Post by JoannaL on Nov 24, 2020 0:52:47 GMT -5
Strange Metal Monolith Discovered in Utah Desert
Last week, while members of the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Aero Bureau were helping the Division of Wildlife Resources count bighorn sheep, things took an extraterrestrial turn when a helicopter crew spotted something that appeared to be straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
“One of the biologists ... spotted it,” explained pilot Bret Hutchings, “and we just happened to fly directly over the top of it. He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there – we’ve got to go look at it!’”
And there it was – a 10- to 12-foot-high silver metal monolith sticking up out of the ground. It didn’t appear to have been randomly dropped, but deliberately set into the soil.
“We were kind of joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, then the rest of us make a run for it,” Hutchings continued. Nevertheless, he believes the object was likely placed there by an artist rather than an extraterrestrial. “I’m assuming it’s some new wave artist or something or, you know, somebody that was a big [Space Odyssey] fan. Even so, everyone, and this includes artists, must secure authorization before placing any sort of structure on public land, said a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Public Safety.
The location of the strange monolith has not been disclosed and the Bureau of Land Management is deciding what action should be taken.
In the meantime, the unusual object has generated quite a lot of speculation, with some surmising the monolith is from another world, or possibly a different dimension.
“I think on a certain day at a certain time it lights up the slot canyon behind it,” one person posted on Facebook. “There you will find treasure or a wormhole to another dimension.”
Others joked that officials definitely shouldn’t mess with the mystery thing: “I dunno,” another commenter said, “but if I were y’all I’d wait until at least 2021, maybe 2022 for good measure, before touching it.”
As was expected, many referenced the epic 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey in their comments.
Sources: Maddie Capron, The Kansas City Star, November 23, 2020; and Leah Asmelash, CNN, November 23, 2020.
