Artist or aliens? Mystery surrounds Utah monolith's appearance and disappearance
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A quiet canyon in Utah's Red Rock country has sent the world's imagination into overdrive.
Members of the Utah Department of Public Safety's Aero Bureau were assisting Wildlife Resources in a routine count of bighorn sheep on Nov. 18 when they spotted the monolith — a tall, metallic reflective structure that clearly had been placed there.
But the question was: by whom?
The Public Safety Department admitted that it didn't know who — or what — installed the monolith, and it wouldn't even tell the public where, exactly, in the large and remote southeastern corner of the state the structure stood.
The public's first guess: aliens, of course. Theories and jokes abounded. Ones that only grew stronger after the federal Bureau of Land Management said Saturday that the monolith had suddenly disappeared. In its place was a pile of rocks, appearing to commemorate the vanished structure.
"#WhereDidItComeFrom#WhereDidItGo," the San Juan County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook.
Aliens?
Pilot Bret Hutchings said that when one of his officers spotted the monolith, it felt like a scene right out of the Stanley Kubrick classic "2001: A Space Odyssey."
"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!'" Hutchings told NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City. "We just happened to fly directly over the top of it."
Immediately, people started making alien jokes, and when the monolith disappeared, the jokes didn't.
Right now an alien is asking his friends if they've seen his charger. https://t.co/o1UaHvTkXs — NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) November 30, 2020
Some alien needs to tile their damn keys https://t.co/Gc3UQOfsnO — PJ Vogt (@PJVogt) November 30, 2020
You know in the horror movie where the big scary thing that's about to happen is just playing in the background on the news for the first 15 minutes? That's how I feel about the Utah desert monolith. — Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) November 29, 2020
The alien gag become so popular that CNN even ran a headline saying, "The Utah monolith probably wasn't the work of aliens," implying a small chance that extraterrestrials gad, indeed, placed it there.
Sorry y'all, we needed it back. https://t.co/tuOKj1igF7pic.twitter.com/d3SOF4GeMS — Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) November 29, 2020
And in its post about the disappearance, the sheriff's department poked fun at the alien theories, posting a collage of aliens from movies on Facebook and asking residents whether "you recognize anyone from the lineup provided as being in the area of the strange structure on the night of November 27th."
But while the monolith was still in the canyon, a more plausible theory was developing.
Art?
Hutchings, the pilot, acknowledged that the silver monolith appeared to be some sort of "new wave" art installation, and quickly, people began to wonder which one.
The mysterious metal monolith was discovered in a remote area of red rock in Utah.Utah Department of Public Safety
One theory posited that the monolith was a work by Petecia Le Fawnhawk, a Southwestern artist who used to live and work in Utah. Le Fawnhawk has previously installed sculptures in the desert, but she told Artnet News that while she "did have the thought to plant secret monuments in the desert," she "cannot claim this one."
Others, including The Art Newspaper, said it immediately scanned the monolith as the work of the sculpture artist John McCracken, who died in 2011 and lived in New Mexico.
David Zwirner, whose gallery represented McCracken and showed his work, originally said he believed the structure to be McCracken's, but has since changed his mind.
"I love the idea of this being John's work, but when you look closely at the photos of the Utah monolith, you will see rivets and screws that are not consistent with how John wanted his work to be constructed," Zwirner said in a statement. "He was a perfectionist. While I know that this is not John's work, I also know that he would have enjoyed the Utah location and would have greatly appreciated the mystery surrounding this work. We all think it is a wonderful homage."
A spokesperson for the state Public Safety Department said the monolith is clearly "somebody's art installation, or an attempt at that."
And yet, mystery also surrounds just how long the sculpture has been in the remote, rarely trafficked corner of Utah. The public safety spokesperson said it may have been there since the 1940s or the 1950s.
A user on Reddit, who goes by a name too profane to publish, claimed to have found the exact location of the sculpture through satellite images and terrain analysis. Based on the analysis, some believe it wasn't placed in the canyon until after McCracken died.
And just as interest in the monolith seemed to be plateauing, another — perhaps a copycat — was discovered in Romania — the second monolith of what could be many more to come.
The monolith that was discovered in Utah has since disappeared.Kelsea Dockham / Canyon State Overland
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Did anyone report seeing a big chimpanzee looking character running around the monolith with a big thigh bone in it's hand?
And after the utah piece dissapeared , another appeared in europe somewhere from news reports i have seen, a trend? have one show up for a few day to be removed only to reappear somewhere else on the planet? co-ordinated or not i find it rather amusing.
another report i read about the utah pieces dissapearance was that it was removed by disgruntled locals fri night , the person that made this report had been to the structure , taken pictures , heard others coming so left them to ponder the meaning of the edifice to themselves , but when they went back the piece was gone .
Yet more reports of those that visited the site stated that the site had numerous evidence if visitation , read that as visitors having to take care of natures call, and leaving the evidence for all to see. if thats the case i could see why some locals might be a little disgruntled , especially if they are of the leave no trace , or pack it in pack it out contingent .
another complaint , i read was even though the location was not made public by the government, that visitors were not exactly sticking to authorized trails , thus causing damage to the fragile desert eco system that exists in this area , another reason for locals that love where they live to get rid of it , and publicize the fact its gone.
All good points Mark. I guess the big question is if this is being done on purpose or not. If it isn't, then things really get interesting.
I am concerned about the ecosystem being affected. In that sense, it is a good thing that it's gone and now is in Europe.
being the european one is in romainia , i doubt it is co-ordinated in the art world , more than likely something that went viral and to boost tourism where ever it decides to show up.
i can leave my place go out into the red desert , and still see evidence of the wagon trains of the 1800s cut into the ground so it takes a long time for such a place to heal and regenerate.
A number of years ago , my kids ( all adults now) , got some fingernail polish that glowed in the dark for halloween , they lost interest in it after the holiday so i appropriated it and used it on some of my fishing lures for night time fishing...thats for ender...
Whoa, do you know who is from Romania and especially Transylvania? None other than Count Dracula AKA Vlad the Impaler. Transylvania has one of the strongest magnetic pulls in the world.
Don't mess with the Count or Romania.
and now the romanian monolith has disappeared ....
I want to put one in my yard. Freak out the neighbors. If only I could make it glow...
3rd monolith shows up in California wednesday after romanian one disappears tuesday...
No freaking way!!! Now things are really getting interesting.
Hey 2020.... any other year I would just blow it off as a prank.
A 3rd metal monolith has appeared in California — it's almost an exact match to the 2 monoliths that disappeared in Utah and Romania (msn.com)
JUMANJI
Apparently they are made of welded stainless steel. I expected something allegedly made by ET's to be a bit more exotic.😁
removed in california , only to show up in Pittsburg Pa now.....