, according to a spokeswoman for the Utah Film Commission, she said the monolith was not left behind from a film production.
The Utah monolith vanishes
Okay, so it was discovered on November 18, went viral, and then during Thanksgiving Weekend, on November 27, it vanished. All that’s left is the triangular hole where it once stood and a triangle of metal from its top.
Someone removed it, but who? The Bureau of Land Management denies doing it.
Since it had been discovered, did its makers decide to beam up the Utah monolith?
Well, if they did, they used very modern transportation and left behind tire tracks and possible eyewitnesses.
The Associated Press reported that Riccardo Marino and his girlfriend Sierra Van Meter were en route from Colorado to California on Friday, November 27, and decided to stop and look for the monolith. When a long-bed truck carrying “a large object in the back” passed them, Marino joked “Oh look, there’s the Utah monolith right there.”
Could’ve been…
The Romania monolith
Remember a few years ago when creepy clowns started popping up everywhere? Yeah, well, welcome to 2020’s version: mysterious monoliths.
The Daily Mail reported that on November 26 a monolith similar to the one in Utah was found on private property in the northern part of Romania.
Like the Utah one, it’s triangular but it differs because it has a design on it. It’s also taller, standing 13 feet high.
Here’s a video describing where it was found.
Next location?
Where will the Utah monolith turn up next? Will it ever turn up again? Or will this remain an unsolved mystery?
And will we see any more monoliths cropping up around the world?
I guess time will tell.
June 2024 Update
Other monoliths have appeared all over the world since the Utah one was discovered in 2020. However, it’s been a while since a new one created a buzz.
Then this month, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department discovered one on a hiking trail about 20 miles outside of Las Vegas. Could it be the one that went missing from Utah?
I don’t know. We’re still waiting for more information. But to read what we know so far about the Nevada monolith, including similarities with the Utah one, click here.
Check-In
Do you think the Utah monolith is an artist’s statement, something otherworldly, or something else entirely?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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Imagine if this was some artist doing it for kicks — it sits for 4 or 5 years and is then (possibly) stolen just as the story begins to get traction. Someone’s going to be telling this story and laughing for years.
I think it was an artist’s statement, but what a strange story!
LOL! I hope whoever put it up IS laughing.