Everyone loves a good mystery, and officials in Utah recently stumbled upon a doozy.
On November 18, the Utah Department of Public Safety discovered a shiny metallic monolith in a remote rural area of the Red Rock Country while surveying herds of big horn sheep by helicopter. The monolith is eerily similar to the one found in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, though it doesn't come with its own iconic background music track.
Officials have no idea who may have placed the monolith and have also declined to give the exact location of it out of concern that people might endanger themselves trying to visit it. It's in an extremely remote area and there is a "significant possibility that individuals may become stranded and require rescue," the agency said in a statement.
The monolith appears to have three sides and measures roughly 10-12 feet high. Interestingly, the monolith is also planted firmly into the ground and doesn't appear to have been dropped from above. It was found at the bottom of a red rock cove and was relatively difficult to reach, even with the assistance of a helicopter.
Here's a video of the discovery:
The bureau posted a photo of the monolith to Instagram alongside images of the sheep they had initially gone to observe. Predictably, social media was alight with theories and observations, with many users noting that they "saw faces in the rocks behind the monolith" and other such claims.
There's no indication that the monolith is anything other than man-made, but that doesn't stop the speculation on social media. The Utah Department of Public Safety says who (or what!) ever placed the object has done so illegally, though their statement doesn't come without humor: "It is illegal to install structures or art without authorization on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you're from," the agency said.
Speaking of aliens, here's the scene out of 2001: A Space Odyssey for comparison.
What do you think it is and how do you think it got there? Share your theories with me!